Friday, September 9

DH and I got a much earlier start than our friends. We had an early breakfast, checked out of the B & B, and headed to Rocamadour. We were nice and early and beat any and all crowds. We took l'ascenseur down from L'Hospitalet to the sanctuary level. We enjoyed the beautiful morning, visited the Chapelle Notre-Dame with the Black Madonna. We also walked part way up on the Way of the Stations of the Cross. Then back to L'Hospitalet for some more photos.

We then headed back to the Domaine to see if our friends were up and at'em. They were moving very slowly, so we told them we would meet them around 4:00 in Turenne.

DH and I then left and went to Autoire. Then had some coffee at St. Cere. We saw signs for a golf course, and decided to have a look-see. The best part of the detour was coming upon the view of Chateau de Montal. The story in the Green Guide about this chateau is enough to break your heart.

Now off to Loubressac. A lovely village. We walked around and then had a leisurely lunch. I had a fabulous walnut salad, DH (gluten-free) had his usual omelette. We dined on a terrace with a wonderful view.

Now, heading back down from Loubressac, we were sailing along without a care in the world, when all of a sudden, a utility van came flying around the corner, half in our lane. We had little room on the right to move over. A HUGE "WHAP" sound...DH says "what the H was that"?? Yup. His sideview mirror was now dangling. Of course, the van just continued on his merry way. As soon as we could, we pulled over to try and at least set the mirror (cracked in a million pieces and with no back plastic housing left) back so it is not dangling. It took a few different stops to finally "fix" it so it was not dangling anymore.

DH takes in all in stride. A broken mirror is not going to upset him on vacation.

As a side note: I called my Visa card. I have to get all sorts of documentation etc. The charge to my Visa card is just under $500...I am pondering chalking it up to the cost of the vacation VS. working to get the claim paid by Visa.

Next stop Carennac with the beautiful cloisters and lovely houses.

Collonges-la-Rouge. We just drove by. It looked packed with buses and people. We were spoiled by the serenity of the other places we had visited. We had no desire to join the masses.

On to Turenne. Nigel brought us some convuluted way. We ended up at 3:55 at the back of Turenne. No possible way in. The road was barred. We had to find our way to the other side of the village. We were going to meet our friends at 4:00. Somehow, we got around to the front, no thanks to Nigel. I imagined Turenne to be so little that we would find our friends easily. It is not quite that little, but as luck would have it, Mr. P had gone back to his car for his Green Guide, and we spotted him almost immediately. The 6 of us explored Turenne together, and then headed for Sarlat, our next stop.

I have lost two or three side view mirrors on the battlefield over the years. Generally, I have been debited a considerable amount for a start and then refunded a reasonable amount later (usually after reminding them). Replacement and installation of a mirror should run less than 100€ in my book, but some of the companies have a complete price list of each item that you can consult. I know the cheapest item is the two little front fender plastic covers on the blinkers, because I have paid for them as well when they disappeared during the night -- those cost me about 30€ from Hertz.

Thanks, Kerouac! I think I will persue this. I would rather put the $500 towards another trip! Gathering the information from here does seem daunting, however.

I smacked mirrors with a larger campervan as I drove our rented high top van to Rocamadour back in the 1980s. That SMACK sound sure made us jump too! The other van had exactly the same damage so we shook hands and each continued on our way. Luckily only the mirror was damaged... I picked up a new one 2 days later at a Citroen dealer for 60 bucks.

The first time it happened to me, I immediately went to the internet and checked out the "spare parts" sites for the car I had been using to see exactly the price of the item and if possible the cost of installing a replacement. It is good to know such things before you write your first letter.

Kansas, so sorry to hear about your sideswiping accident. Those roads are narrow and they sure do come around those curves fast. So many times I've been fearful of the very same thing.

We are really enjoying your report, bringing back fond memories of our recent trip. Your stops sound so familiar. We also stayed at Domaine de La Rhue and loved it as well..

Keep the report coming...

ParisAmsterdam, I do not think I will forget that WHOP sound for a long time. It was just such a SURPRISE!

I e-mailed avis.fr asking for some documentation. I received some gibberish from them. Lots of words with the "&" sign in them. I think it was just an e-mail telling me mine was received. It wasn't in French and it surely wasn't English either! We shall see....

St. Cirq, I am going to buy some walnut oil today. We also had walnut souffle for dessert one day. Fabulous!

Winnick, we enjoyed your trip report and especially your photo book! Thanks for reading this!

So, back to the story. We left Turenne late Friday afternoon, and headed to Sarlat. No one trusts Nigel anymore, so Mr. P decided to be the lead dog. I hope he does not read this, but, honestly, he was no better than Nigel. He was leading us way too far north. We needed to be going southwest towards Sarlat. DH and I finally decided to leave the pack and forge our own trail.

We arrived in Sarlat, but then I realized I had no address for Les Cordeliers. I had put Nigel back to work, but he did not have Les Cordeliers in his databank as "Lodging". So we pulled over and I asked a man for directions. He did not know where Rue Les Cordeliers was either. But, he was kind enough to search for someone who could help us. As we were standing alongside the road, I spotted our friends coming along. I signaled for them to pull over. We got our directions from the nice man and were able to find our B & B.

Les Cordeliers has been mentioned here quite often lately. We loved it. Chris and Amanda were wonderful hosts. The breakfasts were great, rooms enormous, and my wifi worked perfectly on the top floor. No complaints whatsoever. It was everything we wanted. We stayed here for 6 nights.

I had asked Chris to make us a dinner reservation for our first night because I knew we would arrive late. He chose Le Presidial for our first night in Sarlat. It was a perfectly balmy evening and we enjoyed a wonderful meal sitting outside. The one thing that did amaze me about the dinner was the sizes of the portions. We ordered "le menu". First, the walnut wine with an amuse bouche. Then a starter of escargots with duck foie gras (12 escargots!). The plat of duck was about 12 slices of duck, and some vegetables. Followed by a cheese course, and dessert. We literally waddled away from the table.

Saturday, September 10

We spent the day in Sarlat. The men did not want to see the insides of the cars for the whole day. So, we enjoyed the market, and just chilled out the whole day in Sarlat. It was relaxing and just plain wonderful to be there.

It is indeed important to understand that portions can be considerably larger in the provinces than in Paris. There are many times when the "menu à 12€" can just about make you explode from overeating.

bmk

Kerouac, it took us a few meals to get the hang of ordering less food. If we had not figured it out, I doubt we would have fit into those skinny coach seats on the way home...

Saturday evening we had dinner at Le Bistro de L'Octroi. Another perfect evening eating outdoors. The meals were beautifully presented. The setting is not what Le Presidial is, but still most enjoyable.

Sunday, September 11

Font de Gaume day! I had reserved our tickets for F de G many, many months ago. Then paid for the tickets last April. We had an 11:00 a.m. tour in English. Our guide was Jean-Marie whose love for Font de Gaume was very evident. He was the ultimate guide. He described how the bison would "move" when seen by torchlight. He was extremely passionate, and his fervor was contagious. It was a thrill to experience Font de Gaume with him.

We had to make tracks today after being so lazy yesterday. We followed the cave experience up with La Roque Saint-Christophe. The weather could not have been more perfect. What's not to love?

Next stop, St. Leon sur Vezere. A lovely, peaceful village with the Romanesque church. We also had lunch here.

And the last stop of the day was La Maison Forte de Reignac, the amazing cliff castle. 3 of us missed the "torture" display. After hearing about it from those who saw it, I think I am glad I missed it. Who needs nightmares when on vacation?

After the full day, we headed back to Sarlat. Dinner was in the medieval village. Nothing grand but good.

<i>Our first taste of the famed walnut wine. We were hooked!</i>

<b>Vin de Noix</b>

Ingredients:

35 green walnuts picket between June 21 and June 24

6 bottles (750m. each) dry red wine.

1 quart vodka

4½ cups sugar

Score the walnuts, or cut them in half, and place them in a clean, dry wide-mouthed glass jar or ceramic crock large enough to hold them and the wine. Pour in the wine. Cover the jar or crock, put it in a cool, dark place, and let stand for 40 days. At the end of that time, strain the wine into a clean, dry crock, or jar or any non-reactive pot large enough to hold it. Discard the walnuts.

