i have to say: weather is a little variable this year
one day sunshine, next day clouds and a little rain. always 30+ degrees, though… So today it is one of those ‘ehn’-days… no rain, but no unbearable sun either.
So we plan to see some more of the amazing sceneries and/or towns; let’s go to Rocamadour!
After a long trip, we are being guided by my dear N97 navigation b*&ch over (i must say) the most beautiful roads, but it takes a lot longer, as we come from the north, but end up approaching both Rocamadour and
Gouffre de Padirac from the south.
That gives me an idea, however… Because we are there around lunchtime and the Gouffre (they say the most beautiful caves in europe (!) ) is more of an attraction than Rocamadour, we decide to see the Gouffre first…
That proves to be a good choice; all of the potential visitors (except us) are having lunch.
So we descend into a 100 m deep, 50 m diameter hole in the ground by stairs (we’re no sissies!)… Once down, we walk underground for about 500 m and arrive at a kind of gondola-port we’re picked up by a gondeleer, that takes us about 1,3 km onto the river… Mind you, we are still underground…
Like the cave in Domme, again it is prohibited to take pictures! And again, I am disobedient… Well grlz, that is where you criminal career was nurtured!!!
After the boat ride, we are awaited by a guide, who shows us the most amazing cave i have ever seen! We walk about 40 meters up and down again, seeing lakes and stalactites and stalagmites and colours until we arrive in the Salle du Grand-Dôme, which indeed seems like a cathedral. It is almost 100 meters high and remember, we are still underground!
When we get back to the boat, we arrive @ one of those photospots, which i kind of revaluated; being the one who always takes the pictures, I am never on them! So, after having bought the picture, we walk back out of the hole and the three of us are really amazed @ this freak of nature
Then we get to Rocamadour, the rock of Saint Amadour… this saint chose this rock for his hermit existence and his body was later found in one of the caves in one of them. On top of the rock is a church/castle and down the rock during history they built (and rebuilt, as a lot was destroyed during a number of religious wars between protestants and catholics) a great many chapels, gates and houses all along the rock downwards…
This makes it an amazing place. We start on top of the rock, take the road down into the village.
We have some lunch on a terrace overlooking the valley and after a while we walk back to the beginning of the gates. There we take the fourniculaire (?), a kind of little elevator on a chain we saw in Como, Italy also… This one takes us up to the cliff so that we can enter the castle on top of it. Having entered the castle, the grlz show they are absolutely not afraid of heights… They walk all the way down on the wall, until they are actually hanging over the cliff… Niiiiice!
Driving back to La Domaine, we keep on seeing those amazing castles and monasteries all around and, also, what this region is famous for (like it or not, although I am not so politically correct ;-P) geese! (foie gras, baby!)…
when i suggested a couple of places to go to on holiday, i manipulated a little. the first question i got from the grlz was: “can we go horse-back-riding?”
(Kyrah) and the second was unnecessary: “is there gonna be a pool?” (Daya)…
so through the contacts of Connie and Ruud at La Domaine, we made reservations to take a riding-tour (small) for about an hour at the Ferme Equestre of a guy called Hans from Tilburg (of all places!)… he started this farm about 7 years ago and organises small tours and lessons as well as big tours of 6 days, sleeping in castles and stuff!!! unfortunately, it is quite necessary to have very extensive riding experience, so i guess i don’t qualify, as i really know the front and the back of a horse.
oh and i also know how to sit on it. that’s about it…
anyway, Kyrah was having a blast and i must say, given the fact, that Hans only has horses (BIG!) and no ponies, i was pretty damn proud of Daya and myself! we both survived beautifully and i even dared to trot a little… YEAH BABY!
