Day 3 Village Life in Dordogne

Photos

Sunday, October 5, 2014

We woke up to another chilly morning. Monika had earlier confirmed the weather forecasts we had seen that a cold wet front was expected on Tues/Weds. It looks like it arrived early. Yesterday afternoon wound up sunny & hot, but it was a surprise that it was in the 40sF when we first went out. In all the 10-day forecasts we had never seen a temperature lower than the 50sF. Anyway, it was not only below 50F this morning but we could see out the window that it was raining. We checked online weather and it showed the temperature not breaking 60F today but the rain ending at 8am. We’ll still have to wear rainjackets and take umbrellas since we’ll be out of Sarlat all day today. Oh well, it is the weather. I know the grape growers/harvesters will be sweating this rain more than we are!

Breakfast was the same today as yesterday, but they were a little later opening the door and the steam table had not been warmed, so all the same food from yesterday was stone cold. That was a bit disgusting. There were fewer coffee pots out on table and the staff was a bit curter about finding and getting your own coffee for yourself. The problem is that the room is small, there is not much space with people in pulled out chairs and even less space as people walk from table to table to try to get some coffee much less into the back room to get food to take back to their tables. It is poorly designed, staffed and implemented. They were right to shut down their restaurant because it is clearly not a business they want to be in. To do right by their customers they need to shut it down entirely and send us somewhere that wants to run a restaurant! Again, a 4-star establishment should not be telling people to get up and go get their own coffee off some other person’s table. It is ridiculous all around.

We drove away at 8:11am. We had about a 1-hour drive. It was cold and misty and raining all day. The drive was along narrow winding twisty roads that clung to the edges of cliffs. It was a little terrifying. We have a very good female bus driver. She knows the dimensions of that bus to the centimeter I think. We stopped just outside our lunch parking area at Hospitalet for a photo op of a long view of Rocamadour, our destination.

We unloaded at Hotel du Chateau, our lunch restaurant, for a technical stop to use the restrooms. There we met Bruno our other Sarlat local guide and we joined him while the other half joined Andre who had ridden with us and talked to us on the bus. Andre had told us about all the little towns ending in “ac”. It is from the Roman Empire. When the soldiers who had survived 25 years of mandatory service retired, they were given an estate of land to build, farm and live on. They named them based on their names with “ac” added at the end. It meant where lives blank.

So, we walked from beside the top chateau which we did not enter. It is now the Hotel du Chateau and the building across the parking lot from it is where we will eat lunch later. We went down what Andre said was a new ramp put in this year. It was the 12 Stations of the Cross from bottom to top, so we went backwards. We walked down to the bottom of the ramp and then through a tunnel and into the fortified lower middle level and up stairs to the level of the chapels. We saw the replica sword of Roland and the site of the grave of the hermit, Amadour, who started the Christian religious history here.  It was below the sword and beside the door to the Chapel of Notre Dame. It felt sacred in there. It was small with dusty boats and manacles hanging up. The black Madonna and child were very primitive looking on the altar. It was obviously very old, but I can't tell you when it was carved. Clay did not get any good photos in here, sorry. 

We walked through this small, older chapel into the larger and newer active church where they were tolling the bells to call people to today’s service. We got to hear the organist & vocalist warming up. We went on through and out and then down the grand staircase of the penitents. I did not count anything close to 200 steps. They were slippery today though! We had about an hour and 15 minutes of free time to make our way down to the main street, through the tiny old town of Rocamadour, and out to where the bus was waiting for us outside the city gate. There were mostly shops and cafes along the road. About half were closed since it is off season and Sunday morning. We found a Rocamadour patch for me though, yeah! Then we found an art gallery, Guinard. It supposedly has 2 stores in Sarlat which we never found in all our wandering. But, I dithered and finally decided to buy a print of a painting of Rocamadour from a distance in the mist which is just how it looked when we first saw it. It is just a bit too long to go in the bottom of Clay's suitcase between the rails, so I hope it survives the journey home. But, if it doesn’t it wasn’t an expensive original so I won’t worry about it. When we get home I will have to reread Michael Crichton’s Timeline and watch the movie again as well as reread Jean Auel's Clan of the Cave Bear series.

