Piccolina

Eigasuki - OMG! Are you who I think you are??!! I just went to your trip report and upon seeing the title "Tour de France", I thought to myself "umm..could it be...". Then I scrolled down to the St. Cyprien part....and I couldn't believe it!

This is so amazing to "reconnect" on this forum when we actually met in person some 5000 miles away from home!

How have you been? How was the rest of your trip?

BTW, I often think about the mousse de chocolat from Miranda...

eigasuki

Indeed, it is I!

My trip was amazing, so much just fell into place and now that the driving stresses are history, all the more amazing. Pretty exhausting and back to work was exhausting too so of course eventually I succumbed to the all the viruses going around and that's taken a while to shake off. Now back to researching for my next trip.

Bring on the St Cyprien adventures.

Piccolina

St.Cirq - Yes, Chez la Gaulois is great. I wish i had tried the tartiflette though!

Piccolina

Here are some photos taken from Day 1-3 of the trip while I was based in Cordes. Photos include Cordes, Penne, Bruniquel,Puycelsi and Albi. Enjoy!

http://s1182.photobucket.com/albums/...arn_June_2011/

Next up in the trip report: Domme, Beynac and canoeing down the Dordogne...

kansas

Beautiful photos, Piccolina!!

aussie_10

Great photos Piccolina! Thank you for sharing them.

Piccolina

<b>Day 7 – July 1 – Domme, Roque Gageac and Beynac</b>

We woke up to another gorgeous summer day in Sarlat and had an easy morning. H went for a run around Sarlat while I bummed around the B&B. We didn’t take the breakfast option for an additional 8 euros per person (what kind of B&B charges extra for breakfast?!) as we had plans to have a good lunch at La Gabarre in St. Julien de Lampon.

Around 11:30, we set out to St. Juilen de Lampon. Instead of taking us on the main road out of Sarlat, the GPS took us through Ste Nathalene which was a windy and narrow route albeit a very scenic one. We couldn’t find the restaurant once we go to St. Julien de Lampon but stopped at a RV park to ask for directions (luckily the man at the office spoke fluent English!). Soon enough we were at La Gabarre which overlooks the Dordogne river from a vantage point. We didn’t have a reservation so we weren’t able to take one of the tables at the edge of the covered patio. Oh well!

The menu at La Gabarre was a welcoming change from the margret de canard, confit de canard and foie gras that I’ve been eating for the past week. There were a few menus of different prices where you can choose from with various appetizers and mains but you can also mix and match as you please and the proprietor will put together a price for you. H had a salmon for the main while I had lamb. I was delighted to see rice pudding as a choice for dessert – miam miam! I was very impressed with the meal. This meal was up there with the Michelin-rated meals at Hotel du France (St. Cere) and Hostellerie Fenelon (Carennac).

After lunch, we drove to Domme (another most beautiful villages in France) and did a walk around this bastide town. Unfortunately the main street leading from the parking lot to the church was lined with tourist shops selling foie gras and other Dordogne specialties which took away from the authenticity of the village. Nonetheless, the view over the valley and the Dordogne review was spectacular. It was in Domme that I took a photo of what I think is the epitome of a French country vacation. Will post photos soon.

Roque Gageac (another most beautiful villages in France) was next on the itinerary. We parked next to the Dordogne river to take in the view but didn’t wander up to the what-appeared-to-be-steep streets (the heat was too much!). The troglodyte fort on the cliff face was fascinating, even if it was just being viewed by the river. I wish we had more energy that day because I regret not doing a proper walkabout of Roque Gageac!

Next up is Beynac (another most beautiful villages in France). We parked by the river and walked up the picturesque village of Beynac to reach the castle. The village was too quaint to be true!! I think I took a photo of almost every house lining the street leading up to the castle. Yes, I’m a camera-happy person.

We walked to the side of the castle that offers the view of the Dordogne valley. We were quite exhausted from our day’s outing at this point and decided not to go inside the castle because I was frankly “castled-out” from my Loire valley trip a couple months ago. Something to do for the next time when I’m back in the Dordogne.

