Dordogne - Day 3: Dordogne River Valley, Sarlat, & Geese

Today I fell in love with a new region of France:  The Dordogne.

The day started out with lots of promise for a clear day, and it was a gorgeous day.  We decided to go back to the river, retracing our steps from our drive on Sunday when it was grey and rainy. 

We drove directly to Beynac and got there in time for the 11:00 boat trip up-river.  The boats are reproductions of 19^th century craft used to transport goods up and down the river.  It was a lovely day to be on the water.  It is a 50 minute trip, and the boat goes very slowly upstream with a very quiet motor, and drifts back downstream.  There were other people on the boat, but it was so peaceful and quiet.  We really hated to go back. The views of Beynac, especially the chateau high above the village are spectacular from the water. 

In several places along the cliffs you can see where there are either natural caves, or caves that were carved into the face of the cliff.  Many of them have been faced with stone, with windows and doors.  We saw similar caves along the Loire River – and some of those are still being lived in.  Here, though, I don’t think we’ve seen any that are being lived in – there are stairways and trails leading up to them, but many of those are barricaded. 

After getting off the boat, we looked in a shop and on the way back to the car, Mom noticed the tiniest hummingbird we’d ever seen.  When I saw it initially, I thought it was a bumblebee.  It was taking nectar from geraniums, and couldn’t have been more than 1 ½ inches long from the tip of its beak to the tip of its tail.  I was able to get several good pictures of it with Mom’s camera – the battery had died on mine.  (Note:  Turns out this was NOT a hummingbird, but rather a sphinx moth.  There are no hummingbirds in Europe.  This moth is often mistaken for a hummingbird and it can hover and flies much like a hummingbird.  Here is a link for more information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sphingidae - added 10/28/10)

After Beynac, we decided to go back to Domme, but stopped in La Roque Gageac for lunch on the way.  The starter of goose gizzards and foie gras was very good, but the main course of sliced rare beef with a sauce wasn’t very good.  It was a cut of meat that should have been braised, and was very tough.  We decided not go back to Castlenaud because the chateau doesn’t look very accessible for Mom.  So, we went right to Domme – I really like that village.  It sits high on a hill with a fabulous view of the Dordogne Valley.  Beynac, La Roque Gageac, & Les Eyzies all are squeezed between the river and cliffs, but Domme stands by itself, making it much more spacious with nothing between it and the sky.  We walked around Domme and spent quite a bit of time looking out over the valley.

Since we’ve been on this trip, Mom hasn’t been happy with her hair, and the shower situation in this house makes it difficult for her, so I decided she should get her hair done.  We found a hair salon in Sarlat, and she got a new French hair-do.  It really looks nice and I think it should last for the remainder of our trip. 

Later in the afternoon , we walked down the main shopping street in Sarlat and had a cup of coffee.  Sarlat is a very interesting town with lots of old buildings.  There was some sort of demonstration going on in the main square, so we stayed up on the main street.  The crowd of demonstrators was quite vocal.  I’m not sure what they were demonstrating about.  There was supposed to be a general strike today, but it only impacted certain industries.  The French are also unhappy about the government’s plan to increase the retirement age from 60, so it could have been that.

While we’ve seen quite a few ducks around and about, we’ve seen no geese.  So, this evening we went to a goose farm.  It’s not far from where we’re staying and it is a farm that Rick Steves featured on one of his TV shows and is highlighted in his guidebook.  They have 300 geese and they buy them when they are babies.  For the first 4-5 months, they live outside and eat green corn.  The entire field is sown with corn, and when it gets a certain height, they let the geese in the field and the geese eat the corn to the ground.  Today the two fields were about three-quarters eaten.  The geese are also fed corn, wheat, and barley grains.  When the geese are about 4-5 months old, they are moved 150 at a time into the force-feeding shed where they are force-fed corn 3 times a day.  It takes the farmer 5 hours a day to feed the geese.  They are fed this way and kept in the shed for 28 – 34 days, and double their weight during this time.  They are then processed 25 at a time.  They are 100% processed at the farm, and they have a special laboratory where the meat and liver (foie gras) is processed (cooked and canned).  This is all done under extremely sterile conditions.  The woman told us that geese have been force-fed for 6,000 years, beginning in Egypt.  It is considered to be humane as in nature geese fatten themselves up before their annual migrations, and it supposedly doesn’t hurt the geese.   The feathers are given away for use in pillows, etc.  Apparently, not many people raise geese anymore and that is one reason why goose foie gras is much more expensive than that made from duck liver.

One thing I haven’t mentioned is that is area is also well known for walnuts and there are large walnut orchards.  Walnuts are being harvested now, and we often see people picking them up from under the trees.  They also have walnut trees at the goose farm, and the woman who showed us around showed us a gadget a friend sent her from California for picking up walnuts.  It’s a wire basket on a long handle that you roll along the ground and the walnuts are pushed inside through the wires.  It’s a back-saving device and now everyone in the area wants to have one, but they aren’t to be found here. 

The foliage here is beginning to turn and while most trees are still pretty green, there are splotches of gold and red throughout the area.  It is difficult to describe how beautiful it is here in the Dordogne, and we had such an enjoyable day today.

Dordogne - Days 1 & 2: Orientation, Les Eyzies, & Grotte du Rouffignac

Yesterday (Sunday, Oct. 10) was grey and it started to rain in the late afternoon.  We decided to just do an orientation tour, so drove up to Sarlat, which is about 10-12 km from our house.  We drove around the town, but didn't stop, then drove down to the Dordogne River to Domme.  Domme is a "Bastide" - a fortified town - a top a high hill overlooking the river.  We had lunch there, but it was raining, so other than looking in one shop, we moved on with the resolve to come back when the weather was nicer so we could enjoy the view.  We then drove to Castlenaud, which is another village above the river with a huge chateau that is now a museum specializing in medieval warfare.  Again, we didn't stop.  We drove further down the river to Beynac and Roque Gigeac - both, on the other side of the river, are villages that climb up the cliffs above the river.  Beynac has a chateau which was the rival of the one at Castlenaud.  I had recently read a book by an American woman who had bought a house in Castlenaud with her husband.  The book is "Castle in the Backyard" -- their back yard abutted the castle wall -- so it was fun seeing the castle.

It is so beautiful here.  Everything is green, with the golden stone buildings, it is enchanting, and to quote Rick Steves, many places look like movie sets.  We have enjoyed seeing the gardens, and huge fields of corn.  They also grow tabacco; though we haven't actually seen it growing, we have seen the drying sheds, which stand out because they are the few wooden buildings in the area.

We also went to the grocery store yesterday morning and bought a turkey thigh/leg, which I fixed for dinner last night.  In French turkey is "dinde" and I asked a woman what it was because I wasn't sure.  The meat doesn't seem to be as dark or as rich as our turkey dark meat.

This morning it was foggy and raining, so I was disappointed, but hopeful that it would clear up.  By the time we finished breakfast, the fog had lifted and we decided it would be a good day to go to the National Museum of Prehistory in Les Eyzies and to the Grotte Du Rouffignac.  Of course, by the time we got there, it was almost noon and the museum closes at noon; however, the weather had cleared and we had some sunshine.  We decided to have lunch and go to the cave first. 

After lunch, we drove to Rouffignac, which is about 15 km from Les Eyzies through green fields and oak forests on a narrow road.  But, with no traffic, it wasn't a problem.  We got to the cave in time for the first tour after they reopened after lunch.  The neat thing about this cave is that there is a train that takes you through it, so Mom could go.  The narrative was all in French, and we went a long way into the cave without seeing anything prehistoric except rocks.  Finally, we stopped and the guide pointed out a place where bears had scratched the cave walls (bears would hiberate in the cave).  He also pointed out mammoths that had been etched into the rock by Cro-Magnon man.  Next we came to several rhinos that had been drawn onto the cave walls.  The guide spoke at length at both of these stops, but we didn't understand much of it, though I did get a word here & there.  Finally, the train stopped and we all got off (Mom didn't, though because she didn't have her walker and the ground was uneven).  The guide then showed us paintings up on the ceiling: horses, bulls, mammoths, bison.  It was a nice tour, but didn't really have the "WOW!" factor I was expecting.

Now we're sitting in a McDonalds listening to terrible music, but at least they have free Wi-Fi (or for the cost of a cup of coffee and Diet Coke free).  It's kind of cute -- here the drive-through is called "Mc-Drive."

Well, Mom is not enjoying this music and we need to head for the house.  Will post again in a couple of days.

Languedoc to the Dordogne

Saturday, October 9, 2010

Languedoc to Dordogne

We had the car packed and house closed up by 9:15 this morning, so got an early start.  We drove straight up the A-75 Autoroute through Millau, and over the Millau Viaduct.  Going over that bridge is really exciting.  It’s 2.5 km long  and higher than the Eiffel Tower.  It is the only toll portion of the A-75 and costs 6.20 euros.  Not long after crossing bridge, we left the autoroute and travelled west toward Rodez on D routes, which are maintained by the local department (county).   Most of them are excellent roads and pass through many villages and small towns, giving a much more scenic experience than the autoroutes.

The scenery was so different here than what we had been seeing since we had come to the south of France.  In Provence and Languedoc: grapes, grapes, and more grapes, and some olive trees.  The landscape is very rocky and the hills/mountains are rugged.  Where the land hasn’t been cultivated, there are scrubby oaks and pines.  The buildings are grey stone with red tile roofs, and very square, and even squat.   Some with towers and turrets.  Nearly every village looks closed up – there are stone walls around most houses, and shutters usually cover street-facing windows.  The primary signs of occupations are flowers in window boxes or in pots on the front stoop.

As we drove west through the departments of Aveyron and Lot, the vineyards gave way to pasture land with grazing cattle and sheep.  The fields are separated by rows of shrubs and trees, rather than by stone fences.  The forests are oak and other hardwoods.  The architecture is dramatically different.  The houses are more stand-alone made of honey-colored stone, with steeper roofs – many of them slate.  The houses are not hidden behind walls, and appear to be more open and occupied.  The towns and villages are charming, and we didn’t go very far without some sign of habitation.  A couple of the towns were built of red stone, apparently quarried from the local area.  The road took us through the Lot River Valley, which isn’t as well-known as the Dordogne River Valley, and doesn’t get as many tourists, but is very pretty, just the same.

The scenery on the entire drive was so pretty, and we’re so glad we decided to come the way we did, rather than what might have been a quicker, but less scenic way.  We stopped in Rodez for lunch in a cafeteria, which was really good and inexpensive.

The directions we had for finding the house were very good and we drove right to it.  It isn’t far off the main road into Sarlat, which is about 10 km away.  The house is in a little hamlet of several other houses and farms.  Our neighbors have a productive garden and chickens (I hope they don’t have a rooster that crows early in the morning).  The owner’s caretakers, Pat and Derek, were here to greet us and are a nice British couple who have lived here for 9 years, but don’t speak any French.  He said he lets his credit card speak for him.  The kitchen in this house isn’t as well equipped as our prior houses – the stove is electric, and not many pots & pans, and no dishwasher.  But, there is a clothes dryer, so we’re happy about that!  The owners provided quite a lot in the way of supplies: eggs, milk, juice, ham, bacon, cheese, and a big bowl of fresh fruit – so we didn’t need to shop today, and were able to put together an egg, ham & cheese sandwich for dinner. Once we got here this afternoon, we stayed put.  It was a good 7-hour drive, and I didn’t feel like going out again.  Tomorrow we’ll go exploring. 

Languedoc - Day 13: Last Day

Today is our last day in Languedoc.  We leave tomorrow for the Dordogne. 

This morning, we all got up early and left the house before 7:30 to take Janice to the airport in Montpellier.  She changes planes in Paris to go home to Washington DC.  It has been a lot of fun to have her with us for this past week.  We took her to many of the places we had been before, but we saw them differently because she was with us.  It was also fun to discover new places with her.  The Montpellier airport is so easy to get in and out of, it hasn't been the least bit difficult picking her up and dropping her off -- of course, we had been there before.

