Friday, October 3, 2014
We went down to breakfast about 7am again. The alarm actually went off this morning. We put our bags out after breakfast and went down and checked out. We walked down to the closest Baillardran for our favorite macarons for later and then over to the Public Gardens and Botanical Garden. We had a quick walk around and then back. I had to stop at Grand Hommes for a bathroom break on the way over. I think yesterday’s andouillette is disagreeing with me. I am glad I didn’t eat very much of it. Clay took photos while I was indisposed. We also watched at Baillardran as they were making canelés. The batter was very thin, like pancake batter. Not what I was expecting. The canelés had a texture like a fruitcake but without the fruit. I would have sworn they were a heavy batter cake that had been soaked, but I was wrong. We stayed close to the lobby bathrooms for the next hour as we waited to load the bus and leave. We gained 2 more to our party overnight and everyone was on the bus early and we left a little before 11am.
We got out to the airport a little before the 11:35am flight
we were to meet. Monika said 2 women had flown in about 9 am but the other 10
were on the 11:35am arrival. It seems most of our group of 34 booked flights
through Gohagan and they had heavily preferred to use Air France. Sadly, AF have
been on strike. So, most of the people got here with altered schedules or
unhappy ones like 2 connections, one in the US and one in Amsterdam or Paris
instead of direct flights from their home airports to Europe. We solved that by
booking our flights ourselves. I suppose we paid more, but it was absolutely worth it for the easier and more convenient schedule. Anyway, all the flights were on time and no lost luggage so we
were on the road again ahead of schedule. We were each provided with a sack
lunch to eat on the bus. We had a choice of either a chicken sandwich or a cheese sandwich and a
bottle of water. We went in the airport and bought a Coke Zero to share and
then we had our 6 macarons. Speculoos was still our favorite.
As we drove across the Garonne River to leave Bordeaux, we
could see a white cruise ship with a blue smokestack docked near old town. So,
Veronique was right and there was a cruise ship in town today. Clay thought she
just made a mistake since he couldn’t find it online, but her name badge had an image of a
cruise ship on a blue wave on it and I figured she was guiding a cruise tour and
knew what she was talking about. As it turns out, we didn’t really have time to
walk all the way down there this morning anyway because of my intestinal distress, so it didn’t matter.
We had a rest stop at a truck stop kind of place outside
Perigueux at about the 2 hour mark. We were there for 30 minutes which gave
everyone time to use the restrooms and get some snacks. We left at 2:26pm and
drove on a 2-lane winding road through troglodyte and Cro-Magnon territory. If
I had not been so car sick by then I am sure it would have been fascinating to see
all the carved out cliffs. But we were driving through as quickly as possible. I
believe I understood Monica to say we would be back in the area we drove
through to visit the Pre-History museum near where the Cro-Magnon discoveries
were made so hopefully we will get a better look at the historic and more current
cliff dwellings. Evidently, troglodyte is used locally to refer to any cave dwelling or cave dweller, pre-historic or modern.
We got to the Hotel Plaza Madeleine about 3:30pm which I
guess was about an hour to an hour and a half earlier than normal for this tour.
So we were all run through the bar and asked to take a seat with a
complimentary drink without a name that consisted of orange juice, Cointreau
and sparkling wine. A French Mimosa I guess. Then they passed around trays of finger
snacks. They eat some local specialties here in Perigord Noir. They are walnuts, duck, goose,
foie gras, and mushrooms and truffles. Now I won’t eat any of that, so it seems
like I will have some hungry days. Added to the fact that while we fight jet
lag we have been ingesting far too much caffeine and sugar to keep going, I am
having trouble keeping on an even keel and just keep crashing. So, while Clay
just keeps pushing Coke Zero, coffee and candy and cookies I keep fighting
back. But, you also have to eat what you can find and those are the things that
are readily available. Anyway, we still didn’t get our room keys and into our
rooms until close to 4pm, our scheduled arrival time.
We have the afternoon
free. We got up to our room and it is sadly not the equal of the Hotel
Burdigala and we have been spoiled. There is little storage space for a 7-night
stay and no luggage stands either. I don’t know what they thought you would do
with your clothes. The only place you can set and open a single small suitcase
is also the only place you can hang shirts, so you can’t do both. There are 2
very small drawers. There are 12 hangers of the type that are fixed to the rod,
so you can’t move them around. There are 4 hangers fixed to the longer hanging space, but again if you store a suitcase there, you can't hang anything long. There is no cabinet or vanity in the bathroom,
the sink just hangs off the wall and there is no shelf of any kind on which to
place your things. Again, I don’t know what the thinking was in using this as
your base for 7 nights. The room might be fine for an overnight stay but it is
not suited to a 7-night stay. The worst was that our navy blue tiled bathroom
floor was littered with long blonde hairs. I don’t even want to think about what's on the
striped room carpet! Actually, this is the first carpeted hotel room we have had
since arriving in Europe. Lastly, Plaza Madeleine provides no laundry service.