Pour the vodka into a nonreactive pot or bowl. Add the sugar and stir until it has dissolved, about 10 minutes. Pour the sugar-vodka mixture into the wine and stir well. Using a funnel and a ladle, fill the bottles to within 1½ inches of the tops. Cork and seal the bottles. Screw top wine bottles work well for this.

The wine mellows in the bottle, so it is recommended that it is kept sealed for a year, but in fact it is drinkable within a month of bottling.

<i>Eau de noix</i> is done in a similar manner but just with vodka, at which point it is closer to <i>nocino</i>, or with wine to reduce the alcohol content to approximately 30%. In both preparations, one could add a cinnamon stick or a vanilla bean with the walnuts to create a subtle variation to the drink.

Wow, Michael! That sounds like a fun project for next summer! Have you ever tried it? We have black walnut trees in our yard. I am fairly sure that would NOT be a suitable substitute for making a delicious wine!

Monday, September 12

We visited Castlenaud first. Loved everything about it. We spent some time trying to figure out which house belonged to the couple who wrote "A Castle in the Backyard".

We had lunch at Les Tilleuls, and sat on a terrace with a great view of Castlenaud.

Next stop was Les Milandes. DH and I had both read a biography of Josephine Baker before the trip. Knowing her story greatly added to the enjoyment of the tour. The photo of Ms. Baker, sitting on the steps outside her kitchen, is enough to bring one to tears. After touring the inside of Les Milandes, we saw the birds of prey show. This was well worth attending. We all enjoyed it immensely.

And finally, we ended the day with the Jardins de Marqueyssac. We enjoyed the maze of boxwoods, and the gorgeous views from the Belvedere. DH was worried that I would get some crazy ideas for my own yard and hand him the hedge clippers the day we got home!

Then we headed back to Sarlat. Once again, we decided to eat in the medieval village, at one of the many cafes near Hotel de Ville. As we were eating, there was a mime working the street....he would follow people, and mimic their walks, their stances, etc. It was very humorous and all in good fun!

So, all in all, we had a most enjoyable day!

I do it every year. You could try it with black walnut, it's only a bottle of wine and sugar (hold off on the vodka until you taste it) if you reduce the proportions accordingly. I have been told that it can be done with just the leaves, but I do not know the steeping time. With cherry leaves (55 of them per bottle of wine) it's just one week of steeping before removing the leaves and then adding the sugar and alcohol.

So far so good... no lost teeth or wallet as yet! ;^)

Next summer, I will try to make some vin de noix, Michael. Thanks for the recipe.

And, we will soon be at the tooth episode, Paris Amsterdam!

Tuesday, September 13

In my huge sheaf of notes, I remember cutting and pasting something like "the best thing about Beynac is the view". We almost skipped Beynac, because, honestly, there are gorgeous views at every turn. But, at breakfast, we decided since we were here, we would go see it. Thank heavens we did. We loved, loved, loved Beynac. Nigel did himself proud this day. I entered "Chateau de Beynac" and Nigel took us to the parking lot UP NEAR THE TOP!! Way to go, Nigel!

As we were approaching, Beynac suddenly appeared with the lower portion in a layer of fog, and the upper part against the bright blue sky. What a sight! (I will post pictures at the end...I am close to knowing how to do it!)

We spent a lot of time at the Chateau, and then walked down almost to the bottom of the village. We had a grand morning.

Next, we decided that we would take the Gabare Norbert boat ride in order to see La Roque Gageac from the river. We bought our tickets for a later trip, then went and had lunch. The gabare boat ride was relaxing and very enjoyable.

While in La Roque Gageac, we made dinner reservations for the next night at La Belle Etoile.

