ekscrunchy

On our third morning in San Sebastian, we took the breakfast at Hotel Niza. There is no a la carte for breakfast, it is the buffet or nothing. Next time we will eat our breakfast outside the hotel.

Our double room, non sea-view, at the Hotel Niza cost 113 Euro per night plus 7% tax. It appears to be the luck of the draw whether or not you receive a sea view but even without one, the hotel was nice enough for the price and I would probably return.

We taxied to the Eusko-tren station in time to purchase tickets (no line) for the 8:45 am commuter train to the border at Hendaye. I should take a moment here to thank my traveling partner as well as all of the unnamed good samaritans who helped me at every station with my embarrasingly large black wheeled suitcase. A note of thanks to you all. In my own favor, I will say that perhaps next time I should edit the selections of my traveling library which seemed to be responsbile for so much of the heaviness of my bag. On this trip, in the spirit of taking responsibility and admitting the errors of one's ways, here is a list of the books I carried:

1. Cadogan Bilbao and the Basque Lands. Indispensible.
2. Cadogan Dordogne and the Lot. Indispensible.
3. Collected Traveler: Southwest France. Essential for anyone planning a visit to the region. I spent more enthused hours with this than with any other book of the trip.
4. Paris to the Moon..Adam Gopnik.. a classic
5. Emperor of Wine: The Rise of Robert M. Parker, Jr. Excellent book; still reading; did not crack on trip
6. Cadogan Paris..great for sights
7. Zagat Paris..handy
8. Time Out Paris..see #6. Dispensible.
9. Time Out Eating and Drinking Paris..poorly organized but on-spot reviews.
10. Collected Traveler: Paris..read at home; not essential

And so, bags dragging, we alighted at Hendaye after an inexpensive trip of about an hour or so on the cute blue Euskotren. Reminded me a bit of the subways we had in NYC years ago. A walk of a few steps brought us into the Hendaye SCNF station where we purchased tickets for the 10:29 train to Perigueux with a change in Bordeaux. While waiting for this train, we visited the ATm across the street and ventured out for fresh read to complete our much-awited jamon Iberico and Iziazabal lunch en route.

I wish I could report more on the trip from the border to Bordeaux, which promised plesant scenery as the train skirted the sea and passed through St. Jean de Luz, Biarritz, and Les Landes. My attention, however, ws distracted for much of the journey by the train conductor who had developed an intense interest in my traveling companion. This man is a "controller" of the train and I can only imagine that the other cars were rather uncontrolled since all of this man's attention was taken by regaling us with his tales of finding a wife on a French lonelyhearts web site and traveling to Madagascar to meet her and to wed. He appeared to be in the market for a second partner, to judge from the attention he was showering on my friend. After revealing more than a few details of his personal life, and showering us with Bordeaux from the train cafe, he reluctantly assisted me (the bag, again) in my descent from the train in Bordeaux.

After about an hour in the Bordeaux train station waiting room, which included a visit to the tourist office at the front of the station, manned by a very friendly and helpful person well-armed with maps and brochures, we dragged our bags down and up the steps to the indicated track and caught the train bound for Perigueux. An easy trip of about an hour and a half left us at the train station in that town, from where it was a 3 minute walk (right turn after exiting station; no signs point the way) to the Europcar office where we were introduced to our no-key, push-button-start automatic emergency brake diesel Renault Scenic rented through Autoeurope at a pre-paid price of $360.00.
(Price represented a discount of $40.00 to allow us to take a taxi but that is a long and not interesting story; suffice to say that they are esy to work with)
After a brief lesson in the operation of this new-fangled vehicle (which would unfortunately meet a rather sad fate later in the week) my friend pronounced that she was ready to take on the Dordogne. She did an amazing drive of driving (the entire week, even as far as Oradour-sur-Glane northwest of Limoges but that will come later in this story), and after about an hour and a half we arrived in Domme where we had booked a rental house for one week and where we were to meet up with the four other persons who would complete our group of six. It took us quite a while to locate the house, Les Rosiers, and when we did we found it locked but all that was straightened out in due time and we hopefully walked (and dragged our bags) through the blood-red front door of this stone walled, red shuttered centuries-old structure covered with graceful wisteria vines.

ekscrunchy

I will finish off this long day by mentioning that we had reserve in advance (good thing we did as they were fully booked and people were turned away) at Cabenoix et Chataigne in Domme. This is a cute little restaurant in the center of Domme. The daily offerings are written on a blackboard. The menu is somewhat adventurous for the region..a lamb tajine, a porcini risotto, etc, along with several fish offerings and fois gras in quite a few permutations. We had a decent, if unexciting meal and my opinion is that the place should concentrate on doing a few things well rather than overreach. The desserts were excellent and the place is convenient in tourist-oriented Domme. And thus ended our first day in the Dordogne.....we will awaken tomorrow, Sunday, with plans to visit St. Cyprien market, lunch at a ferme auberge, and stock up the house at the large Casino supermarket not far from Domme on the Sarlat road. More soon......

cigalechanta

We stayed one night in Bilbao. Our visit was to see the Guggenheim. As we apprioached it, I thought it looked like a space ship had crashed. We were there shortly after it opened. Koon's "pup" was out front and we didn't like the Serra's installation two huge curved iron walls.
We thought the food exceptional in the Museum. At night we made the rounds of the tapas bars in the old part of town.now i'm anxious to what you felt about Oradour.
Loving your trip but you've made me hungry

ekscrunchy

I was surprised at how much I liked the Serra installation. But the "pup" is kind of silly, don't you think? Maybe because I had seen him before, or his relative, at Rockefeller Center. I liked the huge glass spider better. I wish we had had time to explore the city on a non-fiesta day and spend a night there. It certainly was an oversight not to reserve lunch the museum. I did not see any sign of tapas at the bar area, but maybe that was just poor timing.

mikelg

Just a note: people from Bilbao (Bilbaoans¿?) are considered to be a bit "show offs" (not sure if translating properly), and we like to say over here that we brought Puppy ("the pup&quot first and then we had to build him a proper kennel...just behind!

ekscrunchy

Very funny! I like it. Is it Bilbaienos? (with tilde over the "n"?)

cova

Hi ekscrunchy,

bilbainos (but I am awful with tildes and I don´t remember if there is one over the i).

Puppy was supposed to be a temporal installation, but ended up being way too loved by the people in town. Twice a year the flowers are changed (and with it, its colour), and the kids can take part at a contest in the museum and bring home one of the small potted plants. The daughter of one of my friends loves it.

Mikel, I am heading to Bilbao this weekend. I hope it is true that it is not raining, because I am bored to death with rain and wind in Madrid ...

Cova

mikelg

Cova, you wouldn´t believe the weather we are having, 24º and sunny...everyday for the past two weeks..and no signs of rain

then again, it wouldn´t be a surprise if it rains on a weekend...

ekscrunchy

Cova, I hope I did not insult the puppy or hurt his feelings with my comments. The involvement of the children puts a new light on him. He is kind of cute!

ekscrunchy

Our first morning in the rental house n Domme, we walked up the hill to the boulangerie and purchased bread and croissants. Then picked up two Herald Tribunes and a Sud-Ouest from the nearby epicerie. At the boulangerie, noting that the lady in charge looked like she knew good food, we asked her for her rcommendations for a good ferme-auberge lunch in the area. After consulting with the other customers in the bakery, she recommended the farm of the Fagets in Marnac. Thus armed with bread, newspapers and a promising lead for lunch, we returned to the house for breakfast. After breakfast, we set off for the Sunday market in St. Cyprien.

St. Cyprien has a sprawling Sunday market and we did much provisioning for the house there. One highlight were the roast chickens with pommes Sardalaise that we picked up for dinner that night. Highly recommended, these chickens and potatoes were to become one of my best food memories of the week. The market was also overflowing with porcini mushrooms (cepes) and other autumnal goodies.

Once our shopping was finished, we set off for the Faget's farm. Located in beautiful countryside outside Marnac, the farm is called Ferme Auberge des Tilleuls (tel 05-53-30-30-26). Bernard and Nadia produce fois gras, pates, confits, vegetables and other produce and offer lunch for a most reasonable price in a pretty dining room with a fireplace. For about 20 E. per person, we had a multi course meal of frisee with smoked magret and pates; confit de canard or pigeon; potatoes; lovely ice cream desserts the name of which I cannot recall. Local walnut aperitifs and a Bergerac pecharmant completed the excellent meal. This ferme auberge and others in the area are listed in a helpful booklet with a green cover available free at the local tourist offices. I highly recommend the fermes for an alternative to restaurant lunches and we had the opporunity to visit another wonderful one later in the week.

moolyn

ekscrunchy, I'm still enjoying your report and making notes for our next trip to the Dordogne. We have so many happy memories of our trip there in June. The edit function seems to be working now, thankfully.

ekscrunchy

Thank you Moolyn. You were a great help in planning my trip. Next time make sure to get the ferme auberge booklet from the tourist office for some great tips on good inexpensive meals. I am sorry I am dawdling with this report....so much food info and not all that much else....I had so much fun that I am thinking about doing another rental sometime soon. This was my first experience with renting a house and it certainly is a good way to go.

bill_boy

ekscrunchy,

Looks like a good find with that farm lunch.

Those very inviting poullet roti that everybody seems to be lining up for in the St. Cyprien market were on our "to eat list" but didn't know how to buy and keep it in our car, as we had the rest of the day planned for more driving around.

Good report. The Basque blips just got louder on our radar screen.

robjame

ekscrunchy - great report and about my favourite subject - food. That Sunday market at St Cyprien was the one we liked best. I can picture the roast chickens there - they looked so delicious. The other thing that looked so good was the huge pans of paella. mmm.

ekscrunchy

Bill, you need to heed those blips!

I had no idea these chickens were so renowned. The same vendor also had ducks that looked amazing. (We looked for roast chicken again at the Sarlat market on Wednesday and were told that Sarlat did not allow any cooking at their Wednesday market. I was quite disappointed because although we did buy chicken in Sarlat at a rotisserie, it did not compare to the St. Cyprien ones.) And the carcasses of those St. Cyprien chickens made an amazing soup later in the week. But even better than the chicken, I think, were those potatoes! We also bought brandade de morue from the fish vendor at the market but this was not as big a hit as the chicken by any means. There is also a terrific vendor of cabecou and other cheeses that we saw again twice that week at other markets.

