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Published: August 6th 2007
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Strawberries
Can you smell them? At Nellie's, we ate and only occassionally ventured outdoors. For the first time since our sojourn began, the grey clouds moved in and the rain began to pour down. Nellie had invited our old Westfield's mate Laurie and his lovely wife Jocelyn (and cute daughter Elsa) to stay so that we could all catch up. The rain provided the perfect weather for eating, drinking and generally lazing around enjoying each other's company. Those of you who know Nellie will understand why the rain was a perfect blessing. The talk revolved almost entirely around food and we began to get some idea of just how seriously French people take their taste buds.
The first excursion on the agenda was to the local market in Sarlat. In regional France there is still a strong tradition of going to the market. There were all kinds of food on display there, and it seemed as if most of the population of Sarlat had descended upon the central market for their Saturday morning shop. We soon discovered that the morning ritual involves a quick trip to the local boulangerie where you buy the bread fresh for breakfast. Often it is still warm from the oven.
Rainbow in Belves
The view from the rear garden in Chez Nellie You might also pick up a treat or two - perhaps a croissant (chocolate or 'simple') or any one of a myriad of fresh, delicious pastries. Walking to and from the boulangerie in Belves (ville de Nellie), we passed many of the locals who were also walking quickly with baguette under arm.
On the first evening we spent with Laurie and Jocelyn, we dined at the local restaurant where they, like most other French restaurants, offer a 'formule' meal which is a 3 - 5 course set menu at a fraction of the usual price. Here, we discovered that the local specialty is Confit de Canard (or something vaguely resembling that name - Canard is duck). Another local specialty was Cepes (mushrooms) and so I ate Duck in Mushrooms.
I don't want to seem smug so I won't tell you how good it was.
Jocelyn later explained that there is an administrative body in France which is responsible for ensuring that the standard of each region's food is not compromised. There are strict guidelines and rules about the exact method of preparation for each regional specialty. Only those establishments who conform to the regional traditions (for wine, cheese,
sausage etc) are permitted to label their produce with that regional name. These methods of preparation have often been honed over centuries so that the quality of most of the food in France is way beyond anything we expect in Australia. After talking to Jocelyn, and hearing the passion in her voice as she spoke about the exact science of food preparation, we began to comprehend why French food is so revered. Elsa (a very mature, and very French ten year old) was keen to tell us that her favourite cheese is Roquefort because it is such a strong blue cheese. She's right. I tried some Roquefort after we left Belves, and it is delicious.
In between eating mouth-watering food and drinking lovely wine, we managed to see a little of the countryside around Belves. Nellie stayed at home and whipped up gourmet meals so that we could return and get straight back to the eating. The Fagan family and the Taylors toured the area renowned for extensive fossil remains of primitive man. The caves of Lascaux (famous for their cave paintings) are only an hour or two from Belves. We saw some Troglodyte caves and visited an archeological
Sarlat
The local specialty in a surprisingly familiar pose in stone museum which displayed skeletons and artefacts which dated back to the prehistoric era.
One of the best excursions we took was to a castle about twenty minutes from Belves. It was an overcast and rainy day so we seemed to have the castle to ourselves. It had everything you see in the comic books - full battle armour in the hallway, drawbridges, towers, winding staircases, traps for unwary aggressors, tapestries, and incredible views across the valley. Apparently this particular castle was used for the recent film Jeanne d'Arc starring Milla Jovovich.
Of course, afterwards, it was back to the food. And wine. I was particularly taken with the cherries and strawberries. I realise now that I had never tasted a real strawberry before. The ones we get at home don't taste like strawberries - they are a very poor approximation of the real thing. You can smell the real ones when you pass the fruit stalls at the markets. I became obsessed about taking pictures of the strawberries and felt slightly ridiculous standing over the produce at the market trying to get a good macro shot of the food.
We had a wonderful introduction to France at
Sarlat Market
Gourmet delights chez Nellie and came away feeling as if we had an inkling of the culture instead of just the tourist sites. When we drove away, we also discovered that the region is not typical of the whole of France. We had assumed that the whole country was rolling green hills dotted with picturesque medievial villages and covered in blooming roses. Having travelled all the way across the country, we can now confirm, that Belves and the surrounding villages are indeed among the most beautiful villages in France.
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Louise
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Insanely Jealous!!! Bring some home would you.