Then it was a quick drive back to our B&B in Sarlat for some R&R before dinner at Le Presidial at evening. After a much needed shower and a change of clothes, we opened the bottle of Gaillac wine that I bought in Cordes and enjoyed an aperitif before dinner.

We had reservations at 7:30pm at Le Presidial which was just around the corner from our B&B. I think most guests were sitting outside in the large garden area (can’t imagine anyone wanting to dine indoor on such a gorgeous summer evening!). Reservations are essential here! I was too full from all the eating so I ordered just a main of prawns (which was unfortunately wayyyyyy too salty). H had the 3 course menu of smoked salmon, margret de canard and a dessert. We also opened a half bottle of Pecharment as we wanted to try as many local wines as possible. It was a delightful dinner aside from my mishap with the prawns but I was too full to care. The atmosphere of Le Presidial made for a very pleasant evening! I think H said that the dinner at Le Presidial was one of the highlights of his long weekend in the Dordogne

After dinner, other guests at La Lanterne, including ourselves, sat in the court yard, had drinks (someone brought out the whiskey!) and chatted. We retired to our rooms around midnight. It was a good way to end a pretty perfect day in the Dordogne.

Next up: Kayaking down the Dordogne was no easy feat!!

Carlux

Glad you liked La Gabarre, one of our favourites. It's lucky that you were able to get in without a reservation. For others who might want to try it, I should point out that sometimes even when there are tables free they wont take people who haven't reserved. Often it is just Ludovic and Valentine, and they can only manage a certain number.

Also, the D47 is in fact the best way to get there from Sarlat, not that I often agree with a GPS. IF you followed it, you would have arrived in Carlux from the west, and got a great view of our château (under much renovation)

I'm also amazed that you could handle another meal after lunch at La Gabarre, especially at the Presidial,where meals tend to be heavy. I usually give up and have a yogurt for dinner after lunch out.

Michael

<i>Unfortunately the main street leading from the parking lot to the church was lined with tourist shops selling foie gras and other Dordogne specialties which took away from the authenticity of the village.</i>

But that is the natural development of a village once it aims to be designated as a <i>plus beau village</i>. The village no longer functions as the center of the surrounding agricultural community, or what is left of it; in fact, it would be difficult to find a cow patty in any of these villages, whereas 40 years ago cows regularly went through a village in the morning and the evening, leaving proof of their passage on the ground. Even without the tourist shops the village would have lost its authentic nature which disappeared with its original function. In that regard, the designation as a <i>plus beau village</i> is a double-edged sword--it gives the village a new economic impetus with tourism but sets it in amber.

Kiddo

Thoroughly enjoying your trip report, Piccolina, especially since we're hoping to visit the Dordogne area next year.

Piccolina

Carlux - Oh trust me, I was stuffed from la Gabarre and was only able to eat half of my prawn dish! (no appy or dessert for me!)

Michel - I know what you mean about the double edged sword for the village being labeled as a plus beau village. Domme was just more touristy than expected. Beynac, Autoire, Carennac arent as touristy/commercial-like which was more to my liking. I wonder how the local inhabitants feel about the change to their village?

Kiddo - Thanks for reading my trip report. Hope you're able to find some useful information to plan your trip!

Piccolina

I meant to say canoeing instead of kayaking in my last entry. I'm nowhere athetletic enough to do a 9km kayak trip down the Dordogne!

<b>Day 8 – July 2 – The much awaited canoe trip down the Dordogne…</b>

Canoeing down the Dordogne was on the top of my “must-do” list for this trip and we decided today was the day. Today being Saturday so it is also the day of the Sarlat Saturday market which I was really looking forward to. We headed down to the cathedral at around 10:30 and the market was already bustling with vendors and people. We cut through Rue de la Boetie to connect to Rue de la Republique which was unfortunately when I became disappointed with the market. The vendors lining rue de la Republique were most selling items made from China. They clearly did not look like France-made products! You know what I’m talking about – cheap trinkets, “African” drums, mass-produced weaved baskets, you get the picture. Not to mention the market was also crowded with tourists! I highly doubt if there were actual locals shopping there. Maybe my expectations for the Sarlat market were too high given how much I’ve read about it in guidebooks and other sources.

We sat down for a quick breakfast of croissants and coffee at the local patisserie on rue de la Republique as we watched the hoards of tourists bypass us. This was certainly not the market experience I was expecting!

We walked down the length of rue de la Republique and turned back into the main square which had mostly food vendors. Now this was more like the French market I was hoping for but it was still too touristy for my liking. We bought some picnic provisions including tapenade, artichoke dip (which was amazing), cheese, baguettes and strawberries. I have a new-found obsession with French strawberries since my first taste of them in Brittany. I went through several fruit vendors in the Salart market before finding the “right” kind that resembled the Gariguette variety which I had in Brittany. These strawberries are what all strawberries should taste like. There are no words to describe them!! If you’ve had Gariguettes, you would know what I mean! If you haven’t had Gariguettes before, I strong recommend you seek them out next time. The basket that I bought tasted exactly like Gariguettes although it didn’t say so on the sign at the vendor.

We didn’t buy any saucission secs from the vendors because we didn’t want to buy anything that’s been sitting in the back of a van that’s been traveling from markets to markets (this was on the advice of the Bowens from the B&B). We were told we were better off buying our meats from the local butcher instead. We ended up buying some jambon blanc and a piece of saucisson secs from the butcher on rue de Fenelon. Oh, what I wouldn’t give for some jamon bellota de iberica right about now….(I was in Spain the previous 3 weeks and couldn’t get enough of jamon bellota).

Terri (from the B&B) was very considerate and offered us a cooler to place our picnic goodies on this very hot day. Then we were off we went to Canoe Vacanes, which is located just 1km outside Roque Gageac, to rent our canoes.

Our stomachs were starting to rumble as we pulled into the shaded parking lot of Canoe Vacanes. So we decided to have a little tail-gate picnic by popping open the trunk of the hatchback. After fueling up with much-needed energy, we paid Canoe Vacanes 12 euros each for the 9km trek down the Dordogne. They had pick-ups at the “end” every hour and we allotted ourselves 3 hours for the trip as we wanted to have a picnic en route (they said a 9km trip takes 2 hours on average). We were scheduled to be picked up at 4:45pm.

So off we went on our own to the river bed to select our canoe. After some minor glitches to get the canoe off the river bed, we were paddling down the beautiful Dordogne river. Let me tell you – working the paddle was quite a work out! The river was not deep at this time of the year and the water flow was not particular fast so we weren’t going down the river quickly. We were told we would pass 3 bridges along the way and our “end” point was right after the 3rd bridge. Although we passed by much of the same route as we can been in the car the day before (eg: Roque Gageac, Beynac), the view from the river was so different! We oohed and ahhed on almost every turn.

We pulled over at a rocky patch about half way down our trek. We sat on our life jackets as seat cushions and ate the picnic provisions under the shades while we looked out to the peaceful Dordogne river occasionally dotted by passing canoes. There was also a chateau (one of the many chateaux we saw as we canoed down the river) perched up in the mountain. Ahh…life was good on this perfect summer day.

We were late by about 15 minutes at arriving at the meeting spot which was just past the Les Jardins des Milandes. Our arms and bums were aching by now and were glad we didn’t opt for the 4 hour canoe trek!

Back to the B&B we went and relaxed for a couple of hours before our dinner at Le Grand Bleu (Michelin 1 star) in Sarlat. We managed to get a reservation the day before but was told by Roy (B&B owner) that we lucked out with such a last minute reservation. Le Grand Bleu is located on Rue de la Gare which was a 20 minute walk from the B&B. We decided to walk to the restaurant since we both wanted to have some wine with dinner and didn’t want to bother with finding parking.

Le Grand Bleu didn’t have many tables, maybe 12 at most. The décor was modern and sophisticated but not too stuffy. We were one of the first diners and were seated in a spacious table in the first room. We both decided on the 49 euro menu which comes with an entrée, a plat (meat or fish) and a dessert. You can also choose the 65 euro menu which comes with the above plus an additional meat or fish. There was also a less expensive menu at 36/50 euros (with different choices of entrée/plats from the above 49/60 euros menu) with the only difference being the additional plat of meat or fish.