After lunch at Marnac, we drove to the Casino hypermarche outside Sarlat, making note of a sign along the road outside Beynac announcing fresh cepes (next to a roast chicken place that was closed on Sunday).

We went a bit wild in the supermarket, piling carts high with all sorts of foodstuffs, as we planned to have lunches out and most dinners at the house. The rental house came with virtually no staples in the kitchen; we had to buy soap, salt, paper towels, and olive oil, etc. I wonder about all of the great stuff we had to leave behind...still there for the next group? I should mention a great gift item: Fleur de Sel which is quite inexpensive comapred to US prices..I paid just under 3 Euro for one of the little cork-topped round containers from the Camargue. And of course we stocked up on wines; Bergerac pecharmant; Monbazillac; Cahors; Madiran; Jurancon; Gaillac... we bought them all! Fabulous!

That about completed our first day in the Dordogne. You know the dinner menu so I will close here and return tomorrow, a day when many restaurants are closed.

fun4all4

Yummmm.....sounds like a great trip. We will be in the Dordogne in July so I am following along for restaurant ideas! Thanks.

moolyn

ekskrunchy, we were disappointed in the Sarlat rotisserie chicken too. We didn't make the Sunday St. Cyprien market but I'm noting that famous St. Cyprien chicken with pommes Sardalaise for next time.

ekscrunchy

On Monday, our second full day in the region, we set out after breakfast in the house in Domme for Chateau Marqueyssac, which sits high on a ridge overlooking the Dordogne River and its valley. Along with the exterior of the imposing chateau, the attractions here are 16th Century gardens which sprawl over many acres and across terraces planted with over 150,000 exquisitely trimmed boxwood hedges. There are several trails winding through the gardens and marked to indicate the plant specimens, including one that leads to a belvedere with a stunning view of the river and the town of La Roque far below.

After a stroll along the trails, it was time for lunch. This being a Monday, La Belle Etoile was closed, as were many other restaurants in the area. Chateau Marqueyssac offers dining at outdoor tables on a terrace with a superb view of the valley and it was here that we had a light lunch of salads, cider, and ice cream desserts. Although the food is not inspiring it was satisfactory and the restaurant was certainly convenient on a day when there were few options in the area and when the weather was lovely.

After lunch we drove the few minutes to La Roque Gageac, one of France's Plus Belle Villages and certainly worthy of this designation with its maze of honey-colored stone houses tumbling down a south-facing cliff seemingly into the Dordogne below. We parked the car in one of the large metered lots at road level and soon boarded the 2pm gabare tour offered by:

www.norbert.fr

The hour-long guided tour in French but, with English translation headsets, takes visitors in a flat-bottomed boat of the type that once plied this section of the river carrying cheeses, oak from which wine barrels were crafted, and chestnut which was formed into stakes for the vines, from the upper stretches of the river downstream to Bergerac. This river trade died out after the railway line reached Sarlat and the rest of the Valley beginning in the late 19th Century.

At the edge of La Roque Gageac we passed a structure known as the Leper's house, where the afflicted of the town were made to live as a kind of human shield to deter intruders from entering the village. Or so the guide said.... I found this fascinating. The guide gives a set speech but is most willing to answer questions we had incuding some about fishing in the River; salmon and other fish were once plentiful but any salmon on menus in the area nowdays is most likely farmed and certainly not from the immediate area.

After the conclusion of the tour, we piled into the cars and backtracked west towards St. Cyprien to seek out the cepe vendor we had seen the day before. We found him inside his hangar-like warehouse piled with wooden crate of the edible mushroom. The vendor is a middleman between the mushrooms gatherers and area restaurants and he was an excellent source of information regarding places to eat. The cepes were priced at 12 Euro per kilo (I saw them last week in New York City for $48.00 per pound!) We purchased a two kilo crate and set off towards Domme with our bounty. For dinner that night we had......yes, cepes! Sauteed in olive oil with shallots and parsley and served with crusty baguette traditional. (Bakeries often sell two types of baguette, the ordinary one and the more costly but usually far superior "traditional" baguette, so make sure to ask for these) The mushrooms we did not use that night found their way later in the week into a hearty soup (we saved those chicken carcasses from the night before for stock) later in the week.

.......tomorrow..Le Bugue Tuesday market, the Route du Cingle, lunch at the vaunted Le Vieux Logis in Tremolat, and many miles of Michelin "green" (scenic) roads.

moolyn

ekscrunchy, I'm anxiously waiting to see whether you enjoyed your Tuesday outings and eatings as much as we did!

hopingtotravel

Did you use the headphones on the gabare cruise? We were the only English speakers on ours. I tried the headphones briefly--pretty scratchy. I did manage to hear the part where 12 houses of La Roque Gigeac were destroyed when part of the cliffs slid away, killing the 3 people who were not in church that Sunday. Hmmm. Luckily I had one night of sleep before I heard all this stuff!