Final stop of the day was Domme. We enjoyed seeing the view, the church, and doing some shopping. I remembered that I was told to try the chocolate covered walnuts from the Sarlat market. I missed seeing them there, so, I was on the lookout for them in Domme. It kept getting hotter and hotter. Now, the chocolate covered walnuts started to sound very messy in the heat. I spotted a little store with walnut caramels. What could be better! They were nice and soft, sitting in the sun. My friend said, "Are you crazy? They will pull out all your teeth"! I looked at her as if she were nuts. These caramels were so soft..........

Yup. One bite...and out came a crown...not smack dab in the center of my mouth, but not far off to the side, either. I quickly closed my mouth, and did not admit what happened until we were back at the B and B and I got a good look in the mirror at myself. Total Bummer.

And this was the evening we were meeting fellow Fodorites "Just Retired" at Le Presidial for dinner. DH told me not to mention it to them. But, I surely did not want these strangers I had never met before to think that people from Kansas go around with giant gaping spaces between their teeth....so of course, I told them.......

The dinner with Larry and Margie (Just Retired) was wonderful. We sat outside at Le Presidial. We talked about the wonderful, helpful people here at Fodors forums, travels, and family, and then they entertained DH and me with their stories about Harold the parrot.

Another perfect day in the Dordogne (if I manage to forget that I have a big gaping hole in my smile).

I'm glad to hear it was just a crown lost to a caramel... I had visions of an ugly encounter with a gold ring finder or an altercation with clip board person! LOL

Yes, ParisAmsterdam, thank heavens the tooth episode was not an international incident, but only due to my stupidity..

Wednesday, September 14

After breakfast, Chris (host at B and B) took me outside and pointed the way to his dentist's office. I decided I did not want to spend the rest of my vacation missing this crown. Finally, all those French CD's I loaded on my ipod were going to come in handy! I knew the words! "La couronne est partie. Pourriez-vous la remplacer, s'il vous plait"?

The door was locked, and there was no sign listing the hours. A cute little woman in a florist shop across the street beckoned me over to her. She explained (in French) that the dentist was closed on Wednesdays. She then gave me a blow by blow account of all the dental work she had had done. This is in French, with her fist in her mouth, pointing out various areas. This was highly amusing...I couldn't understand 75% of what she was telling me. But she was very animated and I am sure she was delighted to have someone to listen to her dental stories. I said my good-byes and went back to the B and B. No dental appointment for me today.

This was our last full day in the Dordogne area. We had many things left undone. We settled on seeing Cadouin and its abbey, and then Monpazier. This was a good ending to our Dordogne adventure. The cloisters at the abbey in Cadouin are Flamboyantly Gothic and a delight to the eye. There was also a little market right next door in the square. We made some purchases and then went across the street to a cute little store and parted with some more of our euros.

On to Monpazier, another bastide town, which has a a market square surrounded by arched porticos. The architectural details are stunning.

We all thought that our last day was well-spent with these two choices.

We headed back to Sarlat to get ready for dinner at La Belle Etoile in La Roque-Gageac.

On our earlier visit to La Roque Gageac, we had not had time to follow the winding paths that lead up behind the main road. The cliff protects this area from the cold, thus producing a micro-climate. There are all sorts of tropical plants along the walkway. This was a lovely pre-dinner activity.

My DH was not that enthused about driving to dinner this night. He would have been happier to stay in Sarlat and walk to a restaurant. But afterwards, he admitted that La Belle Etoile was definitely worth the trip, and he was very glad we went there. By the time we had made our reservations, there was no more outside seating available, so we dined inside. It made no difference to the ambiance of the evening. The meal was perfect. And we got our night-time photos of La Roque-Gageac!

Tomorrow: The train from Brive to Paris. And I have a question regarding my train tickets that I hope someone can answer!

I am glad that your crown was lost to the delights of a caramel. My sister spent her junior year in Nantes. When she had a stomach virus she took a header into the toilette and lost her two front teeth to the marble sill. My mother was going nuts arranging for a dentist for repairs.
Great report especially as we have plans to visit the Dordogne next March.

I had such a wonderful time in the Dordogne several ago. Your report brings back great memories. We stayed in Sarlat as well.

Looking forward to your next chapter. Sorry about the tooth!

Thanks, Cape Cod and Leely2.

