Day 9 - Biking and Canoeing on the Dordogne

Another beautiful, sunny day and we had much to accomplish!  Because where Mark is concerned, the longer the list of things seen and done, the better.  Just ask my kids.  Laura will shudder if you say "Paris Death March."  (That will come in a few days, although this time we won't do Versailles, the Louve, Arc du Triomphe and Eiffel Tower in one day.... we'll leave off Versailles!)

Mark and I went out on the bikes this morning for a 33 mile ride.  This area is quite hilly, and after yesterday's ride David was a bit saddle sore, so he stayed home to work on his homework.  I think the pictures will speak for themselves.  It was a really enjoyable ride.  There are so many beautiful wildflowers.  These poppies are on the side of the road everywhere we go:

Wildflowers in the field and a castle on the hill.  It doesn't get any better than that.

 We ended up in downtown Sarlat where we visited a shop to buy some goodies for Nancy.  She really helped Mark plan for this trip and gave us some great suggestions.  I forgot to mention that when we dined in Sarlat the other night, both David and I tried foie gras with a pear sauce.  I can't say I love it, sorry Nancy, but at least I tried it.  Then we had a long climb back up to the place we are staying just outside of Sarlat.

This afternoon we spent on the Dordogne River.  Mark and I were in a canoe and David had a kayak.  We began our 10 mile paddle at Vitrac.  It was a picturesque trip:

We stopped in La Roque Gageac which some people call the cutest town in France.  We had a late lunch/early dinner and walked around the town a bit.  The town in built right up next to the cliffs.

 Here is a picture of the church.  Notice the windows in the rock just above the roof:

Here is a close-up:

Here is another picture of the town.  There is a fort high above built into the rock.

Here is a close-up:

A house built into the rock:

I would have to agree that it is a REALLY cute town.  This chateau was built in the 19th century, so not all that old, but very pretty. 

Along our way on the river we saw some other fortresses/chateaus.  We saw Castelnaud from the river (the one we biked to yesterday) and also had a better view of the one at Beynac:

We landed at Beynac and drove home.  They sure knew how to use rocks around here.  Tomorrow we drive to Paris.

Day 8 - La Roque St. Christophe, Castelnaud bike ride

Upon opening the shutters this morning, we were greeted by sunshine!  We were very excited.  It was nice to see blue skies and white puffy clouds for a change.

We got in the car and started driving.  This is one of the random chateaux that we passed:

We decided to visit La Roque St. Christophe.  This area (the Dordogne) is covered with huge limestone cliffs jutting out of the river valley.  Many of these cliff areas are sites of former civilizations who have utilized the rock formations as part of their villages.  Houses used today are often built with the rock being the back wall.

As we approached La Roque, the site was impressive.

It was a five level fortress and it was a handy place to hide when the Vikings came pillaging and plundering.  The villagers could gather up their families and climb up to the upper caves and take their ladders up with them, keeping them high above their enemies.

After returning the the house, we grabbed a quick lunch/snack and headed off on the bikes we had rented.  They are hybrids and have seats that have some suspension to them which is handy on some of the backroads here.  We rode 28 miles, circling down to the Dordogne River, stopping in Beynac
to find out more about the canoes we are going to rent tomorrow, and then continuing across the river to Castlenaud high on a hill.  And yes, we rode UP there.  The views from the top were spectacular.

I'm a little frustrated with this stupid program... I can't seem to make the pictures land where I want them to.  Above is a picture of David and I as we pedal along with Les Milandes in the background.  It is a chateau that Josephine Baker owned during the '30's and '40's.

Day 7 - Font de Gaume, Chateau de Commarque, old town Sarlat

We thought it would be fun to do some cycling in this area, so Mark had arranged with a man to rent some bikes while we are here.  He happens to be British, so language was not a problem and he brought the bikes this morning complete with maps of routes we might take and sights we might like to see.  The problem was the weather.  It has continued to rain, so we had to scrap the idea of riding today.

About 4 months ago, Mark made reservations for us at Font de Gaume.  It is the last cave in Europe with multicolored (3 colors) prehistoric cave paintings still opened to the public.

This cave only lets in 200 people a day because of the damage carbon dioxide does to the paintings.  These paintings have been dated and they are 15,000 years old.  Some also have parts of the painting etched into the rock.  The paintings are very light and I probably wouldn't have noticed them if the guide, with his laser pointer, hadn't pointed them out.  The lights they use in the cave are very dim, to protect the paintings I suppose.  Mostly the pictures we saw were of bison with a few reindeer and horses thrown in.  Here is David at the entrance of the cave:

This area seems to have a lot of very rocky terrain, but still lots of green woodsy areas.  Following our visit to the cave, we visited a chateau ruin recommended by our bicycle guy.  It isn't really on the tourist route, but we enjoyed Chateau de Commarque immensely.

We parked and then walked about 600 meters (David thought it was a longer walk than that, but that's what the sign said) down to the ruins.  Can I just say here that the forests are amazing?  The trees are SO close together.  It really illustrates the fact that you had to have a road or path through the forests in order to get through it.  It also illustrates that one could get lost in the forest very easily.

Emerging from the forest, we saw this:

Across the field you can see carved into the rock, holes that would have held the cross beams for the village that once existed next to the chateau.

I love walking around ruins and trying to imagine what it must have looked like in times gone by. It is amazing how they have integrated the rock into their structures.

 You can see where the steps must have gone up.

The neighboring chateau across the valley:

An arrow slit:

Mark on top of the highest lookout point:

In the evening we went into the medieval part of Sarlat.  It was a perfect time of day because there weren't very many people and it had stopped raining.

Town square:

David sits by the "boy of Sarlat" a bronze statue on the wall overlooking the square:

This region is noted for it's walnuts and fois gras.

Day 6 - Nevers to Sarlat, stopping in Oradour

Today we did a lot of driving and it was raining as well, so it was a dreary day. The dreariness was emphasized in our stop at Oradour.

On June 10, 1944, German soldiers entered the village of Oradour and rounded up all of the inhabitants, 642 men, women, and children. Without explanation, they separated the women and children from the men and put the women and children in the church.
They tried to gas them by putting a bomb in the church, but it didn't work well and SS decided to shoot the women and children.
This is a list of the men from the village who died in World War I. Notice the bullet holes:
The men were separated into several groups and put in different barns under armed guard. Oradour had never been suspicious of being involved in the Resistance, nor of any other violence toward the Germans. But on this day, for no apparent reason, the SS killed all of the men, women and children and burned the town. Some of the people were only wounded, but burned to death as a result of the fires.

I counted 7 or 8 sewing machines.  I guess everyone had one.

 The town is a monument now, with a new town built next to it. This is the town cemetery:
This is a field of wildflowers that has grown around the ruins.
We drove on to Sarlat to a 2 bedroom house that Mark rented. The couple who owns it lives in the downstairs apartment. It is very nice and clean and cheaper than two hotel rooms would be. We’ve actually rented it for the week but are only using it 4 nights and it still is less! It is quite adorable: