Donna Does Dordogne!

3^rd May 2012

Donna’s Day in the Dordogne....Happy Birthday!!!!

It was a day of adventure in the Dordogne; we visited Monpazier, Castlenaud, La Roque Gageac, and Domme.

Monpazier located about 45 km from Sarlat was founded in 1284. It is described as one the most attractive bastides in southwestern France.

The arcaded market square is surrounded by well- preserved stone houses. Market day is Thursday as it has been since the Middle Ages.

A celebratory lunch for Donna’s birthday was enjoyed in the dappled 28 degree Celcius sunlight of the terrace café at the “Privilege du Perigord” restaurant.

http://www.privilegeperigord.com/



Green Asparagus Soup




Cassoulet Gourmand



Pork Filet Mignon and Prune Skewers



Castlenaud- toured Chateau des Milandes (former home of Josephine Baker) and watched the Bird of Prey show.

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La Roque Gageac – hamlet of tan coloured houses built halfway up the cliff, where the troglodytes lived.

Here we wanted to take a boat ride in a barge along the Dordogne but the river was running too fast and deep and no boating was allowed, The barge is similar to the one used by Johnny Depp in the movie “Chocolat”.

Domme is another beautiful bastide (walled town) with panoramic views over the Dordogne River.

 

It was a busy and fun day …we then visited our local café for before dinner drinks and a visit with young Melody, a friend Graeme & I met months ago at the monthly book exchange.

Late in the evening, John adopted the traditional French outfit and enjoyed the gloaming.

Lunch Outside Atlast!!!!

2nd May 2012 (Wednesday)

It was my French class today and my Canadian teacher friend, Shari D would be very pleased with me.

The class started with the review our last assignment which was the composition that I wrote about “Mon dimanche parfait” or “My Perfect Sunday”…all about our day spent at the sea in Collioure.

If you remember what I wrote previously, this is the composition that “I and Honey” both lost some of our sleep because of my tossing and turning the previous Thursday and on Friday morning  I rewrote my story.

The professor marks in “red” pen and even though red was evident; the comment ”Excellent travail!” was written on my short essay.

We then ventured to Goujounac, a lovely village with no commerce except for the “Hostellerie de Goujounac”, which is a hotel, restaurant, bar, operated by a Dutch couple and a local French chef. It has an outside patio in a garden setting  situated in the centre of the village; where we enjoyed a lovely lunch.

Piping hot vegetable soup

Beef , mashed potatoes, green beans wrapped in bacon , carrots & roasted tomato....against our better judgement we all ordered the infamous "French steak", perfectly cooked but tough...need to order Entre-cote or Filet de Beef....even with this mistake our meals were tasty. and delicious.

Finished with Creme Brulee.

We walked thru the lanes and streets of the village, and discovered a group of ladies in the midst of a painting workshop provided by Mercedes Choufoer.  

Her Galerie – Atelier Mercedes is located in Marminiac.

http://www.mercedes-art.nl/

The village street names are all hand-painted ceramic plaques and we discovered this amazing bust upon a gate.

We had dinner at our gite this evening and later Melody from California

and her French boyfriend, Julian joined for wine and dessert.

Pink Sky

01 May 2012 – Tuesday was Labour Day in France, a big holiday.

It was a wonderful day.  It was the 1^st Tuesday of the month, so it was  

Book Exchange Day” at my French school.

My friend Donna and I went to the book exchange in order to return two bags full of books, where we enjoyed a cup of coffee and some social interaction with other local English speaking residents and visitors.

From here we wandered thru the “Foire de Marche”…with a quick stop at the Bolangerie for some fresh bread for lunch. 

Our men had spent the morning inspecting the stalls at the Vide-Grenier.

Honey had some success and purchased a lovely French dish and a book of sketches and paintings of the French artist - : Martine |-Laurent Partarrieu.

After lunch, Donna and I hiked to the top of the “Table d’ Orientation”

to enjoy the long views and take some photos.

I was suppose to have done this the 1^st April, but the weather was not cooperative.

Today was perfect for this and from here we walked in search of the Notre Dame Chapel des Neiges, we will have to do a return visit ..we were nearer than we thought.

…

after our walk we strolled the boulevard of Gourdon, which was busy  with the “Vide-Grenier”…Community Yard Sale. 

We met up with the guys at the Promenade Cafe which was very busy, the outside terrace was full with people enjoying the sunshine and warm weather.

Below is a photo of the sunset from the dining room window of the gite.

Pink sky at night, sailor's delight!