We came to Dordogne to see the charm of one of the most visited towns in France in Sarlat. We knew about their renowned market on Saturdays and we made it there by 11am to see this massive market, that covered most of the town. Randi immediately stopped at the first booth, to look at jewelery. Then the next booth to look at clothing. The the 3rd booth to look at soap!! We only had what looked like 10,000 more booths to go and I got a little spooked by this and yelled to Ran, from half a block away, "come on!". I was sorry for that 'American in a hurry' outburst. She picked it up nicely though and we walked most of the town as tourists. We saw the Cathedrale St-Sacerdos there, of course and we entered Étienne de La Boétie's house in Sarlat. He was a writer known for his essays against tyranny. He became one of the earliest advocates of civil disobedience and nonviolent resistance, outlining methods that Gandhi practiced almost 400 years later. His house had a wonderfully ornate exterior, with carving around the windows and doorway. 
They said that back in his day there was no door on the first floor, as it was common to have an arched doorway that left the first floor open to livestock and anyone I guess. Just the second floor living quarters were secured and closed. I started thinking how cool it would be to maybe start a trend in Edina of maybe having an open courtyard for a first floor. And redo the exterior with a rough plaster look. Maybe have a fake doorway appear to be bricked over. Have torches hanging off the outside of the house and have a bunch of wild chickens runnin around the yard. I suppose I'd have some splainin to do down at City Hall.
The Dordogne region historically has been situated at the boundaries of influence of the monarchies of France and England. For centuries it would oscillate between the two dynasties. It has been part of France now since the end of the Hundred Years War. But it seems the Brits still aren't ready to completely give it up, as it's said that Dordogne has become one of the favorite destinations of British immigration to France, (more than 20,000 in 2006). We visited two castles, out of the 1500 in the region. One was held by the French and the other, across the river, by the English. The French castle, Château de Beynac had more flair of course. We really enjoyed the views from top and the feel of the place itself. It focused on the daily life there.
We really liked the kitchen area and the how it catered to men who would arrive wearing 50 pounds of armor..."before eating you'll need to hang up your bow, put your shield on the wall and stick your sword into a slot at the end of the table...and wash your hands for God's sake." The castle the English occupied was across the river, the Château de Castelnaud. The focus there was medieval warfare. It was interesting seeing some of the authentic weapons,
including the longbow and siege machines but we didn't like the layout of the place. It was a maze that we had to backtrack on the way we came in, to get back out. This was because at the time it started to rain hard and we wanted to avoid getting drenched walking the ramparts. I think my favorite part of the place was seeing the longbows of the 14th century, after recently reading a great book titled 'Azincourt' by Bernard Cornwell. That night we stayed in Domme at the Hôtel L'Esplanade, which turned out to be a charming old hotel in a great location.
Their rate was reasonable at 80 euros a night, when comparing to other hotels in the area. I woke up early the following morning and got an incredible view from our window, of the sun rising, with fog covering most of the valley floor. If I just had one of these fancy cameras like Jackson or my brother, Mike has (still in the box, in his closet)...man!, I couldda got a cool shot.We visited La Roque-Gageac that Sunday morning. It is a small town built up against a cliff overlooking the Dordogne River, described as the jewel of architecture.
We had hoped to climb the stairs that lead to the ancient cave homes built into the side of the mountain but it was closed. The town is designated as one of Les Plus Beaux Villages de France ("The most beautiful villages of France") but while it was beautiful, we felt it should be designated as Les villages les plus inhabités de la France ("The most uninhabited villages of France"). There was not one little bistro open for a coffee even. What the fa!! I could go around France on a Sunday and make a killing, setting up a small booth selling shots of expresso, some cheese, Ricard and begets of bread...kind of a life-saving French oasis.Before heading home, we decided take the short ride back to Domme to visit their caves there, that was open to tour at 2pm. There are limestone caves everywhere in the area. These were by no means the best-rated in the area but we didn't want to add any extra miles to our trip. On the way back from La Roque to Domme, my GPS,
as usual, took us on the road less traveled but because of it, we did get to come across seeing a borie or stone hut, that the area is known to have. We saw it about 20 yards from the road, back into the woods. We parked and walked into a quiet wooded area, to take a few pictures of it. I wasn't sure if it was private property we were walking on and as we got closer we realized it was actually in the middle of a paintball field. There were small barricades setup all around us. We quickly took a few pics and got out there before any guns, of any kind, were fired at us. We did our underground cave tour in Domme with a French guide/kid, who knew English and catered to us by repeating most of his program to us specially. It was somewhat interesting but to me, once you've seen one stalactite drip and eventually join a stalagmite to form a column, what else is there to see? Actually, we did see a group of bats hibernating on the ceiling above us. Randi could barely stand there while the guide stopped us underneath them and explained in French what they were doing. For Randi's sake, I almost interrupted him to say "my wife is about to freak out...please get us out of here!"
I'd like to get back someday for a canoe trip down the Dordogne river. There were many outfitters and advertisements for that summertime adventure there. What are the odds for me to someday get back there for a canoe trip?...probably not good. If anyone is interested, let me know. I have a brochure to show you and it has a coupon for 1 Euro off...think of the savings!
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