We also stopped at an ice cream shop on the single street that was just opening. They said they also served the & caffe so we went in and I asked if they had chocolat chaud. They said yes and made me a delicious tiny pitcher full by steaming milk and vigorously stirring in chocolate. They put a speculoos cookie and 2 sugar cubes on the side. I also got a glass of water. Clay had the cookie and some water. He only got a sip to taste the hot chocolate. He looked in the pitcher when I was through. I think he was hoping to finish it for me, but I had already poured the last of it in my cup and drunk it. Tant pis, or too bad as the French say.

We made our way on to the bus and got another view of all the levels clinging to the cliff. Amazing! The bus left right at noon. We made a very tight u-turn to get into a very tight tunnel to continue the U which when we exited the other side turned into an S turn. It was a very challenging bit of driving and earned some well-deserved applause. Within minutes were back up top and through the little town of Hospitalet. They were ready to serve us lunch at the Hotel du Chateau. We were all quickly seated and efficiently served. Our included meals offer only one option for each course it seems, unless it is a buffet at breakfast. Lunch today was veal stew with rice and a roasted tomato and bread and water and a frozen dessert that she said was walnut ice cream when she served it. It was more than that but evidently it didn’t translate and that was a close description. It was all good. Of course, veal and walnuts, I didn’t eat much. They served a tiny cup of Turkish coffee-like espresso after. It was bitter and not as good to me as Turkish coffee but I needed the caffeine and sugar boost to keep going.

At 1:30pm or so we reloaded the bus and set off backtracking to return to Sarlat. Andre talked about food or specifically local food like foie gras and truffles and how to prepare them. He told us we were being very French, eating and then spending the afternoon talking about eating. We had a photo op stop of Belcastel. Another fantastic chateau atop a rocky cliff. We stopped about halfway back in Souillac to visit Ste. Marie’s 12^th century, a very Byzantine-looking church. We learned a new word, squinches for something that accommodates a shape change. In this case the square or rectangular shape of the altar into the circular dome above. There were some surviving Romanesque sculptures built into the structure that were fantastic creatures and storytelling devices. It was only another 30-minutes drive back to the hotel. It finally seems to have stopped raining, though it still seems a little misty and it never did warm up. 

There were some questions on the bus on the last leg as Monika was handing out tomorrow’s itinerary about a live music performance tonight before dinner, but Monika assured those asking there was not one. We had seen the poster too at Les Tulipes last night and I had Googled it when we got back to the room. It was 10€ at 5pm today in Salle Moliere in the Courtyard of Fountains. I wasn’t sure where that was but thought it was where Bruno had begun his tour yesterday. (It turned out that was exactly where it was.) I thought that was too far away to take a chance to rush back after the performance to meet the group at the hotel to walk to dinner tonight at the Four Seasons (which we also don’t know where it is). At least one other couple thought they might go, but I wasn’t sure I’d like Renaissance instruments and songs enough to go. Also, Clay went to our room and went to sleep and I definitely did not want to go alone. So, we missed that. Monika was upset that on Saturday morning she was misinformed by the Sarlat Tourism office employee she asked if there were any live performances or other special events during our week here. I suspect if she had known she would have made a plan. At the point when we arrived back at the hotel, no one could get a phone call answered to query specifics like where to buy tickets or how long the performance would last. They did not find out any more than I told them from my Internet search last night. Which I didn’t think was enough for me to walk across Sarlat.

Dinner tonight is at 7:30pm at Le Quatre Saisons. We will meet outside the hotel at 7:25pm and Monika will lead us walking there. No idea what is being served tonight. It was not on the menus she handed out before and she did not tell us while she had us on the bus. I will not get my hopes up. I have yogurt in the minifridge and protein bars in my suitcase. I need to remember to put one in my purse just in case for the rest of the week.

