They call me Mellow Yellow/Coq au Vin

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Breakfast today tucking into toast,cheeses, hams, fruit and pancakes we shared our table with one of the American families and a Jewish Australian couple who were travelling around Britain, France before flying to Israel to end their holiday. Australian politics seemed to be the topic of the day.

Our trip today was a short one to Sarlat La Canada ust down the road. Parking proved an interesting experience as Maddy our SatNav took us directly to our car park but failed to find the entrance which was hidden away in a quiet corner of the town square.

Much of Sarlats old ramparts had been taken down and replaced with what seemed like a wide and boring rue de Republic. This was not one of my favourite streets. Todays song of the day was Donovans Mellow Yellow sun as we walked along the streets with their honey coloured buildings melting into the medieval labyrinthian alleys. Sarlat is a lovely town but very overcrowded even out of season and as early as this in the summer. Shops were full of duck fridge magnets, duck confit, duck pate and every concievable thing made from duck. Somehow we felt very angry at times thinking of the poor ducks force feed to produce a delicacy.

After lunch we headed beyond the Chateau de Biron to the bastide town of Montpazier. This is one of the most beautiful and complete of the bastide towns situated above the River Dropt. It was founded in 1284 by Edward I of England. It survived the Wars of Religion. Three of the original gates are intact and within them there is an oak pillared halle and stone built houses. Deep shady arches keep the sun off your back and provide welcome shade from the heat of the day. Shops nestle under the arches. We enjoyed a hour sitting in the sun drinking coffee watching the townspeople going about their daily business.

Our final stop was high on a hill over the valley - Domme another particularly attractive bastide town. From the belverdere the view is amazing over the valley floor and to the river below. One thing we would however not do in Domme would be to eat there . The prices are over-inflated due to its touristy nature and the Coq au Vin Glenn ordered defied belief. The meat should have been chicken but seemed more like dog, horse or something even worse. We usually had had fabulous meals in France but this one was awful . Glenn commented that perhaps he would never again put Coq in his mouth .....................mmmmm interesting thought.

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