Advertisement
Published: April 14th 2015
IMG_7513
Our latest home, Balcon et ForetSorry for the delay in posting, the long days are suiting us, we are slowly managing to sleep past 6am and it is still light enough past 7:30pm to be out doing things.
After the tour of Balcon et Foret, our new home for the next three days, we were straight off through the woods (we are Euro now, no ‘bush’ here) to the village of Beynac that clings to the cliff face above the Dordogne River in the protection of its Castle Beynac. This is the pattern of things along this river, rich or royal families started building strongholds to control access to the river as the trade route from about the 12
th century, then they all started to fight over it for the next 600 years. One of the most significant periods of conflict was the 100 years war between the French and English over the 14
th and 15
th century. The river became something of a disputed border with castles changing hands multiple times. “Our” castle Beynac was one of these castles and in its maintained state gives a glimpse of life in medieval times.
Something we’ve gotten used to is walking up
IMG_7498
The living room and down steep cobbled streets because naturally all of these strongholds are built on top of hills overlooking the river. So on day one and after twenty minutes of heavy going up this first challenge imagine the surprise on Tess’s face to find a car park immediately outside the castle walls – I knew it was there, I just wanted to experience the charming streets of the village…
For any of you who have followed our travels in France before we love the food and the dining experiences. This continues to be a treat, in our few days so far we have sampled a wide range of styles, from an engaging and fun local restaurant, Le Petit Tonnel in Beynac a Michelin hat dining experience in Belle Etoile Le Roque Gegeac, omelette and salad in a street side café, picnic at a riverside, pastries while wandering streets, and meats cheese bread and wine sitting on our balcony overlooking the little farm we were staying in. The flavours are many and varied but all seem to work together and the service is always friendly and professional. Being in a regional area the food tends to be dominated by
IMG_7499
The bedroom the season and the agricultural strength, for the Perigord it is duck – fois gras, duck breast, duck gizzards, dried duck meat. Turns out a goose is a bit like a duck so they also make it to the menu. Must walk up and down more hills!!
Q: What do you call a Pergord chicken?
A: A lucky duck
Normally it is only Tess that gets to hear this material.
The other historical element of this area is the pre-history of man. Lascoux caves is a significant collection of prehistoric cave paintings of the animals of the region dating back approximately 17 000 years. The other pre-historical period is the troglodyte period of 55 000 years ago at Le Roque Saint-Christophe and the dozens of other grottes in the area.
The other high lights were Castle Naud, often held by the English with a fine collection of medieval weapons (big and small).
Chateau Milandes, built in the 15
th century as a palatial alternate to Castle Naud and owned for a period by Josephine Baker the American singer who made it big in the French cabaret and burlesque scene of the
IMG_7510
The balcony and forest ‘20’s and ‘30’s. Something worth seeing here is the falconry show – I love seeing these birds of prey.
No trip to the area would be complete without a boat ride along the Dordogne River in one of the replica transport boats, a Gabbe.
Next stop – Paris.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.571s; Tpl: 0.012s; cc: 11; qc: 53; dbt: 0.1003s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb
