Robyn France --back from the Dordogne and Lot
Sep 28th, 2004, 05:49 PM
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Robyn, I'm really enjoying your trip report. We were in Dordogne last May, stayed in a house in le Bugue on the river and gave our breakfast leftovers to those two swans every morning. Hope we didn't do them in with overdoses of pain au chocolate!!
Sep 28th, 2004, 09:02 PM
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Ira, Pecharmant before 2000 is difficult to find, but if you look occasionally you will discover a 1999 bottle. Pecharmant is bottled to sit for 4-5 years before it reaches it maturity, however since 2000 was such an excellent year it is ready to drink now. Many wine merchants in the Dordogne will tell you to buy a 2001 bottle and wait until 2006 when it will be incredibly delicious. We found a 1999 bottle at the market in St.Cyprien and it was outstanding!!
Sep 29th, 2004, 05:07 AM
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Michael
I opened a blank document in Word.
I chose File?Save as?.and below the file name field, in Save as type field I chose Text Only (*.txt). In other words, I saved this document as robyn.txt (I felt reassured by the different suffix, i.e. txt instead of doc.)
I got a message warning me that certain formatting will be lost and ?do you still want to proceed? or something like that? I chose ?Yes.?
Obviously I goofed?.this post still contains ? symbols.
So what did I (and evidently Robyn too) do wrong?
I opened a blank document in Word.
I chose File?Save as?.and below the file name field, in Save as type field I chose Text Only (*.txt). In other words, I saved this document as robyn.txt (I felt reassured by the different suffix, i.e. txt instead of doc.)
I got a message warning me that certain formatting will be lost and ?do you still want to proceed? or something like that? I chose ?Yes.?
Obviously I goofed?.this post still contains ? symbols.
So what did I (and evidently Robyn too) do wrong?
Sep 29th, 2004, 05:13 AM
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First I shall say to Sue--that I have tried every option, including loading additional Word options--I hope my Fodorite friends can work with me--and forgive me anyway for the length of this report--here comes another chapter.
Friday morning we awake to another gorgeous day. We decide we will seek out our breakfast alternative and find a salon de the..order one petit déjeuner complet and a café au lait. I don?t drink juice and the amount of bread to share is perfect. Now we feel much less weighed down and I got my real café au lait whirred up in the machine as I like it. I have been reading about Gourdon, and we can make a little circle coming around to several other spots we would like to see so off we go. It?s an easy drive, a beautiful day and Al stops several times along the road so I can get some photos for pantings? I know I want to do some hay bales with the mountains behind and a few barns and we see some nice shots so I climb around a few things and get some great light on the subjects. We arrive in Gourdon, whose main street reminds us both of Uzes..long avenue with a bit of a curve completely lined with plane trees. We stop at the tourist office, find out about the church ..Eglise St. Pierre..and about climbing to the top of the town where there is a Table d?orientation?one of those large flat slabs with a brass map of the town and all you can see from the viewing area. Town is empty, not much of a tourist stop.
We head to the Temple des Cordeliers ?the Franciscan church?which is now an exhibition hall?we stop in to the exhibition which is certainly a mixed bag and then go for lunch. We select a sidewalk restaurant on the main street where we order salades géantes. They aren?t kidding about the size..truly enormous.. mine with ham and potatoes is divine.. Al?s with tuna. Delicious country bread, with lots of rye in it and un petit pichet de rose The poor waiter appears to be the only one on duty and in addition to the 8 or 10 tables outside, there is an upstairs dining room which he is serving. Time and again we note that service people are racing around, handling so many tables it defies belief.
We are heading back West, planning to go to the jardins de Marqueyssac, with a stop in Daglan..a curiosity for me as we almost rented a house there and I would like to see what it is like. We decide to stop at an abbey on the way, not far off the road and it is one of those fabu surprises. We see a sign near Léobard which says Abbaye Nouvelle and we decide to make a detour. The old abbaye is huge, surrounded by farms and we park on the side of the road. No one is anywhere around?we climb all around the areas that aren?t fenced and look through the doors. It appears that it has been restored on the interior and based on the note on the door, they are using it for Mass on Sundays. It is a special place and I heartily recommend a stop. It is signposted from the road?other than that, I don?t know of any other information. We head on to Daglan, south of Sarlat just because I want to see what it looks like. We arrive and it is gorgeous. Small town with quite a number of art studios, a resto and beautiful homes. We don?t see any action?I guess late September is a quiet time. There is a little bridge over the river here..just a stop on the way, but what a picturesque one. We are glad we decided on Sarlat instead?we enjoy having the option of walking to restos and cafes and strolling in the evening. We have also enjoyed country vacations in France, but as we will be spending the second half of our vacation in the country, the busy town option is right for us. On to the Gardens of Marqueyssac and are there in 15 or 20 minutes. Although we have seen pictures, we are stunned when we see them in person. It is a huge series of sheered boxwoods in rounded forms, undulating throughout the terraces, tropical foliage and long paths and alleys leading up hills, to a chapel, to the chateau and overlooking the Dordogne river, non-stop
options for paths and vistas. It is magnificent. We stroll for a good hour before taking off for Sarlat another 20 minutes at most. Once back, we stroll down to our café where all the tables have a flyer on the Nuit de Patrimoine which will be taking place tomorrow. We are not sure what is involved, but are pinching ourselves that we will be there to experience it. Our waiter tells us it will be great and will start around 9. We sit and sip our glass of wine until the light starts to go down and casts a golden glow on the square.
We look at a few menus before going back to our b&b, and say Duck Duck Goose. The Rossignol is recommended in the Cadogan and Fodorite Betty recommended it last year, AND they have a menu option which features no DUCK DUCK GOOSE. We stop on the way back to our room and make a reso?the lady seems very nice. After dressing for dinner, we head back to the Rossignol (rue Fénélon) where we order our best meal so far. They bring a pâté mousse amuse-bouche with our kirs, Al orders the fish soup, seved beautifully with all the trimmings, and a beef dish. I order the smoked salmon followed by the monkfish (lotte) on a bed of sorrel. We are both delighted with our choices. We order a glass of wine?Al a Cahors red, and I a Bergerac white and a large bottle of Badoit?our favorite water. For dessert, I order the coupe melba with juicy strawberries in a glaze and other fruits surrounding the vanilla ice cream.. Al tries the local nut cake which we saw at the market. We are filled to overflowing, Madame takes our picture (no doubt several pounds heavier already), we leave and stroll a bit and back home to our room. Tomorrow is our last day in Sarlat.
Market Day..it?s all that we saw on Wednesday and more and lots more people. We see people walking in from the outside parking areas. We each have our cameras and decide to try to get all the shots we haven?t so far. It is a cool sunny morning and we?re old hands by now. The same musical group is back but we have more time to listen..they lend an air of festivity but are no match for North Carolina fiddle players. The selection of fruits and vegetables are lovely?and the butchers arrive with huge refrigerated cases like the old butcher shops displayed where I grew up in New York. The cobblestones are freshly washed down for the market, but a massive clean up campaign will be underway later today in preparation of the Nuit de Patrimoine. Al and I decide to do a walk of the whole city after we visit at the market for a while, going on the ring road around the city and into the little streets where we?ve only ventured briefly. Once the market shuts down, we elect to have a light lunch where we meet a Dutch couple and stay and chat with them for a bit?very pleasant and they love France so we have lots to discuss. We notice on the way into town the same Chambres sign that led us to a B & B 12 or so years ago. We walk over there and see it is still the same pretty house as we remembered and reminisce about the funny Madame who ran the place?any question we asked her she responded indicating how we should feel about it?Is the bathroom in the room? Who needs a bathroom in the room when you have one right down the hall. Can we try out the mattress?...they are brand new, you will love them. People are funny the world over. We take a memory stroll through the Jardin Public ?pretty with lots of teenagers sprawled out on the large esplanade..then head to an exhibition at the Chapelle des Penitents Bleus featuring Romanesque architectural features. We feel that we have seen the town well and have enjoyed it and need a bit of down time, so we decide to go back to the B&B clean off the table and chairs in the messy garden (good thing I brought those Dove washcloths with me?ideal for such a job), put up the umbrella, bring out a bottle of mineral water and read for a couple of hours. It?s a nice way to wind down on our last day?we don?t feel like driving and tomorrow we will be driving for quite a bit. Late in the day we go down to the square for our verre de vin and there is more action than we can believe. The street cleaners are out in force, streets are being sprayed and scrubbed, microphones and speakers set up and stars appear to be arriving, surveying the setting and set-up. Thousands of votive candle holders in an amber tone and being lined up everywhere, on every bridge, building, in windows and along the base of walls?I?m excited. We decide to return to the Rossignol for our last night?while they could use a tip on the lighting (too bright) and add candles, they do have exquisite flowers everywhere in the restaurant and the food is superb. We pop in on our way back to our room and Madame (who does everything but cook it appears) seems a bit stressed, but she says our table will be ready. We soon discover upon return that the restaurant is complet, with a large party and about 5 other tables under her care. We tell her we will order our apéro and meal up front so we can see the Patrimoine; d?accord. The food is exceptionally good, we both have fish and our first courses from last night were so divine, we reorder the same. Another delicious dessert and we head out, just in time to follow the band who is playing a theme from Grieg and the people are following the band..we join in the parade and bask in the glow of this wonderful town..by now it is dark and the thousands of amber lights cast the most gorgeous glow over the whole town (will try to post photos later today). The mayor comes out on a second floor balcony and recounts the history of Sarlat and then the music and dancing continue. We head back..tomorrow we are off for a different experience.
I said earlier I would post the pros and cons of Chambres d?hôtes Toulemon, where we stayed. First the pluses?owners were very nice and did not require a euros deposit, they were welcoming and helpful upon arrival, the location was absolutely fantastic, and there was a mini-fridge where we could store mineral water or whatever. It was 37 euros per night with breakie only costing 5 euros more pp. Free parking was available just 3 blocks away. Now the minuses?they do not clean the rooms once you arrive..we found that strange and undesirable as we like to come back to a crisply arranged room and bath. But we made up our own bed and got over it; bed a tad lumpy and cover so heavy that I though we might have had one of those prehistoric animals on top of us. And lastly, from a gardeners view, I hope they take that terrace and front yard under advisement. It could be such an addition for guests.
Friday morning we awake to another gorgeous day. We decide we will seek out our breakfast alternative and find a salon de the..order one petit déjeuner complet and a café au lait. I don?t drink juice and the amount of bread to share is perfect. Now we feel much less weighed down and I got my real café au lait whirred up in the machine as I like it. I have been reading about Gourdon, and we can make a little circle coming around to several other spots we would like to see so off we go. It?s an easy drive, a beautiful day and Al stops several times along the road so I can get some photos for pantings? I know I want to do some hay bales with the mountains behind and a few barns and we see some nice shots so I climb around a few things and get some great light on the subjects. We arrive in Gourdon, whose main street reminds us both of Uzes..long avenue with a bit of a curve completely lined with plane trees. We stop at the tourist office, find out about the church ..Eglise St. Pierre..and about climbing to the top of the town where there is a Table d?orientation?one of those large flat slabs with a brass map of the town and all you can see from the viewing area. Town is empty, not much of a tourist stop.
We head to the Temple des Cordeliers ?the Franciscan church?which is now an exhibition hall?we stop in to the exhibition which is certainly a mixed bag and then go for lunch. We select a sidewalk restaurant on the main street where we order salades géantes. They aren?t kidding about the size..truly enormous.. mine with ham and potatoes is divine.. Al?s with tuna. Delicious country bread, with lots of rye in it and un petit pichet de rose The poor waiter appears to be the only one on duty and in addition to the 8 or 10 tables outside, there is an upstairs dining room which he is serving. Time and again we note that service people are racing around, handling so many tables it defies belief.
We are heading back West, planning to go to the jardins de Marqueyssac, with a stop in Daglan..a curiosity for me as we almost rented a house there and I would like to see what it is like. We decide to stop at an abbey on the way, not far off the road and it is one of those fabu surprises. We see a sign near Léobard which says Abbaye Nouvelle and we decide to make a detour. The old abbaye is huge, surrounded by farms and we park on the side of the road. No one is anywhere around?we climb all around the areas that aren?t fenced and look through the doors. It appears that it has been restored on the interior and based on the note on the door, they are using it for Mass on Sundays. It is a special place and I heartily recommend a stop. It is signposted from the road?other than that, I don?t know of any other information. We head on to Daglan, south of Sarlat just because I want to see what it looks like. We arrive and it is gorgeous. Small town with quite a number of art studios, a resto and beautiful homes. We don?t see any action?I guess late September is a quiet time. There is a little bridge over the river here..just a stop on the way, but what a picturesque one. We are glad we decided on Sarlat instead?we enjoy having the option of walking to restos and cafes and strolling in the evening. We have also enjoyed country vacations in France, but as we will be spending the second half of our vacation in the country, the busy town option is right for us. On to the Gardens of Marqueyssac and are there in 15 or 20 minutes. Although we have seen pictures, we are stunned when we see them in person. It is a huge series of sheered boxwoods in rounded forms, undulating throughout the terraces, tropical foliage and long paths and alleys leading up hills, to a chapel, to the chateau and overlooking the Dordogne river, non-stop
options for paths and vistas. It is magnificent. We stroll for a good hour before taking off for Sarlat another 20 minutes at most. Once back, we stroll down to our café where all the tables have a flyer on the Nuit de Patrimoine which will be taking place tomorrow. We are not sure what is involved, but are pinching ourselves that we will be there to experience it. Our waiter tells us it will be great and will start around 9. We sit and sip our glass of wine until the light starts to go down and casts a golden glow on the square.
We look at a few menus before going back to our b&b, and say Duck Duck Goose. The Rossignol is recommended in the Cadogan and Fodorite Betty recommended it last year, AND they have a menu option which features no DUCK DUCK GOOSE. We stop on the way back to our room and make a reso?the lady seems very nice. After dressing for dinner, we head back to the Rossignol (rue Fénélon) where we order our best meal so far. They bring a pâté mousse amuse-bouche with our kirs, Al orders the fish soup, seved beautifully with all the trimmings, and a beef dish. I order the smoked salmon followed by the monkfish (lotte) on a bed of sorrel. We are both delighted with our choices. We order a glass of wine?Al a Cahors red, and I a Bergerac white and a large bottle of Badoit?our favorite water. For dessert, I order the coupe melba with juicy strawberries in a glaze and other fruits surrounding the vanilla ice cream.. Al tries the local nut cake which we saw at the market. We are filled to overflowing, Madame takes our picture (no doubt several pounds heavier already), we leave and stroll a bit and back home to our room. Tomorrow is our last day in Sarlat.
Market Day..it?s all that we saw on Wednesday and more and lots more people. We see people walking in from the outside parking areas. We each have our cameras and decide to try to get all the shots we haven?t so far. It is a cool sunny morning and we?re old hands by now. The same musical group is back but we have more time to listen..they lend an air of festivity but are no match for North Carolina fiddle players. The selection of fruits and vegetables are lovely?and the butchers arrive with huge refrigerated cases like the old butcher shops displayed where I grew up in New York. The cobblestones are freshly washed down for the market, but a massive clean up campaign will be underway later today in preparation of the Nuit de Patrimoine. Al and I decide to do a walk of the whole city after we visit at the market for a while, going on the ring road around the city and into the little streets where we?ve only ventured briefly. Once the market shuts down, we elect to have a light lunch where we meet a Dutch couple and stay and chat with them for a bit?very pleasant and they love France so we have lots to discuss. We notice on the way into town the same Chambres sign that led us to a B & B 12 or so years ago. We walk over there and see it is still the same pretty house as we remembered and reminisce about the funny Madame who ran the place?any question we asked her she responded indicating how we should feel about it?Is the bathroom in the room? Who needs a bathroom in the room when you have one right down the hall. Can we try out the mattress?...they are brand new, you will love them. People are funny the world over. We take a memory stroll through the Jardin Public ?pretty with lots of teenagers sprawled out on the large esplanade..then head to an exhibition at the Chapelle des Penitents Bleus featuring Romanesque architectural features. We feel that we have seen the town well and have enjoyed it and need a bit of down time, so we decide to go back to the B&B clean off the table and chairs in the messy garden (good thing I brought those Dove washcloths with me?ideal for such a job), put up the umbrella, bring out a bottle of mineral water and read for a couple of hours. It?s a nice way to wind down on our last day?we don?t feel like driving and tomorrow we will be driving for quite a bit. Late in the day we go down to the square for our verre de vin and there is more action than we can believe. The street cleaners are out in force, streets are being sprayed and scrubbed, microphones and speakers set up and stars appear to be arriving, surveying the setting and set-up. Thousands of votive candle holders in an amber tone and being lined up everywhere, on every bridge, building, in windows and along the base of walls?I?m excited. We decide to return to the Rossignol for our last night?while they could use a tip on the lighting (too bright) and add candles, they do have exquisite flowers everywhere in the restaurant and the food is superb. We pop in on our way back to our room and Madame (who does everything but cook it appears) seems a bit stressed, but she says our table will be ready. We soon discover upon return that the restaurant is complet, with a large party and about 5 other tables under her care. We tell her we will order our apéro and meal up front so we can see the Patrimoine; d?accord. The food is exceptionally good, we both have fish and our first courses from last night were so divine, we reorder the same. Another delicious dessert and we head out, just in time to follow the band who is playing a theme from Grieg and the people are following the band..we join in the parade and bask in the glow of this wonderful town..by now it is dark and the thousands of amber lights cast the most gorgeous glow over the whole town (will try to post photos later today). The mayor comes out on a second floor balcony and recounts the history of Sarlat and then the music and dancing continue. We head back..tomorrow we are off for a different experience.
I said earlier I would post the pros and cons of Chambres d?hôtes Toulemon, where we stayed. First the pluses?owners were very nice and did not require a euros deposit, they were welcoming and helpful upon arrival, the location was absolutely fantastic, and there was a mini-fridge where we could store mineral water or whatever. It was 37 euros per night with breakie only costing 5 euros more pp. Free parking was available just 3 blocks away. Now the minuses?they do not clean the rooms once you arrive..we found that strange and undesirable as we like to come back to a crisply arranged room and bath. But we made up our own bed and got over it; bed a tad lumpy and cover so heavy that I though we might have had one of those prehistoric animals on top of us. And lastly, from a gardeners view, I hope they take that terrace and front yard under advisement. It could be such an addition for guests.
Sep 29th, 2004, 05:27 AM
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Robyn, please forgive me for interrupting your report, which by the way I have been enjoying immensely. It's just that like you I have never been able to figure out how to avoid having to edit out all those symbols, and when you raised the subject, I seized the day.
I shall now unseize it, and allow you to continue your most excellent report.
I shall now unseize it, and allow you to continue your most excellent report.
Sep 29th, 2004, 05:38 AM
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Sue my dear, you did not interrupt because it is driving me crazy too--I am a dash dash kinda gal--not a ?? kinda gal--and I bet u r the same. I did send a note to Fodors and perhaps they will respond before I finish my journal.