of course the route was amazing. i mean, in holland the closest you get to green and trees is when you pass from one road to the next, but in the Lot (south-east of the Dordogne) we rode through a forest,
we passed a lake and rode through the beautiful french fields of grain and sunflowers… hmmmmmm…
we were accompanied by two girls, who help Hans at the farm for food and lodging (nice deal, Hans!)…
afterwards he treated us to some beers and some amazing stories about how difficult it is to deal with french bureaucracy being dutch and all. that is the impression i get from the stuff i hear from Hans and see at La Domaine: that whole concept of “starting over” is so amazingly overrated! because unless you have this huge amount of money laying around and you don’t need to make money, it is just plainly hard work. and when working and building, you need to deal with local government. now, we have a lot of comments on dutch government, well, you ain’t seen nothing yet, baby!
anyway, after a gr8 day of driving and riding we fell asleep unaware of the muscle-ache i was about to experience tomorrow…
Thursday, july 16th
We don’t do anything today! Delicious! As it is heating up like crazy;
the thunder on monday really didn’t make it any cooler (which is perfect; I like it hot (like some )…
so today we swim around, lie around, fool around and shop around (just for the necessities like sausage for my youngest grl n me; l8r, we are making a blogpost about the ones we tasted)…
now, tonight the shit really hits the fan! funny how you really feel the heat building up and needing to blow off on such days! at the end of the day, thunder and lightning battle for attention in such a way, that the power is down, cause powerlines shortfuse and i try to make pictures of the lightning…
Friday, july 17th
now it really cooled off. temperature dropped to about 22° celcius and today will be a gr8 day to visit some more of that amazing Perigord Noir, bastides and caves…
first we drive about 10 kilometers south-east to a town called Domme. a beautiful town. built in 1281 and another example of one of those bastides; not big, but with a beautiful atmosphere, located on top of a hill, about 100 meters high.
walking from the car to the center, we really get some heavy rain, so we flee into a cafe, where we have some ice-cream (never too cold/wet for ice-cream, right?!)… when it remains this wet, better plan something wet, so we get into the cave, located under Domme in the hill it is built on.
to my surprise, the guide tells us, it is prohibited to take pictures; at all! i think prohibited with flash, no, prohibited at all!
now in these kinds of situations, i really wonder why. either there is a preservation reason behind it; then you could tell me why. or you just want to be able to sell picturebooks and then you won’t tell the reason why. and i am not going to buy the picturebook, because i just love to take pictures myself and only buy picturebooks of pictures that i couldn’t take myself, for example… in this case, i am very recalcitrant… when the Louvre allows me to take pictures (without flash) of the most beautiful artworks made be man, no small town governance prohibits me to take pictures of artworks made by nature! just because they are the ones on whose land the cave was discovered?! so with my grlz, who are gradually getting used to my civil disobedience we get into the cave and they hide my taking pictures when i ask them… (l8r, they will claim to the judge: “that was when our criminal career started, your honour!”); when their father dragged them into it )…
indeed, the cave is beautiful… discovered by children in 1912 (can you imagine the excitement?!) with beautiful formations. the guide is funny. at the beginning of the tour, she asks how many visitors are french. about 3 out of 20 say yes. the rest is english and dutch. now, although she speaks english very well, she tells thewhole story in french for a couple of minutes every time (logically, don’t get me wrong) and then the only thing that follows in english is: “bee carfoel feur joer hed, becose ze ceelink iz lo…”
exitting the cave at the opening the children discovered 100 years ago, we get the most beautiful view of the valley down below… we get back to the center (when i say this, it seems like 20 km; in reality the driver takes 26 additional turns to really show us every little alley and brick of Domme ) in one of those little trains. now, we also got tickets to see the local museum of arts and crafts of Domme.
i know…
but still it was fun to watch. not big; not the most amazing arts and crafts, but still worth every… uhn.. minute (of the 15).
now as we just visited Sarlat on the 14th and arrived at the end of the day, we decide to go back there today. even more than the last time, i realise how amazingly beautiful this town is! indeed, just passing through all of those tiny little alleys, any minute expecting knights or fairies or monks to pass you on their way to the king or the church… built in the 8th century around the abbey, it was a very prosperous trading town in the 13th and 14th century. and they preserved that atmosphere beautifully!
