Day 3 - Gageac

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First of all let me say that there will be more pictures going forward. We had a problem with the transferring of the photos from our camera, but Ray fixed it this morning.

Today was a beautiful day starting off with breakfast on the patio overlooking the valley below, As usual the offerings were delicious and plentiful. The favorite for all of us are the croissants, the wonderful European coffee, and for me the homemade yogurt with fruits and jam. We then headed out for a day of site seeing our first stop being the Chateau de Castelnaud. The castle was built during the 11th century, with it changing hands many times through various wars in the subsequent centuries. It was built to defend against the Chateau de Baynac, across the Dordogne River. As you approach the castle there are various structures also from that period that form a small village. The many stairs inside lead us up to the various rooms that were used to store the artillery, with reconstructed catapults, cannons and Armour. There were also quarters for the occupants and a courtyard with a huge well, which still contains water. It was a very interesting fortress, and one wonders how it was ever defeated. But it was, many times. The view from the top was beautiful

We then drove about 6 km to the Chateau des Milandes. This chateau also changed hands many times over the years, and was finally ;urchaed by Josephine Baker. We had never heard of her, but she is quite famous here in France. She was a woman of color, born in St. Louis, who came over to France in the 20’s. Brought up very poor, she was a gifted dancer and performer who became very popular with the upper crust French. As a result, and due largely to her keen business sense, she made a lot of money. She became quite a philanthropist, was very active in the French resistance during the war, and adopted 12 children. Her home, the chateau, is incredible, with palatial gardens, dozens of rooms, and exquisite architecture.

We finally headed back to Gagaec, had lunch in an outdoor cafe, and crashed in our room. We didn’t nap so much as fall in a coma.

After waking up, we grabbed a bottle of wine, met up with John and Diane, and went to the pool to relax. Decided to walk into town and try our luck finding a restaurant for dinner with no reservations. Found one on the second try, and had a wonderful salad.

Tomorrow we head to Carcassonne, a medevil city in the south of France. See you then.

Okay, we had a big problem with the pics. Everything we took with the Nikon would not upload to the blog, so all you get are some pics we took with our phone. Won’t happen again.

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Comments

[Joan]

Great history today Can’t believe the woman adopted 12 Enjoy tomorrow