2010 Dordogne Region

The Dordogne Region is in the south-western part of France. We had expected a hot, dry, rocky area, and was pleasantly surprised at the greenery. It's a slightly hilly region, with rivers that curve around the countryside, popular with kayak and canoe riders.

We stayed at Les Bressettes, a B&B in the Dordogne region, south of Perigeux. It turned out to be a restored 300 year old farmhouse in the countryside, owned by a charming British couple. We noted that most of the houses here had the distinctive tall tiled roofs, like this one.

We were in the heart of the Perigord region, known for fois gras, truffles, and wine - amazingly great food. Also, this area is known for the discovery of the cave paintings of Lascoux. While we did not visit the cave paintings, we did enjoy the fois gras and the wine. We had more duck than ever before, in duck confit, duck gizzards (quite tasty), and the fois gras. We ate Huey, Louie, and Dewey, and enjoyed it!

Nearby is the castle of Beynac, originally built in the 12th century. It's situated on top of a high cliff, with the town built around it. The town is pretty ancient, all stone, and quite preserved. To visit the castle, you can either drive up the back roads and park near the castle drawbridge, or, walk up through the town, up steep paths. Yes, I actually climbed the path up - and made it!

It's pretty hard to believe that people lived here, survived here, 900 years ago, and walked these steps as I have here. It makes me wonder how their lives were back then?

Though we did not visit the cave paintings of Lascoux, which were the work of Cro-Magnon man, we believe he did survive, and here he is - having a glass of wine.

The streets of Sarlat - another medieval town in the Dordogne.

They say, "bigger is better," but this is ridiculous! Check out these doors - that's me next to the door! Inside, a farmer's market of local products: fois gras, truffles, cheeses, mushrooms. Sarlat, France.

Found this interesting poster in a shop window.

A picnic - chicken or sausage?

We discovered rotisserie chickens for sale at a charcuterie (butcher shop) and decided to have a picnic. After picking up some bread, water, fruit, and our chicken, we drove off to find a nice spot in the countryside to have our picnic. Unfortunately, the roads in France don't have much of a shoulder to stop and park off the side of the road, the fields were private property, nor were there parks to stop and rest. We did find a back road, eventually, which led to what looked like a camping ground, but for trailers and RVs. We didn't want to pay for overnight camping, so we parked a little farther away and found a small area near the crossroads with a little shade and a spot of grass to sit on. As we spread out the food, and began to eat, we heard someone walking towards us on the gravel road... I looked up and saw a man with tennis shoes and a shoulder bag, and nothing else on! He stopped and said hello, and then walked a little farther, then turned and went back where he came from. We realized we had set up our picnic at a nudist camp! We ate our lunch and then skedaddled out of there!