Blogs from Dordogne, Aquitaine, France, Europe
May 17th 2012
We have had a great week here in Cenac with our friends Geoff and Mon. They are off to Scotland tomorrow and we are off to Paris. We went for a drive yesterday and ended up driving around the French country side for about 6 hours. It was really pretty and some of the tiny little villages were very cute. We got lost a couple of times trying to take a few short cuts! Some of the roads were more like tracks. We went to a place called Rockamadour, very impressive. The view from the castle on the hill was amazing. It was very high up, a little scary looking down. It has been quite warm here, we have only had one day of rain and that was really light. I don't think I mentioned that ... read more
December 22nd 2011
The Dordogne Heading to the Dordogne was added late into the plans but very pleased we did. Once again the accommodation fell into place and we found a period house renovated in a town called Sarlat (silent T). This was not our first choice as we intended to try and stay in one of the smaller villages but as with so much when travelling, things happen for the right reason. The town itself appears small but extends on and on and is a true town with all the services and life expected within a medieval setting. Our house was only a 5-minute walk into town. The long drive from Lyon provided its own adventure with us passing through a lot of France and discovering snow. This brought the kid out of all of us and a ... read more
September 15th 2010
We arrived in Gourdon at 3 on the train from Paris on the Sunday - I was not feeling too good as the train rushing past all the close greenery when cutting through the hills had made me a bit travel sick. John from the cycling tour was waiting on the train station and we found out we had traveled down with another aussie who was doing the same tour as us, Pip. The area is absolutely beautiful - obviously a good time of the year with everything green and fresh = particularly after spending time in Mykonos and Paris. We drove through Gourdon village itself which is a lovely village with lots of stone buildings - there was a bit of traffic around because they had a farmers/trade expo or fair on. John and Aileens ... read more
May 30th 2010
How beautiful it is to wake up in the Dordogne - breakfast being served on the large refectory table in the lounge/dining room area. Our friends at the table this morning were two American families. The first a mother and father visiting their daughter a nun in a closed order of nuns in Avignon. The second family were on a tour of Europe at breakneck speed. 5 mins in Paris, 10 in Disneyland and a week in the Carmargue. No time to stop or stare as the words of the poem came to mind. They would go home having visited Paris, France but only scraping the surface. Conversation flowed over the treacle tart, the sweet cakes, yoghurt and fruit. Politics and the Obama regime, the lack of a health service in the USA and any other ... read more
The faces, food, and voices of the Dordogne
Published: April 29th 2010Europe » France » Aquitaine » Dordogne
April 29th 2010
WALNUT WINE AND TRUFFLE GROVES is a culinary travel book that invites readers to pull up a chair and visit the Dordogne the way it should be visited…one bite at a time. Navigate the back roads, as well as the menus and markets, with newfound excitement and a fork and knife! Through interviews with local home cooks and chefs, visits to local farms and historic sites, market tours, and wineries, readers will discover the true jewels in France’s culinary crown as well as discover the country’s most beautiful and less trod-upon provinces. Read about: -A wine domaine matriarch who has been tending her vines since she was 13 years old -The former personal chef to Francois Mitterrand -The niece of a famied comedie francaise actress -sites, recipes, and detours -80 + color photos -40 + local ... read more
September 26th 2009
Blogday 9 Thursday 24th September Rocamadour, Padirac and Figeac An early start to the day. A quick breakfast in the room, packed the baggage into the Chev, checked out of the hotel and headed out of Sarlat for the last time, planning to end up in Figeac by way of two well known tourist destinations. First of all we went to Rocamadour, a popular pilgrimage destination since the Middle Ages on account of the statue of the Black Madonna in a sanctuary there. It also has a charming medieval village (another one) seemingly super-glued to the side of a 300 foot vertical cliff face. As it was only 37 kms away from Sarlat it took us less than one hour to reach there via some very winding valley and mountain roads. Roof off on the Chev ... read more
September 23rd 2009
Blogday 7 Tuesday 22nd September still in Sarlat Disaster in the Dordogne! A really bad start to the day. I was driving the Chev out of the car park behind our hotel intending to turn right and, despite a warning from Jane, I misjudged the width of the archway linking the car park to the road. Result: one scratched Chev. So after committing Hari Kari three times (the two encores being to make sure that I’d got it right the first time): flagellating myself unmercifully then deeding all my worldly possessions to the Chevrolet Camaro Owners’ Club by way of atoning for my appalling act of sacrilege; I reversed the car carefully back up the archway to limit the damage and then negotiated the (admittedly) tight turn without further mishap. But it did put a bit ... read more
September 21st 2009
Blogday 5 Sunday 20th September La Rochelle to Sarlat in the Dordogne via much of Burgundy; by reason of getting lost a few times. This on account of my Michelin Road Atlas being somewhat out of date, like 8 years, and not showing recently constructed autoroutes. This is what happens when a boy from Cardiganshire goes on holiday (for the information of those readers who come from beyond the Welsh borders, Cardiganshire natives are famously tough when it comes to spending money.....folks from other areas of Wales describe us in rather less fulsome terms). Meanwhile back at La Rochelle: up reasonably early and on our way south on the autoroute heading for Bordeaux where we would turn east for Periguex. A brief deviation to fuel up at a nearby Carrefour (petrol at supermarkets is 15% cheaper ... read more
Cycling, hail and medieval warfare!
Published: September 27th 2009Europe » France » Aquitaine » Dordogne
September 19th 2009
Success! We managed to go cycling. We ended up hiring the bikes through an English company who are based in the Dordogne. This proved to be very useful as they could obviously speak English. We looked like proper cyclists as we had panniers and a map in a special holder. We ended up cycling about 30km and although it was all on the road it was so quiet that we barely saw any cars. We tried to limit the number of times we hummed the 'Allo, 'Allo theme tune as we cycled along.. We ended up climbing quite high (but in a slow gradual way) which meant we got a very long downhill section which was a lot of fun. Friday turned into a very wet day. We had planned to visit some gardens but the ... read more
September 17th 2009
9/6/09 It was early this morning but Andrew couldn’t resist a ride in the Dordogne hills. We headed off to see the cave of pre-historic man today. The first cave we arrived at was the Lascaux Cave in Montignac, France. This is the home to some of the oldest cave paintings of over 17,000 years old. The original caves where damaged by letting people in and the carbon dioxide (see, Global Warming). So, they made an exact replica right next to it as to preserve the original art. It was amazing and almost as cool as the Sistine Chapel paintings. Most of the paintings were of bulls, buffalo, horses, deer and other animals. The colors were brilliant and made from iron oxide powders. They used different techniques to paint such as crating carving knives, brushes, and ... read more