Bonne journée!
Robyn France
Bonne journée!
Robyn France
Sep 29th, 2004, 06:15 AM
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Hi robyn,
Thanks for all the info.
>a little babe in arms points to one of the animals and starts yelling..une vache une grande vache..a big cow..<
Isn't it amazing how those little European kids can speak foreign languages?
Thanks for all the info.
>a little babe in arms points to one of the animals and starts yelling..une vache une grande vache..a big cow..<
Isn't it amazing how those little European kids can speak foreign languages?
Sep 29th, 2004, 08:40 AM
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Sue--I'm no expert but my experience is that any text written before one saves as "text only" will not format properly. I open a new document, save it as "text only", and then re-open the document to write the actual text.
Sep 29th, 2004, 02:30 PM
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Dear, dear RobynFrance, thank you for my daily Dordogne fix. Salivating as usual about your meanderings. Just wondered, we are thinking of staying at Vezac at Chateau Nineyrol which they say is located below Chateau Marquissac, is that they same area where the Jardin is, and would be a central area for touring? Don't go anywhere over the next six month will you, lots more questions coming. Merci.
Sep 29th, 2004, 02:38 PM
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Hi toni
>..we are thinking of staying at Vezac at Chateau Nineyrol ...<
Oh drat. Just when I thought that I had worked out my accomodations for my 2005 trip.
You might also want to look at
http://www.hotels-sarlat-perigord.co...equestedPdt=12
http://www.accomline.com/hotels.rese...et_Cazenac.htm
http://www.frenchconnections.co.uk/accom/1729.html
>..we are thinking of staying at Vezac at Chateau Nineyrol ...<
Oh drat. Just when I thought that I had worked out my accomodations for my 2005 trip.
You might also want to look at
http://www.hotels-sarlat-perigord.co...equestedPdt=12
http://www.accomline.com/hotels.rese...et_Cazenac.htm
http://www.frenchconnections.co.uk/accom/1729.html
Sep 29th, 2004, 03:08 PM
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Toni--Vezac would be centrally located and near Sarlat and it is the same Marqueyssac. You will have to drive out for dinner if you choose not to eat at your hotel, at least some of the time. That is a lovely area, and you don't have the Sarlat traffic, but you also can't walk to cafes and restaurants and stroll during the day and evening. So I would suggest that you weigh what is important to you and whether you're ok with driving at night. As we typically have wine and it is after a long day, my husband, who does all the driving, really looks forward to a pedestrian option in the evening You will adore the area--it is beautiful.
Sep 30th, 2004, 03:51 AM
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Greetings all--I have posted my photos from the first part of our trip on the MSN site--have never done that before so please tell me if it works for you--
http://groups.msn.com/DordogneandLot-2004RobynFrance.
Mimi--I put 2 paintings at the end for you.
Part 2 of the trip on the way.
Take care,
Robyn France
http://groups.msn.com/DordogneandLot-2004RobynFrance.
Mimi--I put 2 paintings at the end for you.
Part 2 of the trip on the way.
Take care,
Robyn France
Sep 30th, 2004, 04:28 AM
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http://groups.msn.com/DordogneandLot-2004RobynFrance
Ira
I had put a period at the end before--maybe that gave a problem. I hope this works.
Ira
I had put a period at the end before--maybe that gave a problem. I hope this works.
Sep 30th, 2004, 07:43 AM
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Great photos, Robyn, and wonderful paintings. The photos and your report bring back fond memories of our stay in the Dordogne.
One small correction, however. The photo labelled "Les Eyzies" is actually of La Roque-Gageac. (The chateau in the background is La Malartrie, which we and ten friends rented for 2 weeks this past June).
One small correction, however. The photo labelled "Les Eyzies" is actually of La Roque-Gageac. (The chateau in the background is La Malartrie, which we and ten friends rented for 2 weeks this past June).
