Which restaurant do you think has the best food? and which is best to stay in? How do they compare with Hotel Bonnet?

The Belle-Etoile has the best food.

The Plume d'Oie is charming, if a little quirky, with very good food.

The Bonnet is fine, the restaurant is good. there have been plumbing problems in the past (quite possibly resolved by now).

The Belle Etiole responded to my request. The half board price is 73E per person and the room 63. Do you know what the menus start at? The half board would give breakfast and dinner right? does 83E extra for 2 sound reasonable or would you just get the room?

The last time I was there (last summer), the menus were about 28-38 €.

I would inquire as to exactly what half-board does entail. It's not always breakfast and dinner - in fact, I'd specifically ask if breakfast is included in that price. I would assume the main half-board meal is dinner, but I'd verify that because I've been to places where half-board could include lunch as well.

If it does mean breakfast and dinner then that might well be less expensive than booking the room and paying for the dinner and breakfast separately.

Thanks, I will email them back about that. I also looked at the The Plaisance in Vitrac. What is Vitrac like? Have you eaten at the restaurant there? The hotel in St. Cyprien also looks nice but alittle more expensive.

I prefer the Plume d'Oie (St Cirq & I have different tastes - which we have chatted about thru e-mail). Belle-Etoile is quite good, and less expensive than Plume d'Oie, but not as creative - if that appeals to you (that's why I like it the best). It is a little quirky, like St Cirq said - mainly the wait lady (who is also the owner, I think).

Regarding Demi Pension - make sure about the menu you get. A few times I have seen entirely different menus for demi pension - not very exciting ones. I doubt that this is the case with the Belle-Etoile, however - but ask if you get the least expensive fixed price menu, the most expensive, a special demi-pension one, etc.

I'm not sure Vitrac is really a town - just a few buildings (2 restaurant/hotels at least). Don't stay there if you want to be in a village.

All in all, I would choose the Belle Etoile - great location, good food, good price, fantastic village - what more do you want. You can certainly find a more luxurious place, if that's what you are looking for.

Stu Dudley

I think the Belle Etiole sounds like a good choice. The village is beautiful and should be fun to stay in. The price is pretty good. I just emailed to see what the half board is but am leaning toward just getting the room. Thanks for your help St. Circ and Stu.

Cparris, were you able to find an English-speaking website La Belle Etoile? I put in an information request and could understand 'most' of the response but was unable to determine if they were forwarding my request for availablility or if it was the usual response requiring my booking info. I've booked 10 nights of my trip so far and this was the first time I've run into a site with no English.

I can certainly vouch for the quality of the meals at the Belle Etoile, having dined there several times this past June. I think that the prix fixe dinner menus run from about 20 to 32 euros.

As for the Plume d'Oie, StCirq is right to call it a bit quirky. During our two weeks in La Roque-Gageac, I never saw anyone dining there, even though it appeared to be open. One of our group called one day to reserve for that evening (French is her first language), and was told that they couldn't possibly take a reservation for that evening, with no further explanation. I didn't see any diners that evening either.

So in the end, we never did sample the food at the Plume d'Oie, but here's a piece which attests to the quality of the food, and the quirkiness of its proprietors.

http://www.ultimatecook.com/plume.html

>>So in the end, we never did sample the food at the Plume d'Oie, but here's a piece which attests to the quality of the food, and the quirkiness of its proprietors.<<

Yes, the Madame in the "write-up" is a little quirky, but quite harmless. The last time we were there (Sept 03), she poured our wine & I took a sip - it was "corked". I hesitated a little before approving it, and she said "yes it is bad - I could tell by the smell as I poured it". She immediately took my glass and replaced it with another glass, and then got another bottle of the same wine. It was just fine. This is the only time I have ever returned a wine, and she detected that there was something wrong as soon as I did.

As far as turning away patrons when the restaurant was not full, I have encountered that quite a bit in France (we probably dine out 40 or so times in France each year). Many places do not want to get inundated buy diners they have not anticipated (and maybe don’t have enough food for), and sometimes (I suspect) want to "shoo-away" people who they think might not appreciate the well prepared meal. When we were there, she told us that just the night before she had a table of Americans that did not seem to appreciate the meal at all - they seemed to pay little attention to it and one woman was taking notes all the time. I think she appreciates praise & got none at all from the Americans. We were discussing Americans, because this was the summer after the start of the Iraq war and several French people said (including her) that there were fewer Americans in the Dordogne that year. The proprietor of our Gite said we were the first Americans to rent her Gite - which was a first for her. We had rented it on two previous years.

Here is write ups on these two restaurants from my wife's diary:

La Plume d’Oie in Roque Gageac 05 53 29 57 05

This restaurant is right on the road bordering the Dordogne. We both started with the house aperitif (couldn’t quite put our finger on the contents, but it may have had some peach liqueur). I had the menu a 195 FF, starting with what was called a “bisque”, but actually was 2 lobster ravioli (perfect pasta with melt in your mouth stuffing), with a fabulous lobster sauce. Then I had the “declinaition” of fish. Although I had my dictionary, I could not find this word defined in a food context (the related verb was “to reject”), but decided for “go for it” anyway & it was a good decision. It was 3 different fish fillets beautifully sautéed & sauced. No cheese course for me, but the desert was incredible chocolate mania !!! – a small cup of coffee with ice cream & chocolate drops which were partially melted, with a round of what was basically chocolate truffle filling topped with hard chocolate and (yes there was more !) a ball of chocolate sorbet. I figured that with the coffee & chocolate, the caffeine would keep me going for a week. Stu had the menu a 295FF starting with the foie gras in aspic – but unfortunately, we forgot to write down his remaining courses.

Sept ’03
We were the first people there; we remembered the hostess/co-owner from our prior visit: quite a character. Stu debated between the 24 and 35E menus, ultimately deciding on the 24E menu with langoustines & scallops as an a la carte addition. We had two wonderful Amuse Bouche courses: pastry cups filled with buttery sauteed cepes and a thin, fried crispy “tortilla” square topped with fromage blanc and then topped with a walnut. THEN, we had a small cup of cold potato vichyssoise soup garnished with chopped chives! Stu then had 3 langoustines and 3 scallops in a buttery saffron sauce, while I had a langoustine ravioli with a buttery crustacean sauce – so rich a sauce spoon was provided. We both had the cannette next (it was served on this menu for two only). This included the breast in a red wine reduction and a confit of the leg in a pilaf with vegetables. There was also a tian/quenelle made with a grain (described as ble, wheat on the menu). For dessert, Stu had an assortment of three chocolate decadences. I had a creation with meringue wafers alternating with layers of peach fondant, all with a peach coulis.

Belle Etoile, in Roque Gageac 05 53 29 51 44

We ate in their upstairs dining room looking out over the Dordogne. We had an amuse bouche of melon sorbet with Monbazillac (sweet) wine. Daddy & I each had the menu a 150FF. I had (my favorite) Rougets followed by a salad with goat cheese (cabecou) and, for dessert, a pastry “packet” with apples & walnuts with caramel sauce. Daddy had a fillet of beef, also with salad/chevre and a “chaud/froid” strawberry dessert with vanilla ice cream and monbazillac sabayone. Stu had the menu a 195FF. He started with scallops sautéed on a bed of celery root puree with a “band” of carrots surrounding the scallops. He then had riz de veau (sweetbreads) & chevre salad.

This is Stu again:
I thought that the Plume d’Oie’s menu was much more creative & original – that’s why I like it better. We’ve dined at both places twice.

Stu Dudley

hopingtotravel:

I don't know about an Egnlish Belle Etoile site, but it's not at all unusual for hotel/shop/restaurant owners in the Dordogne not to speak English. You've encountered your first experience with this. That might be impetus to brush up on your French a bit, because you just won't find that everyone speaks English in that part of France. Sure, there are lots of British expats and a number of American tourists, but in my experience, the English-speaking population of French locals is pretty small compared to other areas of France.

If you need help with the Belle Etoile website, I'm happy to check it out. Just not now - I'm on my way to bed soon after a long and tiring weekend.

Bonne chance!

St. Cirq, thanks. I can try looking up the words of the paragraph I didn't understand piecemeal in my dictionary. Alternatively, if I don't get more e-mail from them in a day or two, I may just respond with my Visa info and see where that gets me.

Hi, I did get through to them at
[email protected].
Good luck. I hope you get through.

Hi hope,

http://www.freetranslation.com/ will translate an entire page for you.

Not well, but good enough to get the gist.

Thanks. This morning I got an e-mail from a hotel on the Riviera (in French) which contained a link to 'babblefish'. So now I have 2 translating options. So far my French to English travel dictionary has been worthless. I've had about 9 classes of beginning French (plus videos). cparris, I should have waited for your posting before trying a different site, but I think it will eventually all work out. At least I know enough French to be able to tell they are being very polite.