we walk around town, buy some regional products and my youngest and i go crazy over the set of sausages we bought! then we sit down, have some drinks, croque-monsieurs, sandwiches and crepes and write the old-skool emails we bought…
then we get back and do some groceries (bougies!!! candles…) as we still don’t have electricity…
fortunately, in the evening the french energy company arrives to repair the stuff. apparently, some of the wires got stuck in the big pine-tree in the back of the garden (which was the shortfusing we saw) and caused the power outage… these guys almost wreck the playground!!! it is amazing; although we realise, you should keep all those lines available to the powercompany, they have absolutely no consideration for the big walnut tree (no harvest this year!), the pine-tree (just cut all of the branches on this side;
the tree is about 30 meters high) or the grass (as it has rained heavily, it is soft like a mud-wrestling ring…)… and then, after they have repaired the lines and we literally have electricity 5 minutes l8r (!), they drive off the field like a bunch of little boys showing off to the grlz (the boys being between 25 and 55 years old and the grlz between 2,5 and 10 years old; must be french )…
Wednesday, july 15th
On holiday, I like to find a nice balance between relaxing and doing things I have no or too little time for during the year (like reading and nothing, just doing nothing) and going around seeing things to get to know the place where I am…
Today is leisure day. A little reading, getting to know the new tenants Hans and Yvonne, a nice couple with an even funnier dog, Hummer. Supposedly a mix between a teckel, a beagle and a capier, which makes it a hunter with a long body, short legs and a wrinkled face. We swim a little and go to the river (the Dordogne) to rent some canoes. We step into a bus and are dropped about 14 km upstream at Roque-Gageac. There we get into the canoe, almost immediately take of the complementary life-vests (HOT!) and start rowing…
Roque-Gageac is an amazing place with houses and ruins all built into and glued to the high rocks on the side. It is so beautiful to see this amazing region from the water; le Chateau de Castelnaud, Chateau de Fayrac and of course Beynac with it’s amazing construction on top of the hill. We do take some time-off from rowing to have some ice-cream and a beer (not necessarily together) and are underway for about 3,5 hours; an amazing trip!
Back from canoeing, we swim, drink, eat and almost fall asleep under the clearest stellar sky…
Tuesday, july 14th Vive la france, vive la republique!
Regardless of the national holiday, but considering the pleasant weather we decide to go to the place of Cyrano, Bergerac. Driving towards it is already a treat; through beautiful towns, alongside the most gorgeous meadows with sunflowers: french as french can be…
Although in Bergerac, like any other french place the stores are closed, it is still filled with people coming to visit the culinary Table de Cyrano festival. Especially the old part of Bergerac is so beautiful with old handcraft buildings and bridges. We have some drinks and ice-cream and in the beginning of the afternoon we drive back to the perigord-noir. Halfway, just before the town of Lalinde, I see a roadsign indicating the bastides of Beaumont and Monpazier to the south.
Combining the concept of holiday (go with primary instincts) with the french roadsignalling experience, I decide to go south and follow the yellow brick road. Good choice! Beaumont is already very nice, but the bastide town of Monpazier is breathtaking!
We have some french sandwiches and drinks and walk around; seeing the central square where the market used to be, together with the very typical chestnut weighing system.
I buy a beautiful book about the Perigord and some old-skool emails (postcards) for the grlz to send their friends and we head back to the car.
Then, on the road to Saint-Vincent, I follow the same strategy and take a road a little further south to Villefranche du Perigord… Also a cute yet smaller bastide with the most beautiful square. I make some beautiful pictures of some locals, one of which is a portuguese native, with whom I speak a little of his native language (with the emphasis on a little).
We drive back to la Domaine and freshen up. Then we go to Sarlat to have a bite and to watch the quatorze juillet fireworks spectacle. When we have parked the car, we walk towards yet another gorgeous vieille centre. After a round of cuddle buying (uh, winning) @ the holiday carnival and a disneyland type of merry-go-round we find a great italian place. We ask for a place en-dehors and end up in one of the small little alleys.