As I mentioned above, we left a lot of things undone in the Dordogne...most notably: Lascaux II, canoeing, Chateau de Commarque, Chateau de Fenelon, Chateau de Hautfort, les Jardins d'Eyrignac. My husband had his heart set on a hot air balloon ride, also. So a return trip is already forming in the back of my mind. I do not want to wait too long. There is a ton of walking and climbing to be done in the area. And we are not getting any younger!

One other thought for you, Cape Cod... We had driven in France before, but for some reason, this time we never seemed to have the right change for the parking machines. You can never have too many 1 and 2 euro coins in your pocket. It seemed we were always borrowing 3 euros from our friends for those "horodateurs".

Thursday, September 15

I decided to run back to that dentist office right after breakfast. Surely, he could cement my crown back in...

The door was unlocked, so I walked in and explained my situation. The woman at the desk was most definitely not interested in my problem. So, I slunk back out of there, and realized I was going to have to wait until I was back home to get the tooth fixed.

We made our way to Brive for our 2:38 train to Paris. Gassed up the cars on the outskirts, and then found good parking places right in front of the train station. We had plenty of time to go in and figure out where we needed to return the cars, which platform we were going to need to go to, and then still have time for lunch.

The Avis rental office is just down the street, straight away from the train station. It was just closing for the 12:00 - 2:00 lunch break. We left all our belongings in the cars, and went and had lunch. Then, back to get our things to the right platform. A few minutes before 2:00, Mr. P and I went back to the Avis office to turn in the keys and our rental contracts. We were back to the platform with time to spare.

If we had needed to drop off the keys when the Avis office was closed, we would not have known where the lock box was. For future reference, I asked the Avis woman. She said that if the office is closed, one should drop the keys off at the information booth in the train station. I know we would not have figured this out.

I had printed out the prems train tickets for first class at home 90 days in advance. The ticket said Teoz 3640. When we got to the station, the sign said it was train 3630 that left at 2:38. Hmmmm. I went up to the information booth, and the man said no problem, same train. He crossed off the 3640 on my e-ticket and wrote 3630.

We got on the train, and there are people in DH's and my seats. They showed me their official (not e-tickets) tickets. They were in the right seats. Our 4 traveling companions had no problem. Their seats were vacant. So, we sat elsewhere, but with a very sinking feeling. DH was tossed from his seat right away, and found a single seat further up in the car. I was able to sit in "my" seat until the second stop, when the person with that seat assignment boarded the train. People got on that had the seats where our friends were sitting, but as you know, possession is 9/10ths of the law, so they remained in the seats.

The conductors did not seem to care. "Sit anywhere", they said. Fine and good. But there were no more seats in the car. I finally decided to go to the first car, and found a seat in a compartment there.

So, what is the deal? Why a different number on my e-ticket than the actual train? How can I avoid this in the future??

We arrived in Paris just before 7:00 pm. Here is a word of advice: if you are going to take a cab from the station, make a bee line to the cab line. We dilly-dallied and were at the end of the line. The cabs came about every 5-8 minutes. We waited the better part of an hour for a cab.

We stayed at the Hotel Fleurie in the 6th. DH and I arrived in our cab ahead of our friends. We checked in and had a great room...Chambre 14. Lovely, and large! The N's checked in with no problem. The P's go to check in. Oops. Mr. P had a confirmation for a room starting September 14th, not the 15th. Someone had made a mistake. They had given his room away because he had been a "no-show".

The Fleurie had a very small room for the P's for one night. (The next day they found them a "junior suite" at the Hotel Louis II just 2 blocks away. They even arranged to move their bags to the hotel for them. And then, on Saturday, the P's were able to come back to the Hotel Fleurie. Again, their bags were transferred for them. So, not a bad solution).

So, back to Thursday night. It was late by the time we all had our belongings in our rooms. We left the hotel to go find something for dinner. The streets seemed absolutely packed with people. We found something to eat somewhere. It was food. And at this time, the P's did not know where they will spend the next night. They just know it will not be at the Hotel Fleurie.

We go to bed, hoping for better things on Friday.