Geese!

By on April 30, 2007 in Dordogne, France, Travel

Today we found geese! They were on their way to lunch, following a guy on a tractor who filled troughs for them just at lunchtime. They looked fat, happy, and silly, as geese usually do.

Speaking of geese, we’ve eaten way too well here, but I’m already looking forward to menus that do not feature foie gras and duck confit. I know it’s sacrilegious, but I’m not that excited about foie gras, which I find way too rich, and duck confit seems to me like a nice occasional treat, not a daily staple.

We’ve been especially happy with dinners here in Sarlat at Le Presidial, a very good restaurant with a lovely garden, and L’Octroi, a nice little bistro just outside the historic center. We had lunch on Sunday at La Belle Etoile in La Roque-Gageac, suggested by Ann from Hawaii on the message board. Although the weather didn’t cooperate with our plan to eat out on the terrace overlooking the river, we had a lovely meal in a dining room almost entirely full of elderly British folk.

Today, in addition to visiting the geese, we took the tour at Lascaux II. I’m so glad we were able to take an English tour, because the explanations made all the difference. We stopped to buy tickets on Saturday and asked about the English tour, which they said they added just for us, but by today it was completely full. I was surprised by how beautiful the cave paintings were.

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Where have all the geese gone?

By on April 29, 2007 in Dordogne, France, Travel

The Dordogne is growing on me. After an unpromising start, I’m really starting to appreciate how beautiful it is.

We had an especially nice day yesterday, starting with a morning stroll through the Sarlat market. It’s HUGE, winding all the way through town. I think I at least glanced at most everything, although I only bought dish towels. I can almost never leave an outdoor market in France without buying a few more dish towels.

The produce was lovely and tempted me, but our apartment kitchen doesn’t seem convenient for any serious cooking so I bypassed it.

Then we drove north and found a nice place for lunch in a quiet village. A well-mannered cat joined us when the food arrived and requested one bite from each of us, then washed up and went back to sleep in the sun.

After lunch we visited Les Jardins de L’Imaginaire in Terrasson. I LOVED it. I always find formal gardens impressive but dull, but this is a very exciting contemporary garden that uses water in surprising and original ways. It was a guided tour in French, which went mostly over our heads, but they provided a booklet in English that covered the basics.

About those geese… When I was reading about this area before we came, I saw lots of pictures of grandmotherly ladies on farms tending their geese. We’ve done lots of driving around the countryside and seen lots of farms, and I’ve seen cows, sheep, horses, a few ducks, and quite a few chickens, but not a single goose. Where are they? Are they all already foie grased?

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Sarlat

By on April 27, 2007 in Dordogne, France, Travel

My first impression of Sarlat was that I’d made a terrible mistake in choosing it. When we arrived, the traffic was insane, and we spent about an hour inching around the edge of town to where we could park to check into our apartment. I was surprised and a little dismayed to find our apartment right on the main street, although it turns out our huge terrace overlooking the street is private yet a perfect place to watch everything. The apartment is quiet when the doors are closed. When I got up this morning I discovered they’d set up the Saturday market right below us without me hearing a thing!

I still wouldn’t choose Sarlat again, because of the traffic, which must be unbearable in season, and because the number of shops marketing tourist junk is just overwhelming, but the buildings are SO beautiful. I keep imagining how beautiful it would be if I could just edit all of that out.

On our first day, we headed out to explore with no plan in mind and had a great day. A nice late morning drive led us to St. Cyprien for lunch in a café full of local construction workers and traveling motorcyclists, then we visited Beynac, La Roque-Gageac and Domme after lunch. Wow – what spectacular scenery!

We took a tourist boat ride down the river from La Roque-Gageac and enjoyed it. I was skeptical, but once I saw the crew wasn’t dressed as pirates, I decided it would be ok. It was a tranquil one-hour ride, with a recorded commentary in English to match the live commentary in French.

My overall impression of what I’ve seen of the Dordogne so far is that it is beautiful, but almost too manicured and too altered by its success as a tourist destination. Do they really sell all of that canned confit and foie gras?

This morning, the Sarlat market is waiting for me just outside the door!

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Our days in the Loire Valley

By on April 27, 2007 in France, Loire Valley, Travel


Our time here has gone by so fast! We’ve shared meals with friends, taken some nice walks, napped, and done very little sightseeing. Since we know the area fairly well, it’s the perfect place for us to take it easy and remember why we love France so much (especially me). It’s quiet this time of year and seems almost entirely untouristed away from the chateaus.

Our only sightseeing was to a small village called Montresor that we’ve missed on previous visits. (photo)

From the Loire, we drove south to Sarlat, stopping for a roadside picnic along the way.

