Chateaux and Snakes

We took a trip out to Bergerac this week and went on to discover le Chateau de Montbazillac which is nearby. Free to park up and stroll around the grounds, and to take lovely photos of  a beautiful french wine chateau.

On Monday we took advantage of it being hot and sunny. Dave chopped some wood, and I painted some shutters, which I don't mind doing in the good weather.  However, I was a bit surprised when I awoke from my siesta on the sunbed to find that it was so warm  the sun had blistered the paint that I'd just applied!

Not only that, but then I  found a baby viper curled up by the wall also enjoying the sun- shine.

Seems it's not only me that likes the sun-shine!  Anyway, must go now.... I've got some blistered shutters to rub down and repaint!!

La Roque Gageac

Yesterday we went back to Domme and La Roque Gageac. This time the weather was bright and sunny. What a difference sunshine and blue sky makes.
Domme is a 'bastide' town high up on a hill with great views of the river Dordogne.  You can see La Roque Gageac and Beynac from there. I'd like to canoe that stretch of the river in the summer. It's very typically Dordogne!

View from Domme

La Roque Gageac

 

Very, very nice! 

 

Back at the house, I've painted some shutters on our cottage, and stained the wooden lintels. Dave's been chopping wood and done some electrical jobs. Nothing too strenuous for either of us!

Visitors

We had a great time with Roger and Julie, and despite the rain we managed to get out and about.
Sarlat was lovely as ever, as was Beynac. La Roque Gageac looked very pretty from a distance. The road was closed so we'll go back on another occasion. Domme was beautiful too, amazing views of the Dordogne Valley, but wet! We haven't escaped the rain down here!

               La Roque Gageac

 

 Domme

 

We ate too much, drank too much and laughed a lot, so great fun was had by all!

 

 

Danger! Wild boar!

Since my last posting a couple of weeks ago we've occupied ourselves doing a few jobs around the property, dodging the rain showers.
We've also done lots of walking and several bike rides locally. We met some huge wild boar whilst out walking the other day, luckily there was a fence between us, but they were still wild ones! There are also lots of duck and geese farms around here, but the main farming is strawberries. Everywhere you look are long plastic tunnels waiting to be planted up with strawberries. Apparently they're the best in the world, but I don't think they'll be ready for us to sample before we move on. We've also seen signs in the woods saying that it's forbidden to pick the mushrooms. Finding some truffles would be useful, though I must remember that I don't understand French if we get accosted!!!!

We took a trip to Brantome, north of Perigueux which is a very pretty place. The river was high but didn't detract from a beautiful village. It's on the river Dronne, so has great canoeing in the season.

 

This weekend sees the arrival of our first lot of visitors. We're looking forward to having Roger and Julie to stay, and showing them the area.  More on the blog after their visit.

 

 

 

 

The Farmyard offspring.

The track leading to the house we're living in passes through a farmyard, well a small holding is probably more accurate! We save up our fruit and veg peelings and walk down to feed them to the pigs. Two weeks ago we found four new born piglets.... very cute and very pink!

At the weekend as we were walking back to the house we noticed that one of the sheep had had two newborn lambs.  Very fluffy ..... and also very cute!

Is this a sign that spring is on it's way here, or is it quite normal to see piglets and lambs in January?

We were hoping that the winter would be shorter and milder here, but we're not sure. It hasn't been very cold but we've had loads of rain. Roll on the sunshine, I'm sure you'd all agree.
There is also a very entertaining donkey who is more full of attitude than the donkey on Shrek, and two pigmy goats who look as if they've had their legs shortened! No sign of life yet from the bee hives, lets hope the bees are normal when they appear.
Back at the house the 10 year old goldfish, (yes really!) , has had three new goldfish bought to keep him company in his tank. What are the chances of him dying (probably of over-excitement) while we're in charge?  Best check out the nearest pet shop for replacements!!

The Foie Gras and Truffle Festival.

This is where I went yesterday.....

 I had a great day out, mainly watching some of the regions best chefs giving cookery demonstrations. All their recipes featured foie gras and/or truffles, and the best bit was that you got to taste the dish afterwards. Everything tasted wonderful , and looked amazing.

This particular dish I tried was raw fillet of beef, layered with foie gras, garnished with a dice of beetroot and black radish. It was wonderful and needless to say not typical of what we normally eat!

I also got to see some award winning truffles, and learned a bit about them. Will be keeping my eyes open whilst out walking from now on!

This one was about the size of a tennis ball, and the ticket says it costs 800euros per kilo! That's about £660 per kilo!
At lunchtime I  sampled some more foie gras. This time I could choose between foie gras with fig, with champagne, or just plain old foie gras! I chose the one with figs and it was divine!

                                       Just couldn't resist taking a photo before I devoured it.

I finished up having another wander around the beautiful town of Sarlat and took some more photos.

Sarlat la Caneda and Beynac et Cazenac

We had a trip into Perigueux on Thursday afternoon and had a walk by the canal and into the 'old city'. The old quarter around the cathedral was lovely and needs exploring further... probably on market day. There is a cycle track along the river which we'll also leave for another time.

Yesterday the weather was hot and sunny so I took on the role of 'tour guide' and planned a trip to some of the villages that I'd heard about.
First we went to Sarlat la Caneda. It has a small walled centre and is very picturesque. Hard to take photos because the streets are so narrow and buildings are high. Definitely worth going back to once all the cafes are set up with chairs and tables out on the pavements.

This weekend they are having a Foie gras and Truffle festival. I can't resist tasting products like that, and we can't afford to buy such delicacies, so tomorrow I'm going back to watch some cookery demonstrations and to have some freebies!! I may be there a while!! Yum!!

After Sarlat we went to Beynac et Cazenac on the Dordogne river. This is one of  'les Plus Beaux Villages de France' , so it had high expectations, but it certainly delivered!

 

Taken from down by the river... and the view from the castle at the top...

 

 

In my humble opinion ... a completely gorgeous village, but the weather helped too!