Actually it is a golf reference...

Phil Mickelson won the Masters in 06...MasterPhil...hahaha

Seriously!

Thanks for bringing up Barbara Eden though!! I did "Dream of Jeannie" often! haha

OK..I'll stop! :)

Wren: We did not have time to walk around Martell although I would have liked to. Just as St. Cirq wrote, it is not manicured like some of the other towns in the area but it is attractive and looked inviting to me. The first time I ate at the walnut mill, we combined it (we were staying in Sarlat) with a visit to Collonges La Rouge, which IS manicured, but is astoundingly beautiful as far as building materials and architecture. I would highly recommend a visit to Collonges La Rouge IF you are outside the heavy tourist season, when the town/village would easily be overwhelemed. (It was fairly empty in early May) Note that there are several festivals in the town; see first website linked below:

For sheer beauty, Collonges would make my top ten list!

Photos:


http://www.collonges-la-rouge.fr/



http://tinyurl.com/clwjj6



I had two lunches at the walnut mill, on two different trips, and really enjoyed the meal both times.

We also had a great meal at L'Esplanade, Phil!

Caneoing down the river from Beynac
Picnicking alongside the river on your wonderful supplies purchased at the Sarlat markets
Taking a scenic flight over the area
Dining at Belle Etoile (still salivating about dessert)

Stu-actually we have friends, both French (Loire- Atlantique) and American (Floridians and Californians) joining us almost everyday for the two weeks--but, hey, we are open--the more the merrier!

We will be in the Dordogne near Cenac from 6/13 to 6/27.
Drop me an e-mail

[email protected]

Stu Dudley

Chiming in for a GTG -- I am here (Pont de Cause, near Castelnaud) now, through October. Would love to meet up, depending on my schedule.

My top 10: (in no particular order)
-museum at Chateau Castelnaud
-canoeing from Vitrac to Beynac
-day trip to Grotte de Pech Merle, lunch in St. Cirq-Lapopie
-hike on petit randonnée #14 (Balade Medievale de Castelnaud)
-bike on Céou Valley greenway from near Castelnaud to Daglan (picnic on the way or have lunch at Le Petit Paris)
-market at St. Cyprien (Wednesday) or Sarlat (Saturday)
-Sarlat at night
-Restaurants: Cabanoix et Chataigne (Domme/casual); La Belle Etoile (La Roque Gageac); Le Grand Bleu (Sarlat); Relais de Cinq Chateaux (Vezac); Le Petit Paris (Daglan)
--one afternoon La Roque Gageac, Beynac and Domme (save Domme for last, when the light is coming in from the west)
-- go to a brocante fair or even a good vide grenier, if there's one happening when you're in the area
-- drive along the south bank of the D-river from Castelnaud, past magnificent Chateau Fayrac (private) to Les Milandes and visit Josephine Baker's museum there. Nice lunch/tea spot on the castle grounds. Then cross over the river to St. Cyprien, and wander around this less touristic, sweet French village on a hill, checking on the houses, roofs, architecture, nooks & crannies.
--drive around in the bastide hills (Monpazier, Belves, Villefrance) and get lost, and find your way back again!

Sorry, more than ten here, but I could go on and on.

Let's GTG!

La Tour--we will be there from June 13-27--we would love a GTG--is there a way to contact you so we can coordinate?

Wren -- Absolutely! Email me directly at woodbild (at) sonic (dot) net and I'll send you my French phone number. If others are interested maybe I can even set up a snacky lunch at my house, which is centrally located and not hard to find, about 4 km from Cénac in the Céou Valley (between Castelnaud & St. Cybranet).

You're less than 10 mins from our Gite. We're game for any day June 15th through the afternoon of the 17th, and then any day June 25th through the 26th.

Stu Dudley

Hello. I am getting a few more tips from all of you and huge THANKS. My husband and I will be in a tiny hamlet named Meyrals near Sarlat from June 14th through to the 20th. I think a dinner or a GTG would be super.
On a different note, would you offer suggestions for a 2 night stay in Toulouse, June 8-10 . We will have a car. Price range 70-90 euro. I cannot get my head going about that city. We might then drift up to Saint Cirq and Lapopie for a 3 day look about before our stay in Meyrals

<<We might then drift up to Saint Cirq and Lapopie for a 3 day look about before our stay in Meyrals>>

I sure wouldn't plan three whole days in St-Cirq-Lapopie, if that's what you're thinking. A half-day or an overnight, yes, or three days in the AREA, yes, but three whole days there would make me bonkers.

Admittedly, I'm not a fan of the place. There are plenty of other, more interesting things to do in the "neighborhood."

Hello Annieladd,
I wish I could be one of the contributors to the top 10; I guess I am an interloper gleaning from your question in order to feed our trip. I hope you are not offended.
StCirq, thank you for the much needed time "detour" for our 4 drifting days after Toulouse and prior to Meyrals. I also relish the forth coming ideas for our 5 days after Sarlat (gite in Meyrals) when we must land up in La Raochelle. June 25th
Laura

We will be there in October staying in Sarlat for a week, enjoying your ideas.
Thank you

Stu -- Sounds like your best days during that time period are the 15th, 16th and 17th, and the 25th & 26th. Am I reading that correctly?
Let's work on making the GTG happen...lunch is best for me, but I can be flexible with enough notice. And the sun will shine and the poppies will be still be blooming everywhere, and we'll have a fabulous lunch at some new discovery and we'll post the reviews here!

We may have a few days available in between those dates. Some friends are arriving, but they may visit some other area for a few days.

E-Mail me at [email protected] & I'll give you my French Cell number & the land line of our Gite.

Stu Dudley

Laura--aka curiousaboutit...La Tour, Stu, and I are trying to agree on a GTG date...if you will give me your email address, I can contact you to let you know what we come up with. By the way, Meyrals is the closest town to the one where we will be.

Hi Wren, my e-mail address is [email protected]. We look forward to a GTG. We also wish we could get more input about where most of you have gone between Toulouse and Sarlat (5ish days). Towns,restaurants, and points of interest. We also wonder where you all have meandered between Saralt and La Rochelle (5 days). We are planning on booking an anniversary dinner at L'Esplande...sounds too much fun and yummy not to.

Sorry to miss this GTG -- Would be my third so far in 2009. We are in the Dordogne from May 23, leaving to return to Canada on June 3. A few weeks later and we might have met!!

Sorry we will miss you, tedgale---maybe another time?