Monika said she had a provider nearby that would deliver to the hotel on a more
or less same day basis. But still it is a 7-night stay. Clay only packed half the clothes he needed with plans to hand laundry and hang to dry socks, underwear and shirts past the mid-point since we are in one room for a week. He can't do that without anywhere to hang clothes at all or any moveable hangers or a shower rod. I really only wanted an
iron and ironing board, but it is not to be.
There was a menu on our little desk when we got in. It
contains all our included meals here at Plaza
Madeleine. Monika was explaining something on the bus about since 6 years ago
when the current owners of Plaza Madeleine bought it that they no longer run a
restaurant, but have our tour meals catered when they have to. Gohagan had
called the house about 3 weeks prior to departure to confirm that I was still
on a low-sodium, no fish diet. I assured them that I was. Monika has not asked
me about it and it hasn’t come up because the pre-tour only included breakfast
buffets. After she gave us the list of local specialties and the no restaurant
or kitchen spiel I was a little worried. Which brings us to the menus. After failing
to find a way to settle in the room, I sat down and read Clay the menu. He
laughed his butt off and it might have been funny to him, but I was ready to weep. Our
free time here has been wasted. Since all we had was a map without any
information about attractions within walking distance I am not going to sweat
it. Our pre-trip documents asked men to bring a jacket for the welcome dinner.
We had assumed that was tonight at 7pm, but Monika did not specify dressing for
dinner at 7pm. We were already trying to imagine how the 10 new arrivals must
be feeling after traveling overnight and all day. Clay asked Monika if the
welcome was considered tonight or the cheese tasting reception that she had
mentioned tomorrow evening. She said the welcome reception was tomorrow. We’ll
see.
The current owners at the same time they closed the
restaurant, added a spa and swimming pool. Supposedly for the stars. But what
kind of 4-star hotel has no restaurant? Has no laundry or pressing facilities
but will refer you to an outside source? And let me rant on the shower over
tub. Like Hotel Burdigala’s there is a sheet of glass but no shower curtain. So
the back half is open air. The similarities end there. The Burdigala’s shower
was an inch or so lip to step over to get in and out and about 7 feet by 3 .5
feet I am guessing. So, the glass wall was at least 5 feet and it came to a
sealed seam with the floor. Very little water could escape. Here there is a
very deep and raised bathtub. I mean that when you step out of the tub, the floor of the
tub is at least a half foot higher than the bathroom floor. There are no grab
bars or handholds and when you step out that blue floor is very wet and
slippery. The bottom of the tub is slippery too. The glass piece over the front
part of the tub is perhaps 3 to 3.5 feet wide and swings and does not touch the tub. There is no way to keep the
water inside. It splashes out the far end because the piece is too short, it
runs down to the gap at the bottom and onto the floor or just splashes through
the gap. It is inconvenient and hazardous. Badly designed. The tiles on the tub surround below the gap are loose and/or missing so this is certainly a known problem.
Here are the menus. Dinner tonight. First course, duck
gizzards and smoked duck on a mixed green salad. Main course, salmon in dill
and zucchini with goat-cheese topping. Dessert is sabayon with red fruits and
sauce. Saturday lunch. First course is chicken breast in mushroom cream dip and
potatoes with parsley. Dessert is apple pie. Monday lunch is vegetable quiche
and green salad. Dessert is fruits sorbet with whipped cream. Thursday dinner.
First course is foie gras sautéed with rosemary and honey sauce. Main course is sea scallops in white lemon
sauce with julienne vegetables. Hot goat cheese and green salad. Dessert is
crème brulee.
Since all I would eat tonight was zucchini, goat cheese and
sabayon, we went downstairs to ask Monika if she had gotten my diet advisory in
advance. She assured me that she had and no problem. She explained they had
just been discussing it and that “seafood” in France was accepted to be defined
as shrimp or lobster, or shellfish, so there were no conflicts for me. Clay explained
that in the US, and in fact in the world at large, no seafood or no fish means no
fish, fresh or salt water. She said so you won’t eat salmon. No. But, it is not
shellfish. It lives in the sea, hence seafood. But, I had stated no fish and by
my definition that means “I won’t eat anything that swims or lives in water.
