Arthur Sellers Bulletin Archive
Greetings from the depths of the Dordogne, where we are currently enjoying all that this magical part of France has to offer with Hélène’s O!France guests. We have been thoroughly testing the wines from Château Valade, Domaine de Grande Maison, Château Robin, Château Saint Jacques d’Albas and Château Rives Blanques and are delighted to report that they all passed muster!
Hélène is posting semi-regular vignettes of our peregrinations on Facebook and I thought some of you might be interested in seeing them. Here are the first few and I will publish future editions on roughly a weekly basis. We both hope you enjoy them. If you use Facebook, you can follow them as Hélène issues them at www.facebook.com/ofranceexperiences.
Cheers,
Jim and Hélène
Château de la Poujade, more of a French country manor than a castle. This will be our home next week. Our "carriage" (ok, our bus) will drop us off each day at the end of a long path bordered by shade trees, part of the vast grounds that overlook the Dordogne Valley. Oh, and the stables are in the right wing... Really really cool!
Today, we sussed out a HUGE castle (a real one) which we are thinking of using for a 2015 tour. This one of many jaw-dropping views from the grounds. It is set in acres of parkland, has a lovely chapel, a grotto, and an infinity pool with more great views as well as a zillion stunning rooms... Stayed tuned.
Bordeaux, like many towns in France, has its Grand Squares. Sunday, we were having a café and tarte au citron on the patio of the Grand Hotel, facing the Grande Place de la Comédie, in front of the Grand Théâtre - the beautiful building in the photo. No cars are allowed in downtown Bordeaux on the 1st Sunday of the month so it was blissfully quiet. We had a Grand time!
I am going post-crazy today as we are moving into our new digs tomorrow and it might be a couple of days until I can dazzle you with more of our amazing daily adventures. This is the little restaurant in the postcard-perfect Saint-Léon-sur-Vézère where our gang will be lunching next Monday after a tour of the Lascaux II caves.
Last night, as we were walking up the street in Saint Émilion, Jim took this photo of the Monolithic Troglodyte Church (hope I got that right!). Monolithic, because it was carved from ONE large rock, and troglodyte as behind this façade, there is a humongous subterranean church. Back in the early 12th century, they were brilliant re financing: the carved the church out of limestone which they sold to finance the continued carving out of the church!
I'm leaving on a jet plane... We will be in Bordeaux, Saint-Émilion and the Dorodgne over the next few days - and access to Internet might be sporadic. Once we settle into our Dordogne accommodations, I will certainly start posting again. in the meantime, go to www.ofrance.ca to see what you too might enjoy by joining us next year!
