Saturday is Market Day!

Hello!  Last night's dinner was good (not as good as the night before, but good).  Beautiful presentations but just not as tasty as the small restaurant on Thursday night.

Dave had Foie Gras for his entree.

I had blue cheese wrapped in phylo with a caramelized pear. (YUM!)

Jerry skipped the entree and had a stuffed chicken leg.

Dave and I both had the Duck confit for the main.

Dee had a steak and mashed potatoes.

A bottle of Cote du Rhone and then to BED!  And Dee Ann slept!  It was good.

Saturday:  Sunshine today!  Yippee!

This town is so charming.   Pretty much a fairytale setting for any medieval movie.  Today was the market day.  We got a little bit of a late start but we went down to the main old town and there were vendors everywhere!  Breakfast of Cafe au lait at the bakery with a croissant and we were good to go.

Cemetery, looks really really old!

Jerry had on his Iowa Fleece and it started raining.  We ducked under a canopy and a woman said, "You always find Iowa fans where ever you go".  Ann and Doug from Iowa City.  She a retired teacher, her husband worked at the University.  They came to France to visit their granddaughter and are leaving on Monday or Tuesday.  Fun to meet a friendly face.  Hi Ann and Doug!

This town, as we have indicated before, is all about Foie Gras (Goose Liver) so we found in one square the Geese statue.

David is actually smiling in this photo!  The Goose Goosed him

Dee and I were sick of hanging out with men, so we sent them back to the hotel and we went alone.  First a stop at the local Church.  11th Century.

Lit another candle for my dolly Patty.

Shopped some, but forgot to take pictures because we were having so much fun.  After a rest, we went out for dinner.

We tried to stay here when we were looking but no elevator.

First a kir cocktail.

Fried Foie Gras.  Wonderful!

Foie Gras pate with pickled onions.

Grilled Duck Breast.

Sea Bream, Wheat Risotto and pureed parsnips

Fried Duck Liver.

Apple dessert.

Beautifully served, good food, but our favorite was still on Thursday.

Tomorrow we have arranged for our driver Christophe to pick us up and drive us to Carcassone which is about 3 hours away.  We could take the train, but it involved some transfers and a 7 hour train trip.  Plus I suspect that Jerry and David want to ride in the Tesla again!  A bientot!

Friday --- A day of Pre-history

This area of the Valley of Vezere is the home of prehistoric sites dating from the Paleolithic era up to 400,000 years ago,  We came to see the Cave drawings in the area....and saw so much more!

When we arrived at the hotel last night, we made it clear we were here for Duck and Caves.  The Desk clerk suggested hiring a driver and guide named  Christophe who owns a private excursion service for the area.  Christophe lives here with his wife and 3 kids and has made a nice living taking people like us to see the sites. 

Apparently a good living, because he drives a Tesla X!

Nice car!  Anyway, he suggested picking us up at 9AM so we could be first in line to tour the Font-de-Gaume Cave which is one of the few caves you can actually see the "real" cave drawings not the reproductions.  It was discovered in 1901 and contains painting and carvings that date back 15,000 years old created by the Magdalenians.  Their purpose is still a mystery, probably religious or spiritual in nature, but they are beautiful!

 There are 80 bison, 40 horses, 23 mammoths, 17 reindeer, oxen, rhinoceros, and wolf, bear and felines.  There is only 1 human form.  The photos above are from a reproduction as time and cameras are limited due to the fragile nature of the cave.

Then we went to history museum and saw a film about the area and the Cro-Magnon and Neanderthal species.

NEANDERTHAL MAN. We thought Trump 

Cro-Magnon Man

Our next stop was the LaRoque St. Christophe which is a city of troglodytiques.  It consists of 7 natural levels or terraces in the rockface of a huge hill in the Vezere Valley that housed generations of Cave dwellers from ancient time up to the Middle Ages.

If you have ever watched Rick Steeves he has a show about this place.  Amazing how every human need was perched on these rock faces.

Bake oven

how they added walls to the front

They winched heavy objects and animals up from the valley floor

Totally amazing!

We were exhausted from climbing over rocks, etc. so we stopped for lunch before the last cave.  The last was a cave called Combarelles which houses hundreds of etched animals, much smaller than Gaume, but so many more in number.  These were also original!  We were so lucky to be able to see them in person.

Coming back to the hotel we saw a goose farm that makes the delicious 

Foie Gras of the area.  Our guide states that the geese love the "force" feeding that people are so squeamish about.  

They look happy!

Well that's all for tonight.  I will post tomorrow about the Sarlat market that we will go to in the morning.  Au Revoir!