So, all fish, fresh or sea water and shellfish and ducks, geese, any and all
water fowl.” She was in shock. She told me I couldn’t eat tonight’s menu at
all. No shit. The owners and staff and she all got in a tizzy and tried to call
the caterer before they left for here. From where, I don’t know but it was at
least 2 hours before dinner will be served. So we will see. The guy in charge
asked Monika something and she asked me in English if I ate red meat. She and I had
earlier discussed the good steak Clay & I ate last night, so yes. I replied
that I would eat red meat if it was cooked well-done. She told him something and
asked me again and I again replied yes I eat red meat if it is cooked well done.
I twice emphasized if well done. You might be imagining that somehow, like the meaning of "fish" that "well done" did not translate. You might be right, which is ridiculous since I ate a perfectly butterflied and well done steak last night. So, it isn't a French thing.
Dinner is included tonight as discussed above. It is at 7pm.
I changed because our pre-trip documents spell out 2 different dress codes for
day and evening. I figure if we are independent then we can dress to please
ourselves. Clay did not change. Because. We were all down there before 7pm.
Monika had specifically requested that everyone be early or on time but not
late because the caterer would be ready to serve on time, but would not begin
service until the entire party was seated and ready to be served. So when they unlocked the door to
the dining room I think we were all there. We were sharing the small hall space between the tiny lobby and
the stairs/elevator with a bus load of Asian people who
had just unloaded a tour bus out front. The servers brought a brown paper sign and
stood it beside my water glass and told me it was so they would know where to
bring special diet. I was the only one! Then they tried to serve me both duck
and salmon while Clay and our dining companion waved them off. They brought me
a big bowl of weeds and tomato wedges for first course. I gave it to Clay. He
really liked the duck gizzard salad and he liked the tomatoes too. Next they
brought me a large piece of bleeding and very rare beef. Clay asked me to cut
it to make sure it was really rare. That wasn't necessary, it really was very rare. I waited a bit to see if
someone would like to cook it, but that didn’t happen. I ate the little zucchini
and goat cheese quiche on the side. That and the dessert I ate were all I’d
have eaten without the special treatment anyway, so it was certainly not worth
the bother for me. I hope it wasn’t all that much bother for them. They didn’t
come to bus our table and finally our dining companion told the woman in French
that we were finished. She wanted to cook my steak now. I refused, of course. I
don’t care that much about food anyway and I certainly don’t want to eat at all
if there is going to be any grief involved. We all really liked the zabaglione.
Clay and I both liked the local white wine they too freely poured with dinner.
I never did see the label, so I can’t make a recommendation or look for it
again. Sorry. They also poured red but we didn’t have any. For some reason, Clay only has photos of our first course. Sorry.
At dinner, Monika passed out 3 sheets of paper. A guide to
foie gras, a map with some recommended restaurants and tomorrow's itinerary. We
won’t eat at any of the restaurants or buy/cook/serve foie gras so I’ll skip to
the itinerary. Breakfast buffet in the dining room between 7 and 9:30am.
Walking tour of Sarlat splitting into 2 groups with 2 guides at 9:30am and
ending at 11:30am. It will end at the Saturday market so we can stay and enjoy
it or just walk back to the hotel.
Lunch is at the hotel at 12:30pm. See menu above.
Afternoon is free to enjoy the Sarlat Saturday market.
6:30pm to 7:30pm is the welcome reception at the hotel.
(This is the jacket requested event of the tour.)
7:30pm is dinner on your own.
When we got back to the room, our left behind key had been
removed from the slot turning off our power. However, there had not been a
turndown service while they were doing that and dropping some paper on the bed.
The paper was a sealed envelope with an odd note from Ken Tedesco (No, we do
not know who that is.) He thanked us for choosing Tulane Travel though. OK.
Separately was a card stuck on a half sheet of paper. This was from the
Plaza Bar (which we assume is downstairs here at the hotel) describing their wine
serving system and to ask the barman for assistance. The card has Plaza Bar and
our names on one side and on the other it says “Please return to the barman or
to the front desk once it is empty”. We are assuming this means someone with
Tulane Alumni Travel is buying us a glass of wine. We’ll have to let you know how
that goes. OK, we went down to check and there was €20 on the card. You put the card in a slot on a round machine and take a glass off the top. Then, you select one of maybe 10-12 white or red wines. There are 3 sizes of pours which are about 2 oz., 3 oz., and 4 oz. The smallest size pour varied from €3 to €6.
Photos
Photos