If I remembered correctly, I had the foie gras with a sancerre sorbet for the plat and the aubrac beef for the entrée. The beef was cooked to perfection for a medium rare. I had the soufflé for dessert but I think the restaurant did a better job with the savories than the desserts. I think H had the fish (he’s more health conscious than I am!) and a fruit salad thing for dessert. I forgot what he had for the appetizer. We were also served petits fours with our mint infusion. Service was impeccable and attentive without being intrusive. Le Grand Bleu deserves its 1 star Michelin rating. Dinner came to 130 euros total with a half bottle of wine (forgot what we had…).

We tucked in for an early night as we were exhausted from the day’s activities!

Carlux

A word on the Dordogne - the river was REALLY low when you were here. Much of France, including the south-west has been suffering from drought all year, and some of us wondered if there would even be enough water for canoes. There was, but not by much.

On the other hand, there probably were a LOT of tourists in Sarlat when you were there. It's a very popular place, especially in summer. May and September are much nicer. When we first started going there was lots of farm equipment and local stuff in the main street, but there is less now,and certainly you wouldn't have seen it at that time of year. The market on Wednesday, which is just food would perhaps have been more interesting. We go to Souillac, which is much smaller, but more local.

Finally, I really do wonder about the owners of your B&B. There's no reason why you wouldn't use a local butcher, but I buy ham and pork every week from the Vaux truck - excellent charcuterie, cheese and fish from other vendors. I have never had a problem, and I doubt that French people buying meat and fish from market vendors have either. They wouldn't put up with anything that wasn't fresh. Not to mention European regulations.

Strawberries - glad you like gariguettes. They are wonderful, but usually only available in the spring. We get them in the Dordogne in late March, through to about May usually. They have a sweet, almost wild strawberry taste. You may have had Mara des Bois, a bigger strawberry, but also with a wild strawberry taste. They don't last long - have to be eaten within a day or two, which is never a problem with us. We really are spoiled with strawberries, most of which are grown locally - tobacco growers converting to strawberries. We get them from spring right through to October.

So come back again in the spring or the autumn - it's even nicer.

Piccolina

Carlux - you're absolutely right that I did go to the Sarlat market during the high season. Oh well..I guess if I couldn't beat them, might as well join them!

Yes!!! You're also right about the strawberries being mara des bois. And yes "wild strawberries" is a good way to describe their taste. I long to have one of those right now!

TPAYT

I've been followint taconic's TR on the Dordogne and they led me to your TR.

I am loving all of the details as we plan to travel there in Sept.'12. It's wonderful that you are comfortable touring on your own.

You have a good eye for photography, the photos are top-knotch.

I also like the bold headings but don't get the "before and after" thing to do it. Help!

This would have been the year to extend our usual Sept. in Paris trip as the weather was lovely. We were there from Sept.26-Oct.5'11. Usually we do get into the countryside for a week or so and I'm sorry we didn't see the Dordogne this year. After your interesting TR(and that of taconic) we must do it next year.

Piccolina

TPAYT - Thanks for your compliments on my TR and photos. Will try to get more photos up this weekend.

PS: I read your Paris trip report last week and it was fantastic!


Great to hear that you're going to the Dordogne next year. I imagine September would be a lovely time of the year to be there.

I'm not sure how far along you are in your research for your Dordogne trip but you might find my thread below of help in planning your trip.

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...s-pls-help.cfm

Happy planning!!

PS: As for the bolding, let's use an example. Say you want to bold the phrase "I love Paris". You need to type it exactly as below but do omit the space i inserted after the "<" at the beginning and at the end of the phrase (I had to remove the space to show you what you need to type to get the bold.

Eg: Type it as such but omit the space after the "<"

< b>I love Paris< /b>

Does it work??

PPS: Can you please show me how you do the hand clapping emotion? I've always seen it on the board but never figured out how it is done! Many thanks

Piccolina

<b>Day 9 – July 2 – A Lazy Sunday in Sarlat</b>

H and I had another slow start to this gorgeous Sunday morning in Sarlat. We didn’t set out from the B&B until close to noon and decided to have an outdoor lunch at Chez Le Gaulois (we were so done with canard done in whatever way possible by this point). We sat at one of the outdoor tables and ordered pretty much the same items as we did on the evening of his arrival.

