To the Dordogne

The long drive to Sarlat was made more arduous by the violent wind that persisted Friday morning and the autoroute we were on ( one of the main routes into the Iberian peninsula) was packed with traffic, especially heavy trucks.

The 130kms/hour speed limit seemed like just a suggestion to some drivers and it was a period of intense concentration for the first couple of hours. Once we turned more westerly traffic thinned out considerably and the country also became more picturesque.

We found ourselves crossing the Millau bridge (an engineering feat, previously mentioned in another blog!) and on roads we had traversed in 2012.

Finally, signs mentioning Sarlat started to appear and we eventually rolled into Sarlat and found our hotel at about 6pm – plenty of time to freshen up before strolling into the old town for dinner.

We had chosen to do the drive in a day in order to be here for the market that occurs on Saturday morning as it is one of the best in the region.

On a warm July morning it was packed! The photo above shows about a tenth of the market. Every man and his dog was checking out the delights of the Sarlat market and in some sections it was a vaguely unpleasant shoulder to shoulder shuffle. There were however some great offerings and we spent the morning (separately) perusing, tasting, trying on and enjoying the market personalities!

We stocked up on some tasty offerings in preparation for the next stage of our party arriving tomorrow and then gave Jeanette the task of getting us to Monpazier and our next rental, only 42km away but almost an hours drive given the roads in the area.

We passed several familiar spots (from 2008) with many stunning views of La Dordogne ( the river for which the region is named) and it was just before 5 that we rounded the last corner and the “Dordogne Country House” came into view. The now familiar ‘key in the safe box’ routine negotiated we stepped in to a beautiful but dark residence as all of the shutters were closed to the heat.

Some time later we were able to view the house in all its splendour having thrown back the shutters and opened the windows as we wandered through the 4 acres of surrounding gardens, pool and terraces – our home for the next week.

Tomorrow, off to Bordeaux to collect Yvie, Linelle and Julie.

 

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