Tomorrow’s itinerary. Breakfast buffet from 7 to 9am. 9:30am departure by bus to Gardens of Eyrignac. We will have a guided walking tour. We will drive back to the hotel for lunch from 12:30 to 1:30pm. (See menu above in Day 1 entry.) At 1:30pm, the bus departs to Cap Blanc. This is a UNESCO World Heritage site that is an authentic Cro-Magnon shelter that is much engraved and painted. After Cap Blanc, we drive back along our route from Bordeaux to Les Eyzies to visit the Museum of Prehistory that Monica pointed out to us on Friday. This is the place where the first known bones of Homo Sapiens were discovered. We will learn more about the bones and other prehistoric discoveries at the National Museum of Prehistory. We’ll drive back to the hotel. From 6:30 to 7:30pm we’ll have a village life forum done by a Q&A with local residents who hope to answer our questions about life in France. I hope someone has some good questions because I know I don’t, otherwise I hope the residents just have an hour of presentation prepared! Monika advised us to buy a glass of wine and take it with us to the room St. Michel next to the hotel. I’ve been looking, but I haven’t noticed this room yet so I guess someone will point it out when we need it. After 7:30pm, we are on our own for dinner. I hope that works out because again we have not made reservations and it is Monday. It looked to us as we wandered Sarlat that most of the restaurants were closed on Monday. There is one, Café de Artes about a block uphill from here that I checked yesterday and the signs said it was open Monday evening and they had one dish I will eat. We plan to try there, otherwise no idea!

Back from dinner at Le Quatre Saisons. It was a little tricky to find as we had never walked in that direction before and even Monika almost missed the turn uphill to it. But after a steep lane and a steep stone circular stairwell we arrived in a beautiful dining area. They were ready and waiting for us. The table was set with water jugs and red wine in unlabeled bottles. A woman next to Clay insisted on white wine and unlabeled bottles of white appeared. It was quite good. Monika had given them the heads up that I wouldn’t eat duck and they assured me they had a great meal for me. So, the menu was mushroom soup which was served in a little mason jar. I tried to wave the waitress off and refuse it but she told me, no it is cappuccino and you’ll love. It was disguised as a frothy cappuccino but it was mushroom soup and I didn’t eat it. Clay ate half of his and then swapped jars with me. I was happy to leave it untouched since I had tried to refuse it, but he wasn’t. Main course was duck breast or magret and green beans in a phyllo dough packet. The waitress brought me a plate with a huge pile of green beans and a tall cut of meat in mushroom sauce and she told me it was filet mignon. It clearly wasn’t and if it was at over 2.5 inches thick it was not going to be well done. I cut it in half and it was dark pink throughout with a gooey brown plug stuffed down the center. I scrapped the plug out and ignored it. I gave Clay a strand of the very pink meat that looked like undercooked pork tenderloin to me and he thought it was lamb. I tasted it and still thought it was rare pork tenderloin. It tasted like pork tenderloin which I cook at home a lot, but never underdone! It was very lean and tasted like pork. I ate about ¼ of the piece and about ½ the green beans. Clay finished his and I guess didn’t like me leaving mine uneaten so he reached over and took another ¼ of the piece. He ate it and immediately got that “I’m going to vomit” look on his face. I told him to go to the bathroom and he left with his napkin in his hand. He came back and sat for a few seconds then put his napkin down and got up and told me he’d see me back at the hotel and he left. He upset the woman next to him who told me she was a retired nurse and she thought he needed help. I told him that when I got back to the room and asked him how he was. He said he was fine and that he was fine as soon as he started walking. He said that he choked himself on my piece of meat and he shouldn’t have had it and that did I tell the woman he just had his best annual physical ever. I told him that I did tell her that and she assured me his doctor did not know about this. I assured her that she was correct, there was no way Clay had told his doctor about this or asked him about it. She pointed out that there was no way we could leave the country for 6 months with this undiagnosed and unresolved and I told her I was sure that was the plan and that I did not think I could do anything about it without his cooperation. She was very upset. It is upsetting. She knew I had Parkinson’s Disease and she thought this was putting unnecessary stress on me and I agreed and once again told her that I couldn’t do anything about it. So, all in all a pretty unpleasant evening in a beautiful setting. The other downside of the evening was that the restaurant had us all in a large stone room seated at 2 long narrow tables. It was very noisy and you could barely hear the people next to you and people were trying to have conversations with others by talking over. It is better, I think, to split us up into smaller tables and that way people only try to converse among a manageably sized group.

Photos