Sarlat, Nouvelle-Aquitaine (Dordogne)

Driving to Sarlat the landscape changed from very flat to winding roads with very green and lush hills.

On the way we passed through a town where many of the buildings were built into the rock face. The area is known for its prehistoric caves. There are caves all along the road.

We arrived in Sarlat and couldn’t get into the house till 4pm so went to explore the town.

Sarlat is a beautiful medieval town with a maze of narrow streets and blond brick buildings. In all of the little side streets there are restaurants, shops, art galleries and monuments. The old town is heritage protected so the town has maintained the picturesque medieval beauty.

Sarlat is duck town! Duck and Foie Gras (made from duck and geese) is on every menu. The area is also known for truffles, walnuts and mushrooms.

Steve loves a good duck and has been waiting to have duck on the menu. He’s a happy boy! What did he have for lunch? Duck!

We bought some foie gras and cheese. The cheese was from a specialty cheese shop. The shop was underground in a cave.

We returned with our cheeses, foie gras and a baguette to our accommodation, which is a beautiful little house that we have for 5 nights. It looked amazing on the outside. The inside was even more amazing. It was an attic that has definitely been architecturally designed and beautifully decorated.

We sat out in the small courtyard and enjoyed our cheese plate and a nice cold Clairet (From Bordeaux). It was a very hot day so the cold Clairet was perfect.

We went down into town for dinner and without a booking our wait wasn’t too long. We were in the main square so we were treated to some street performers with our dinner.

Having our own house for 5 nights meant that we could live like locals and cook instead of eating out every night. The next day, Wednesday, was market day so we wandered down to get some fresh veggies and other things for dinners.

The main street was so crowded you could barely move.

We grabbed what we needed and headed to the high street for the rest.

The next day we had a food tour booked. It was a fabulous day. Our tour hosts Dani and Michel were locals. They were a very fun couple who enjoyed sharing their beautiful country side and the local foods with us. They drove us around all day on a gastronomical tour!

The cars were Citroen 2CV’s. Dani and Michel were very skilled at driving around the tight and winding roads. They drove very fast on some very narrow roads with other cars flying past. It was lots of fun. It reminded us a bit of Mr Bean’s driving and escapades.

First stop was a Boulangerie in the small town of Mayrals.

Next stop was a small farm that made traditional foix gras. We were told the geese were treated very humanly. When it came to guy tasting it I couldn’t because all I could think of was the beautiful geese we had just seen. The tears were flowing. I was glad to leave.

On the way to the foix gras place we did a bit of cross country driving to look at some truffle trees. Michel and Dani went through the very complicated process of how truffles were made and how to find them.

Then back to Mayrals to do some wine tasting.

Next stop was lunch at a very nice restaurant and a 3 course meal.

After lunch we visited a walnut farm. The farm still produced the walnut oil in the traditional way. They used to do everything by hand. They would collect the walnuts by hand by shaking the tree with a stick and crack them with hammers. A very long process to harvest. But now they have machines to shake and catch the walnuts and then vacuum them up and crack them.

Finally we went to a distillery. It wasn’t in action because they were waiting for fruit. We had a look at the very old casks and then tasted a variety of liqueurs and whiskey.

Then the amazing gastronomic tour came to an end. It was such a fun day tasting the local delights. We learned a lot about the foods and the Dordonge region. It was one of our best tours yet.

It was also great driving around the area on the tour. We circled around the surrounding area of Sarlat through the beautiful lush forests. Sarlat has a lot of little flowing springs which is the reason why it is very green. It’s not at all affected by the current drought in France.

Along the way there were remnants of villages long gone. Many of the small houses had a roof made out of very heavy stone. Building the roof was a skill passed on from generation to generation.

That night we had dinner at home. Bangers, mash and peas!

On Friday we drove to the Grotte Pech Merle. It was a bit over an hours drive away. Today Steve was the driver, driving through very narrow winding roads with blind corners and crazy drivers. We both had the brakes on when cars, trucks and RV’s and bike riders flew passed.

Apart from that the scenery was beautiful.

We drove through many small villages. Every village is painted in the same blond colour with different coloured shutters.

The cave was amazing. The prehistoric rock paintings, drawings and engravings of animals, human figures and symbols were unique to Grotte Pech Merle because many of the images were created using the shape or the texture of the rock walls.

From the caves we went to Rocamadour. Once again through very narrow winding roads with more crazy drivers and some very blind corners. The country side was beautiful. There were lots of lush green forests and cute little villages along the way.

We came around a bend and the view of Rocamadour village was breathtaking! It was a wow moment. We had to stop and take a photo and so did the two cars in front of us.

Rocamadour is a small medieval village that sits on a rocky plateau and looks like it is built into the rock wall. Some of the buildings are built into the rock wall!

It was part of a pilgrimage route back in the 13th century. The statue of the Black Madonna was what drew the pilgrims to Rocamadour.

Walking down the cobble stoned main street there are small medieval houses which are now souvenir shops restaurants and ice cream shops. It was one of the many amazing hill top villages in France.

After some lunch we went back to Sarlat and walked down to town to grab something for dinner and then enjoyed the peace and quiet in the courtyard. Although the mossies were ferocious! Mossie repellent was put on the shopping list for tomorrow.

We went out for dinner on our last night. Steve had duck!

We had the most wonderful time in Sarlat. The house we had was in a perfect location just up from the beautiful old town and far enough away that it was quiet. We’re thinking we might put in an offer. Yep! We’re dreamin again.