May 22 - Today we set off for our next stop in the Dordogne, or since there is no such place really Perigord/Quercy but about 15 k from the River Dordogne on a pretty little site (we hope) at Salignac Eveyques. One significant hill on the route of about 160 kilometres. Here's hoping.
May 24 - We are now settled in on a charming little site, well shaded and we need it. It hit 33C yesterday and not a breath of wind. Today has been a little cooler. This is an area we have visited before of course but it is 20 odd years ago. Today our first impressions are that it is indeed as beautiful as we remember and as it is said to be. But today it is full of recently restored and new houses. Most are in the charming apricot stone of course, although fewer today have stone lauzes for roofing tile; most are tiled. And it is busy. Where we drove for miles in the Tarn and Averyron without seeing a car here there is traffic in most places and some of it a bit too fast for its own or our good frankly. The English are here in numbers of course but so far less visible than we expected (or was it feared?).
June 1 - Pity such a nice place should make a liar of me! I jest in a way but we were planning to leave today and even told Peter and Karen so. We are not. This place just has so much to see and do that we are staying another week. We might move the van a bit but I doubt it. If the road north to Brive and the A20 link proves good for the van and our 'problem' then we shall stay (It did so we do/are... whatever). Even more of a pity that we did not read Peter's mail in time to take up his offer of a week in their place. It is ideally suited and would have made a nice change. However we shall just have to drive a bit further. The good thing is - not ver far. By chance we chose a site that is kind of triangulated on the best bits of the Dordogne. We have revisited the Vezere (25k) and extended our knowledge up to Brive (25k), strode the lovely streets of Gageac and Beynac (25k) and a string of other delightful villages. We have fallen in love with Sarlat le Caneda (28k) which seems to have smartened up a whole lot since we went there 18 or so years ago. It had beautiful buildings but also a lot of traffic. Now the traffic is virtually gone by pedestrianising and buildings are apricot delicious as they must have been before the coming of the motor car. Joy! And it is also both a vibrant commercial centre with brilliant local and chain shops but also has this charming, busy, bustling medieval heart. Mostly gew-gaw shops and cafes but plenty of real artisans working in ateliers visible when you visit. So utterly unlike the sterility of, say Carcassone.
We have done three castles of which our first visit to Beynac (how did we miss it last time!?) was each one so far has raised the same question - they were all sold into private ownership sometime in the 60s. I shall research this - seems like the heritage of la belle France was sold off - Pompidou? But the good news is they are all open to the public so I guess it may just be a kind of privatised National Trust/English Heritage? We shall see.
Actually the comparisoin with our English situation reminds me - France has a limited vocab sometimes. Chateau translates as castle but doubles for what might better be called Palaces, especially along La Loire. Equally what we would see as a small castle ends up being called a Donjon or even just a Tour. In fact France is awash with fortified buildings of which a fair proportion really are Castles but by calling and marking them all on maps as 'chateaux' one is confused. Further south we enjoyed a very fine fortified manor house called a chateau and then drove a mere couple of kilometres to be confronted with a truly castle-like Manoir! Towers, walls with machiolations, proper gatehouses and all that. Bof, as I believe the Frenchman might say in exasperation. But I read that the area we call Dordogne (essentially Perigord, Quercy and few bits more has, wait for it, 800 chateuax. I doubt there are that many in all of England, even including Wales and Scotland. Oh, yes and a fair few were built by the alleged English, who were of course Normans, who were ex-patriot Norsemen residing in France and having invaded and conquered England! Oh, and their successors the Plantagents of course. But the French enjoy the historic enmity with England as much as we do so the facts never stand in the way of a good Histoire de la Chateau! Thus the castle built by Brits is referred to as having been 'held by the English for x years' until recaptured by the brave and daring Duke Tiddley de la Poshplace. Don't you love 'em?