While having drinks and waiting for our table, our attention is drawn by some amazing hairclipthingies for the grlz. €10 for 1, so i say to the girl 2 for €15, right?! No, no 3 for €20… But they don’t look good on me; I only need 2, I say… @ the same time there is a dutch woman looking @ them… obviously it is done dutch style: the woman and i negotiate to take three and split the costs…
After having a great italian meal and some drinks, we walk up the hill, as the fireworks are there. We get settled and @ exactly 23:00 the party’s started. It is undoubtedly one of the most impressive fireworks I have ever seen!
Despite the late hour the grlz are all hyped up and (like me) can’t shut up about it… We drive home and tumble in a deep sleep…
Sunday, july 12th
Woken up @ 9 by the already very powerful sun through my open window overlooking the fields with corn. Today will be a day of relaxing, tanning and swimming in the improvpool… Hell, as long as there is cold water!
We meet the other guests, Claudia and Morris, a young couple who have been there for a week and will be leaving on monday. Then there are Serge and Rachel with their 3 kids Gaia (7), Nathan (5) and Freia (1,5). The grlz immediately meet and have fun in the water. The parents soon follow. Serge and Rachel already arranged for some financial compensation for the non-finished pool (among others) and i will do the same tomorrow.
The day flies by.
I just go to the bank to atm some money and gas and we have a nice bbq with some amazing salmon and tuna… Damn, they r bbq’d to perfection! After the grlz have gone to various beds (it is an 8-person gite), the adults do some drinking and before you know it, it is 1:30…
Monday, july 13th
As the weatherforecast indicates 38° celcius, we try to keep our focus on hydration both internally and externally. That works. As we plan on doing some more bbq-ing, we do have to go to Saint-Cyprien
, some 10 km down the road. We walk through this beautiful, medieval yet very small town and have some icecream and drinks. @ the Champion we buy what we need and head back to Hydration-central. Drinking rose, reading a little, preparing sateh for bbq and later tonight we make pancakes for the kids and bbq for the bigger people.
During the bbq, the weather is changing gradually. And when everyone has gone to bed, the warfare starts; the heaviest thunder and rain diffuse the heat built up during this smuthering day.
of course i plan on going to bed early, as i plan on start driving @ 3:30, but as usual it doesn,t work out that way… Laying my head to rest figuratively speaking takes more time. Eventually, i see the clock turning 00:45, so about 2 hours of (very intense) sleep will have to guide me through some driving to the Dordogne, France.
Getting up, the only thing i really need is a hot, wet shower. Done. Then i make coffee, put it in my thermos to have about 8 cups available when driving… I wake up the grlz, which is really easy as we are going on HOLIDAY!!!
Eventually, we leave @ 3:40… The first part of the trip is smooth. A couple of times, we stop at a gasstation for either filling or emptying ;-P. I keep being amazed @ these involuntary gatherings.
My grlz, who r here 4 emptying, easily step in line and wait their turn. I frankly am amazed @ the speed of the line. Other people r not. But then again, other people always have something to bitch about. I see a woman and a (her!) man coming out of the bathroomarea. She exclaims: Continue Reading…
one day sunshine, next day clouds and a little rain. always 30+ degrees, though… So today it is one of those ‘ehn’-days… no rain, but no unbearable sun either.
Gouffre de Padirac from the south.
Like the cave in Domme, again it is prohibited to take pictures! And again, I am disobedient… Well grlz, that is where you criminal career was nurtured!!!
When we get back to the boat, we arrive @ one of those photospots, which i kind of revaluated; being the one who always takes the pictures, I am never on them! So, after having bought the picture, we walk back out of the hole and the three of us are really amazed @ this freak of nature 
This makes it an amazing place. We start on top of the rock, take the road down into the village.
Driving back to La Domaine, we keep on seeing those amazing castles and monasteries all around and, also, what this region is famous for (like it or not, although I am not so politically correct ;-P) geese! (foie gras, baby!)…