We opted for a low-key day today.  We spent the morning in Pezenas, walking through part of the old town, and making one more attempt to see if the quilt shop was open, and it was!  They were having a class this morning.  The same woman owns it -- she lived in the UK for a time, so speaks excellent English, as does her daughter, who sounds like a native English speaker.  The fabrics are actually the same as the ones we have in the US -- many of them looked familiar.  I bought some fat quarters of the most French-looking fabrics I could find.  Their fat quarters are a little bigger than ours because they are a quarter of a meter, rather than a quarter of a yard. 

We had lunch in Pezenas at Cafe Le Glacier, and sat outside under the plane trees.  It was so peaceful to be outside in the sunshine and warm breeze.  Mom had moules-frites again, saying these were better than the ones she had last week at Sete.  I had a small steak with salad & frites (fries).  It was a really nice lunch.

After lunch, we drove around some of the back roads that we hadn't been on before, enjoying the tree-lined roads.  There must be 10's of thousands of plane trees (or maybe they are sycamores) planted along the back roads of Languedoc and Provence -- nearly every village and town has an avenue of trees approaching it from both ends.  Many of the trees are huge and form a canopy or tunnel where they meet at the tops.  When the sun filters through, it's magical.  We ended up in Clermont where we topped off our gas tank, so we don't need to do that in the morning.  Then we took a road up and above Clermont to a "poterie" or pottery place that we had visted last time we were here.  It is still there and we bought a couple of plates.  Heading home, we drove through Lezignan, so Mom could see more of the village than she normally sees from the main road. 

For dinner tonight we're cleaning out the fridge.  We have some pate and fromage, and I took my last walk into the village this evening for bread, so it should be a good dinner, augmented with a pear (hope they are ready to eat).  We'll have the left over bread for breakfast tomorrow, so I won't need to take the time to go into the village in the morning. 

We've planned our route to our next stop, opting for a more direct, but rural route than going by autoroute all the way.  It may take a little longer, but will be more scenic -- and has the added bonus of being able to go over the Millau Viaduct (see prior post).  We want to get an early start in the morning.

We're both a little sad about leaving our house in Lezignan.  We've stayed here for a total of 5 weeks now and it seems almost like a second home.  We're very comfortable here, and know our way around.  There is something about the quality of the sunlight that just makes this a special place.

It may be a few days before I can post again as our house in the Dordogne doesn't have internet access -- so don't be concerned... I'm hoping there's a McDonald's in Sarlat where I can get online.  (Did I just say that? Oh, well, I think McDonalds has become a part of the scenery world-wide.)

Languedoc - Day 12: Grotte des Demoiselles

We started the day at the market in Paulhan, which is the next good-sized town north of us.  Much bigger than Lezignan, but smaller than Pezenas. It is a nice market -- not as busy as Pezenas' or Clermont's, but has all the goodies.  Since we are moving on Saturday, we didn't buy a lot, just some bananas & a shallot.  I bought a scarf for 6 euros -- I guess I want to attempt to be French-chic.  French women (& even some men) all seem to have scarves wrapped around their necks.

After the market we drove maybe 40-50 km north to the Grotte des Demoisselles.  When we got there at about 12:45, we found it was closed until 2:00 (the information I had said it was open 10:00 - 6:00), so we went back down to the village to find some lunch.  Nothing looked very promising, but we did find a boulangerie open, so got something to eat & drink.  Just after we sat down at the table outside, they closed up, so we didn't get there a minute too soon!

