Arthur Sellers Bulletin Archive
Our splendid stay in the magical Dordogne is over and we are now happily settled in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence (just about our favourite place in the world). The skies are blue and clear and we have a week of leisure and winery visits in store. You will find an update of our Dordogne adventures in Hélène’s following Facebook posts.
If you use Facebook, you can follow Hélène's posts as she issues them at www.facebook.com/ofranceexperiences.
Cheers,
Jim and Hélène
I'm going a little bit post crazy today as it is the first time in a week that we have had anything resembling normal speed on the internet, hence the possibility of not having a post time out after waiting 20 minutes. Ah! the French countryside... This is a beauty that takes part in a birds of prey show at Josephine Baker's château.
See previous posts about gabarres and castles. This is the view from one of Château Beynac's towers. See the gabarre waaaay down there? I now have calves of steel!
This is a gabarre, a flat-bottom boat that was used to transport goods down the Dordogne River to Bordeaux until the early 20th century when rail transport kicked in. Thing is the gabarres went down to Bordeaux with the current, but had to be pulled back upstream on special paths alongside the river by horses as well as men and women! Either the pay was great or they were prisoners or slaves - I have to research it....
Wednesday was wine day. Here we are at Château Tiregrand and Monsieur le Comte François-Xavier de Saint-Exupéry is telling us about his wines. Note the bottles on the table. We had to taste each one of them. It was 10 am. More to follow...
This sculpture is called Bison Licking its Flank (maybe it hurt or itched?). Here's the kicker: it dates from 12,000 BC. Awe-inspiring.
After climbing up a zillion tiny narrow steps to the top of Château Beynac, we needed a break. We had a lovely lunch and afternoon at Les Milandes, Josephine Baker's castle where she bought up her 12 adopted children (all from different countries - the original Angelina). Google Josephine Baker. She was a very very famous black entertainer in France, originally from the USA, and had a fascinating life.
This is the view from our gabarre as we were floating past one of the five major castles along the way, the main ones being Castelnaud (English) and Beynac (French) that face each other across the river. Particular fun was had here during the Hundred Years War. It is said that when God flew over earth dropping castles here and there, his coat flew open over the Dordogne and they all tumbled out - there are over 1001 castles in the area!!!
Fast forward to 3 pm (we did have a nice two hour lunch in between winery visits). This is David Fourtout of Clos de Verdot. David is what they call a locomotive - an innovative leader - in Bergerac, He has won tons of awards and has his heart set on showing the world Bergerac is every bit as good as Bordeaux - and he is succeeding. Count the bottles. We napped the whole way home.
Posting has been erratic as the Internet at Château de la Poujade has been spotty at best so apologies for the irregular updates. Remember an earlier post re Restaurant de la Poste? After confit and foie gras every second meal Jim wanted something light and seafoody. Here is the Dordogne version of a shrimp appetizer.
It's been sunny in the Dordogne for so many days they've lost count. It was 41 in Sarat last week! Then, we arrive... and guess what the weather has been like? But look how wonderfully we cope. And, prehistoric cave paintings are in caves, right?