After lunch H packed his bags and we were soon off to the Brive airport to catch his 4:30 (or maybe 5pm) Cityjet flight back to London. The drive was about an hour from Sarlat. I had some problems finding the Brive airport on the GPS. In fact, I had selected the wrong airport but luckily saw a huge sign to turn off at a particular roundabout when the GPS still said I had another 15 minutes to go. The correct destination for the newly built Brive airport should be “L’aeroport Brive Valley de la Dordogne” in the town of Nespouls (not Brive!) So be careful if you’re inputting this airport into your GPS (FYI – I used a TomTom). Also note that this airport is shown as

There are a couple of gas stations a few km from the Brive airport which was where I filled up when I returned the car a few days later. I don’t recall the name of this town but it may have been Cressensac. You will definitely pass by this town if you’re coming from Sarlat. The station opens at 8am and you can pay cash inside. Otherwise, you will need to use a credit card.

When I reserved the car with Kemwel, I had noted that my drop-off point for the car would be this airport. Kemwel’s system shows that the airport is only opened at certain time. I was worried as to how I would return the car on the day of my departure since the desk was not opened when I would be at the airport. I asked the lady at the Cityjet check-in counter and she assured me that you can just drop off the keys into the key slot of my respective car rental agency (there was a row of desk for all the major car rentals but apparently no one mans the station unless there’s a confirmed reservation). This was later confirmed by the proprietor of the St. Cyprien B&B where I stayed when I asked her to call Europcar to confirm this arrangement. So just FYI for those of you returning your car to L’aeroport Brive Valley de la Dordogne.

The drive to and from Sarlat to the airport was uneventful. If there’s an award for the world’s tiniest airport, this one would be the winner! I could see my car in the parking lot, the check-in counters, the x-ray machine and the plane all within my peripheral vision if I sit at the café. Check-in was a breeze for H. It literally took all of 5 minutes. We noticed that most people didn’t start arriving until an hour to 45 minutes before the flight. At this point the tiny café area was jammed with a plane-load full of passengers and lots of screaming children/babies. Not very pleasant.

And if you are planning to eat at the airport, be warned that the pickings are slim. There are a couple of vending machines and a coffee bar selling items that were not too appetizing (unless you’re on the verge of passing out from hunger). So if you are thinking of having a bite to eat before your flight, you’re better off bringing your own food or fill up before you arrive.

I did notice that the landscape was not as scenic the closer we got to the airport. I’m not sure if this is just because of the route that I was on or an actual change of the landscape.

Although I was feeling lazy when I got back to Sarlat, I realized I haven’t taken many photos of the old city so I did a walk around Sarlat and wandered into the side streets on the other side of Rue de la Republique that I haven’t gone to previously. Then I ordered a take-away pizza to enjoy at the B&B and had a lazy evening of lounging around in my room.

It was indeed a lazy Sunday in Sarlat.

TPAYT

<b> Smileys on Fodors</b>

As you can see, you helped me with the bold writing. Now it's your turn to pick a smiley.

http://www.fodors.com/community/smileys/

BTW, they only work on Fodors.

Thanks for the Dordogne thread. Also, I have a question for you that I asked of taconic traveler----If you were to choose 2 towns to stay in the Dordogne, which would they be?

Looking forward to your Sarlat photos.

StCirq

<<I meant to say canoeing instead of kayaking in my last entry. I'm nowhere athetletic enough to do a 9km kayak trip down the Dordogne!>>

For future reference, kayaking on the Dordogne is FAR easier than canoeing.

And we and all the French folks we know in the area have no problem purchasing meats and cheeses of all kinds from the market trucks. I thought that was a really strange warning.

Your report is transporting me back to my second home!

TDudette

Loved your photos from the 13th. Still enjoying this and finding the airport details very helpful.

Also, if you select the actual smiley, rather than the html code, you can insert them in emails. At least in Google emails.