After lunch we went back up to the Grotte and parked up in the bus area, so Mom  could sit in the cafe -- we knew it wasn't something she would be able to manage.  The Grotte is an underground cavern that was discovered in 1770.  It has several huge rooms with concretions.  One room is 394 feet long, 262 feet wide, and 164 feet high.  We started out in a funicular, which took us up a 38% grade.  Once up there, we started to climb and descend stairs:  561 one of them!  Each turn in the pathway was an eye-ful of beautiful formations lit with flood lights.  The stairs were very good -- concrete -- and some had handrails of steel pipe and some had cement railings.  In places the stairs and railings were wet and slippery.  Some of the passages were very narrow.  Of course the guide spoke only in French, but it was the first guided tour in French we've been on that I didn't think was too long because there was so much to look at.  The guide also spoke very conversationally rather than as though reading from a script.  All of the other people were French, and were all were very nice and friendly.  This was truly an awesome experience and well worth the trip up there, and each step, too.  While Jan & I were in the cavern, Mom was in the cafe reading her Kindle and conversing with one of the men who works there.  He had been to caves in the US and speaks English.

After we got home, Jan & I fixed dinner.  I fixed duck breast with a sauce made from Muscat, orange juice, butter, S & P, shallots, and figs -- there is a fig tree behind the house, so we managed to harvest a few of them.  The duck was vacuum sealed and the skin had been removed, but the fat left on.  I scored the fat, and put it in a hot skillet to sear.  After turning, I put it in the oven for 20-30 minutes to finish.  The fat rendered out, leaving a crispy crust on top.  With potatoes, green beans & carrots, and a salad, it was a pretty good dinner.

Languedoc - Day 11: Collioure

Cloudy again this morning, but some sun peeking through.  When Jan & I came out of the boulangerie, a little lady from the village, who had been in the shop before us, seemed to be waiting for us.  We struck up a conversation - she was very friendly and chatty, but I couldn't understand much of what she was saying.  She seemed to be able to understand my rudimentary French okay, though.  In several books about Americans living in France, I've read where women call "coo-coo" when they want to call to a friend.  This woman did that, so it was neat to hear her do it.

After breakfast this morning we left for Collioure, which is a seaside town about 10 km from the Spanish border.  In fact, the exit off the autoroute is the last exit in France before crossing into Spain.  The town is lovely.  Many of the buildings are painted yellow, cream, pink, or terricota, so it is very colorful.  When we were there 5 years ago, there was a troupe of acrobats making a human tower -- they weren't here this time, though.  Instead, we were "entertained" by the National Commando Training Center (French Army), which is located there and was doing training excersizes as we were eating our lunch.  Three teams of 6 had to inflate a rubber raft, don life vests, then paddle out into the harbor.  Once out there, they had to do transfer maneuvers in the water.  It was really interesting and they drew quite a crowd.  Actually, it was a little like watching a "Survivor" challenge.

We had crepes for lunch -- Bretton-style crepes.  Mine had ham, egg and cheese.  Mom's had ham, cheese, mushrooms, and egg.  We also shared a pitcher of apple cider, which is traditional with crepes.  We walked over to the church and went inside -- it is very different that other French churches.  The decor is more Spanish in style.  Jan and I bought watercolors from the artist -- he was really nice, spoke some English and thought my French was pretty good.  We saw a little more of Collioure this time than we did before.  It turned out to be a bright sunny day and we enjoyed the warmth of the sunshine and the shimmer of the water.  The Mediterranean is sure a pretty blue color.

We got home around 6 (it's about a 2-hour drive to Collioure each way), and got cleaned up, then went to Clermont l'Herault for dinner at Le Tournesol.  This is the same restaurant where Mom & I had dinner for my birthday in 2005.  We had an excellent dinner.  Mom & Jan had foie gras for their starters and I had langostines.  Jan had seafood for her main course (scallops, calamari, etc.), and Mom and I had duck (strips of duck breast coiled into a roll with a raspberry sauce) - it was very good.  For dessert: a crepe with vanilla ice cream.  We were among the first to arrive at the restaurant about 7:15 and it was 9:30 when we left.  This was the first restaurant dinner we've had since we were in Beaune, nearly 3 weeks ago!

We've enjoyed having Jan with us.  We've taken her to many places we've been before, but it seems like we've seen them differently and have seen more of each place as we have done a little more exploring.  We have just 3 more nights here before moving to the Dordogne.

