Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Adventures and baked goods

The arched town square in Monpazier.

The weather has now officially turned, and it is hot!! Yesterday was 29, and today is hovering around 32 - the one saving grace is it's not humid at all, unlike Montreal in the summer!


My aunt took us to explore Monpazier, a beautiful town about 20 minutes away. Originally built by the English during the 100 Years War, it is built around an arched square, now used for markets and restaurant terraces. As with all other towns we've visited, Monpazier is labelled as one of the 'plus beaux villages de France', though it does seem to have an innately beautiful and elegant feel to it.


Another view of the square from the outside passage.

Naturally, we stopped for lunch at one of the restaurants, enjoying the local traditions of taking our allotted two-hour lunch time, and enjoying some rosé!

I'm enjoying myself so much, my mouth is full :)


Today we went on an adventure up the Vezere Valley. It was a beautiful drive north of us, following the river. This area is known for it's prehistoric cave dwellings and cave paintings (this is where the famous Lascaux caves were discovered). Being a sucker for castles of any sort, I saw an ad for La Maison Forte de Reignac, a site apparently only 'discovered' and re-done a few years ago. It turned out to be a bit of a tourist gimmick, but the building itself was pretty cool:


Built into a cliff in the 14th century, it apparently housed a lord and his family, and according to (slightly suspect) info in the guidebook, there was an alchemist and counterfeit den built high in the cliffs. The inside was decorated with objects 'found' on-site, though many were 'faithful reproductions', as well as an inordinate number of stuffed hunting trophies - at least 2 or 3 per room. 

The dining room in the manor - it was so cold inside the stone walls, there was an actual fire in the grate!

The last part of the tour was of various instruments of torture during the middle ages - minors weren't allowed in the room without an adult. They were pretty horrifying, and by the end of them, I was pretty nauseous!

After that interesting adventure, we headed home via St Cyprien to visit (probably for the last time!) our favourite bakery! And boy did we clean up :)


This is easily the most delicious bakery I've ever been to. We stocked up on croissants, pains au raisin, baguette, and Tom got an Almond/Pistachio/Chocolatine...words cannot describe.

Monday, June 25, 2012

Wine tasting!

At the Vin de Domme vineyard

Since we are in wine country, after all, we decided to take a trip to a local winery. Vin de Domme is located south of Bouzic, and naturally we ended up taking the most circuitous route possible (I really am a great navigator!) It is defintely off the beaten track, so I was surprised to find others there for the free degustation - we got to try two reds and two roses (they had already sold out of this year's white wine selection!) Luckily, we were joined by a French couple who asked lots of interesting questions regarding the winery, so got to just sit back and listen, pretending we knew what was being discussed!
View of the vineyard from a viewing platform built as a 'major' tourist attraction!


The owners of this vineyard have ressurected the 'vin de Domme' name, an umbrella term that was used to describe wines of the Aquitaine region that were shipped down the Dordogne river to various port cities several centuries ago (more info can be found here.) These days, the fields are spread out over 14 different communities, making it a costly business, and it keeps the entire production relatively small. (I think that's what she said, though she was speaking very rapid French, so I could be wrong!) They also can only sell their wares locally, since there are very few truck drivers willing to drive down such narrow country roads to get there! I thought it was worth it!


I obviously enjoyed myself...



Friday, June 22, 2012

Pommes Sarladaise!

Fresh cèpes from the back yard

I have found France's answer to poutine: Pommes Sarladaise. Even without the mouth-watering addition of cheese curds, it is seriously good (I would say better than the Quebecois version). A local speciality, it is ubiquitous throughout the Dordogne, a fact I'm sad to have only found out a week in!

Pommes Sarladaises have only a few ingredients besides potatoes: traditionally cooked in duck or goose fat, we veggies opted for olive oil and LOTS of rose garlic, parsley, and of course, fresh cèpes. It rained last night, and apparently the next day following rain is  ideal cèpe-hunting weather. Auntie Judy went out hunting this AM - a true 'shroom hunter has to look under chestnut or oak trees; any cèpes found under pines are a no-go. The smaller ones in the photo up above only grew this morning!

And here is the final outcome:

Pommes Sarladaise...heaven.


I am so ridiculously full now, but so so happy.


On that note, we're off to Belvès to watch a Brazilian music/dance show - yesterday was la Fete de la Musique all over France, and the festivities seem to be carried over for the full long weekend. 

Thursday, June 21, 2012

Floating on the river

The mighty Dordogne river


The Dordogne is crisscrossed by three main rivers: the Dordogne, the Vézère and the Céou. Though the Dordogne is the largest, all three of them have extremely swift currents, making them perfect for canoeing, an idyllic afternoon adventure Tom and I tried last week. When I say 'canoeing', I mean sitting in your canoe and letting the current take you lazily down the river; the paddle is mere decoration (at least it was for me)!

Tom got the more 'difficult' job of steering


We started at Castlenaud, where a van drove us up-river to Vitrac, and dropped us and our trusty vessel off for the afternoon. The canoe-rental companies are very trusting: you don't need to leave any credit card info to rent the boats, and you can take as long as you want to get back! It took us 2 hours to cover the 14 minute driving distance :)
That said, it was a beautiful way to view the landscape, and you're able to stop along the way at any of the islands to have a picnic or go for a swim. There was even a snack bar set up on one island for thirsty travelers!