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Misc Paris Thoughts

By on April 23, 2007 in Art, France, Paris, Travel

I’m so over the Sixth.

I got my first glimpse of Paris years ago when we emerged from the Metro at Saint Michel and walked down St. Andres des Arts to our hotel near Rue de Buci. I loved it, and have been slow to accept that it’s no longer my favorite part of Paris. This trip our hotel was in the same neighborhood except on a street that should have been quieter, but was still noisy all night long. About the time the parties ended, the garbage collection started. And the streets were packed with kids all day long. It’s just not my scene. Next time we stay elsewhere!

The Orangerie.

I’ve wanted to visit the Orangerie for years, checking before every Paris trip to see if the endless renovations were complete and it was finally open. Finally this time it was, and we were able to visit the two rooms with huge Monet waterlily paintings and the long narrow galleries in the basement (sort of reminiscent of being down in the tunnels of the Metro). A couple of the Monets were magnificent, the others I thought were mostly just big, but not his best efforts. Definitely not my favorite Paris art museum.

Jet lag.

My doctor startled me a few weeks ago by chortling and rubbing his hands and saying “Have I got a jet lag cure for you!!” when I asked for Ambien to get over the rough spots of jet lag. In addition to the sleepy pills, he gave me something called Provigil to keep me awake and alert through the first day when we arrived. It worked—I felt wide awake all day but not jittery and slept as well as could be expected through the parties in the street outside my window. A couple of days later, I’m realizing it didn’t prevent the jet lag, just delayed it. Ho-hum.

I LOVE Paris.

I realize this sounds grumpy, but don’t misunderstand me. Even though we just stopped over two nights and one day in Paris this trip, I loved it. It was the most perfectly beautiful spring day you could ever imagine, and we walked all day long. And the Laduree macarons were perfect!

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Why is this the best trip ever?

By on April 17, 2007 in France

Because we’re going to three fabulous areas in France, because it’s spring, and just because it’s the next trip. Our worst trip to Europe was our first one, when jet lag, sleeplessness and the fact that we’d just quit smoking made us both semi-psychotic and hateful. Every trip since then has gotten better, as we’ve learned more about what what makes us happy and what doesn’t.

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3+ weeks in France!

By on April 16, 2007 in France, Travel

I started planning this trip when we left France the last time, in October 2005. Finally, it’s here, and I’m just sure it will be the best trip ever!

2 nights in Paris

Just enough time to get over the worst of the jet lag. No museums or major sightseeing. We’ll walk along the Seine, sit in cafes and watch Paris, and eat well. We’re trying a new hotel, Hotel le Jardin de l’Odeon. It’s reasonably priced and in the Sixth near Saint Germain, where I wanted to be. I hope it’s not awful.

4 nights in the Loire Valley

We train to Tours, pick up our car and drive to our little stone cottage at La Barauderie near Montrichard. A few years ago we stayed in the smaller cottage at the same place and loved it. The location is amazing, out in the country among the wheat fields, just a short walk from the Montrichard Forest. Lots of birdsong and unbelievable stars at night.
We’ll have dinner with Karen and Craig, the owners of La Barauderie, on our first night.

The only other definite plan for our remaining three days is to have lunch with ckenb from the message board and his partner, who live in St. Aignan, a few kilometers up (?) the river from Montrichard.

This is our third trip to the area, so we’ve seen most of the big chateaus. We’ll spend the rest of our time meandering around our immediate neighborhood, maybe even in concentric circles.

7 nights in the Dordogne

From Montrichard, we’ll drive south to Sarlat, where we have an apartment for a week. This is entirely new territory for us, and I’m sure we’re going to wish we had much more time. We’ll go to Lascaux II to see the prehistoric cave paintings for sure. Maybe another cave painting site or two, maybe not. I’ve always hated caves, so maybe I’ll just find a café to hang out in while Frank visits caves. Castles, gardens, beautiful drives, nice walks, good food!

9 nights in Provence

We drive from Sarlat to St. Saturnin Les Apt for two nights at Le Mas Perreal, Kevin Widrow’s B&B. Then to Lourmarin for a week at Les Olivettes. In Provence, we’re meeting Kathy and Charley Wood for dinner and going on the inaugural hike of the newly formed C.I.R.P. (Informal hiking club of the Luberon) organized by Kevin. Markets, beautiful drives, good food, more walks, time to just sit and enjoy Lourmarin, one of my favorite places in the world. Probably one day in Aix.

Final night at the Paris Hilton

We’ll take the train back to Paris on the final afternoon for our flight home on Sunday morning.

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