Languedoc - Day 10: Carcassonne

It's hard to believe that we go home 2 weeks from today!  Neither of us is ready to go home yet, so I guess that's a good thing.  It always seems that I'm ready to go home just about when it is actually time to leave.  We're both pretty tired, though, and Mom has been going to bed early -- like 8:30 -- the chairs in the "salon" are not comfortable for her to sit on for very long, so she lies on her bed and reads.

It rained overnight and when I got up this morning I was disappointed to see another slate grey sky, but by the time we left to walk to the village for bread, there were some patches of blue sky.  It also looked promising to the southwest, which is where we were headed today.  We left the house about 9:30 to go to Carcassonne, which is about 90 minutes from here by autoroute.  Carcassonne is one of the largest and most intact fortified towns in Europe.  It is also a popular tourist attraction.  By the time we got to Carcassonne, the sky was a clear blue and we had a perfect day for the trip.

The oldest parts of the town date back to the 10th century, but some structures were built on top of even older Roman ruins.  The town played a key role during the days of the Cathars.  There is a tradition that once when the town was besieged, after a long period of time they had run out of food.  They had just one pig left.  They decided to fool the enemy outside the gates by throwing the pig over the rampart.  The enemy took the bait, figuring that if they had so much food that they could afford to throw away a pig, there wasn't much point in prolonging the siege, and they left.  Whether that's a true story or not, the town promotes the story for the benefit of the tourists. 

There were a lot of tourists there today -- much more than when we were there in April 2005.  They come by the bus loads, but once you get through the gates and the first onslaught of tourist traps, you can really enjoy the town.  Of course the slope of the streets and cobblestones make it hard-going for Mom.  We got there around 11:00 and found a place for lunch just before 12, thinking that we should get settled before the rest of the tourists decide to find a place to eat.  We chose a place that trades on the pig story: Le Auberge du Dame Carcas.  They have a wood-fired oven and their specialty is cassoulet.  It was really good -- better than what we had at another restaurant in 2005 and a lot better than what I made earlier this year.  It is a dish of white beans in a tomato sauce with seasonings and different meats.  Traditionally, it has duck confit (duck cooked and preserved in its own fat) and sausage, which is what ours had today, but it also can include lamb or pork.  The recipe I have takes two days to fix -- too much work.   We really enjoyed what we had today, though.

After lunch, we walked around the town and stopped into the church of St. Nazaire.  It has beautiful stained glass windows and some of them remind me of quilt blocks as they are geometric and very colorful  While we were there a group of men sang.  They were "Doro" - the same group that sang when we were in the cathedral in Albi, in 2005.  They have a fantastic vocal range and sound really good in the church.  We bought one of their CDs before.  I think they must go around to various churches, sing a couple of songs, then offer their CD for sale.  It is quite an experience to hear them in that setting.  I believe they are from eastern Europe, but I can't remember for sure.

Before leaving Carcassonne, we stopped at a cafe for coffee and soft drinks.  It has turned out to be quite warm.  We came home on the back roads because I wanted Jan to see the Canal du Midi.  It was built to connect the Mediterranean with the Atlantic Ocean, so stretches clear across southern France.  It was originally used to ship goods across France, but once the railroads were built it became obsolete.  Now it is used by vacationers -- people either own or rent boats or barges especially made to fit through the locks (there are dozens of them).  At one point I pulled off the main road so I could check the map, and saw the canal and a lock right there.  Jan & I jumped out to take some pictures of a boat going through the locks.  It was a really neat experience and we were just lucky that we happened upon it.

The remainder of the drive was through small villages and acres upon acres of grapes.  More grapes than you can imagine and certainly more than I've ever seen in California or Eastern Washington.  The grapes are still being harvested, but I think they are close to the end of harvest now.  We see tractors pulling trailers full of grapes as well as the mechanical pickers in the vineyards.  We've also seen piles of grape leavings after they've been mashed (I don't think they stomp them anymore).

We got home about 7 -- it was a long day, made longer by having to drive through Beziers, but we made it.  Another long day is planned for tomorrow.