A view from the canoe of Chateau Castlenaud.



Yesterday was blisteringly hot, so Tom and I went in search of a cool swim. We ended up in the beautiful and tiny village of Limeuil, dubbed 'the most beautiful village in France' (as it seems are most of the villages in this area!) It is a medival, walled town, with, as usual, tiny streets:

Apparently no horses allowed, but cars are?!

Limeuil is also beautiful as it is at the apex of both the Dordogne and the Vézère rivers, so it is surrounded by water, and the lovely arched bridges that seem to be the norm here. We set up camp at the little picnic area, and enjoyed some delicious local peach wine and went for a swim in the seriously strong current!

Limeuil: where the two rivers meet.


After our liesurely lunch, we went off to check out Le Bugue, a town not far away from the beach, on a quest to find a bakery that apparently makes the best almond croissant in all of the Dordogne. Sadly, we never found it, but we explored the town anyways.

Crossing the Vézère into Le Bugue, which also has a fabulous market on Tuesdays!

And this wouldn't be a true Anna+Tom post unless there was a food photo, so here is a photos of our dinner the other night!

YUM!









Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Slowing down

The beautiful terrace where we break bread most days...how lucky am I?!


 Since 'moving' to the South of France, (sorry Auntie Judy, we're really never leaving), both Tom and I have easily become accustomed to a slower pace of life - not to say that people are lazy or not busy; on the contrary, people seem to somehow get things done, even with a two and a half hour lunch break in the middle of the day! We've managed to turn that lunch 'hour' into an entire afternoon...I blame the rosé.

We have managed to leave the house during the afternoon to explore the area around where we are staying. In this rural area, there aren't really road names, just village names, so you have to be on top of your local geography to get anywhere (as the navigator, I have gotten us lost almost every day, as I can't get the knack of using villages as directions!) My aunt lives in between two 'villages', which are basically just a cluster of one to two farms surrounding the tiny country roads. And when I say tiny, I mean you have to violently swerve into a field to allow an oncoming car to get by - my heart is in my throat every time we leave the house.


We met some new friends at Le Rauffet, the farm behind us:







Sunday, June 17, 2012

Market Days

Mmmm, delicious olives of every variety..

A large wheel of cheese? Yes, please!


As I said earlier, everyone eats fresh here, so naturally there are local markets to full the void. These roving markets happen every morning in a different location everyday. There are familiar faces at each one: the friendly but ancient lady selling girolles found in her backyard, the olive man with his bowls after bowls of delicious salty delicacies, or the family of goat cheese farmers selling the fresh rounds (or cabécous) of cheese from the back of their van.

Tom and I visited the market at St Cyprien today, a popular Sunday destination for locals and tourists alike, (though we made the tourist mistake of arriving at 11; locals have come and gone by 9:30), as everything in rural France is either closed or shuts down at 12:30 on the day of Rest. This market is one of the bigger ones, with the entire main street shut down and filled to capacity with people selling anything from tablecloths to truffles, or giving away kittens (which was very hard to pass up!). It's so lovely to be able to walk down the street and buy your produce from the vendor directly, seeing the pride they have in their products, and know what you're eating is the result of hard work and dedication. The only problem is I can't seem to resist any of the stalls, so we end up leaving with bags of unnecessary (but delicious) goodies.

And speaking of delicious goodies, check out the dessert we had yesterday from Lucco's, the BEST bakery I have ever been to, also found in St Cyprien, an unfortunately short drive away:

These fabulous delights are an incredible hybrid of eclairs and profiteroles. Aptly named 'Religieuses', they are heavenly. Tom and I are going back to the bakery as soon as they open on Tuesday!


Castles, castles, everywhere

Someone's personal chateau, near Roque Gageac
After cheese, castles are probably one of my favourite things about the south of France (this could be my inner princess talking!). They are everywhere, and, most astonishingly, many are privately owned and vistors are allowed into certain areas of their chateau. Though not Tom's ideal way of spending an afternoon, he's been kind enough to indulge me several castle tours (oo toruture chambers! Throne rooms! Suits of armour!), and I'm sure they won't be the last!
Chateau des Milandes, the former residence of Josephine Baker, one of the first black cabaret dancers/singer/film stars in Paris in the 1930's, a champion of civil rights alongside MLK jr. AND a spy for France during WWII. Pretty amazing woman.

Saturday, June 16, 2012

Our first french meal...naturally!

Mmmm...a glass of rosé and some local cabécou...

After missing our connecting flight from Frankfurt (the worst airport experience in my short flying career) to Toulouse, we made it to the Dordogne! A huge thanks to Auntie Judy who waited an extra 4 hours for us to arrive safe and sound.

As we all now, France is known for it's love (and consumption!) of cheese, but apparently they now have a cheese variety for every day of the year! Only France could have 365 varieties of the most delicious food on earth. Tom and I are planning on making a serious effort to try as many as we can...about 12/day - not SO unreasonable!

We've been here for five days now, and I have a new found appreciation for food: everything tastes incredible and every food item that is for sale (be it in a supermarket or a local market) is absolutely perfect. People eat what's in season and smaller amounts, meaning that yes, they'll buy a baguette every day, but that means they eat fresh every day. Contrary to back home, where we expect produce to be available all year round, expecting convenience at the expense of taste.

Well, enough said about that - it's time for my morning croissants :)