Monday, September 28, 2015

OK, THIS IS IT ! I'M NEVER GOING HOME !

  In recent years we have done a bit of travelling.

We've spent three weeks in the Cotswolds driving and walking through picture postcard villages. 

We've followed the "Black and White Trail" in Shropshire.

We've climbed through many hilltop villages in Provence,
wandered through the old town in Annecy and strolled along its pristine lake .....

but  Sarlat wins the prize  for the prettiest village we've ever seen !


It's constructed of a beautiful honey coloured stone reminiscent of the golden Cotswold stone.


Perfectly preserved in its Medieval grandeur it sits quietly in the Perigord Noir region of France.
Hugely popular with tourists, more than two million visit this spectacular little town each Summer.


Luckily for us the season is drawing to a close and the tourist numbers have dropped to a trickle making the experience for us a very special one.


Waiters and merchants have time to spend talking and joking with us and it is these little moments that make a visit so memorable.


We've wandered the little streets and narrow laneways lined with restaurants where the preoccupation with all things "duck"  could make dining out a trifle repetitive.


We've eaten LOTS of duck dishes, 


sampled and devoured delightful cheeses, 


and lashed out on another slab of nougat !


We've shopped at markets and purchased odd looking tomatoes



luscious figs and the best strawberries you've ever tasted


Using our finds to make a simple, delicious lunch fit for a king.


But we haven't spent all our time eating !
Oh no! 
We've explored the surrounding countryside to reveal more pretty villages


And the most stupendous views you can imagine.


from the village of Domme, high above the Dordogne River.


Two more days here the we move onto Paris.

A bientot !

9 comments:

  1. I for one am looking to come visit you there. In all my couch travels with the two of you. This by far is the best trip yet. It looks like almost perfect weather too. But the food.....that's a lot of pedaling for sure. Continue to take it all in and share.

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    1. You are right about the need for pedalling Kate. There will be some serious dieting happening when we get home....but until then ...!

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  2. I for one am looking to come visit you there. In all my couch travels with the two of you. This by far is the best trip yet. It looks like almost perfect weather too. But the food.....that's a lot of pedaling for sure. Continue to take it all in and share.

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  3. Wonderful! Wonderful!

    I love those ducks! Will they fit into your suitcase? Along with that nougat...the whole block...not just a slab! :)

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  4. I have visited and loved Sarlat too. So glad to hear that you are not still in the south of France - I thought of you as soon as I heard about the flooding there. Hope that Paris lived up to expectations and that you will have/have had a safe flight home.

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  5. Calling Helen! Calling Tony! I hope you survived the torrential and fatal flooding in The South of France. Hopefully, you had already moved on to Paris by then but as it is now October 6th I am worried in case you were swept out to sea.

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    1. Terrible news from down there YP and Jane. We are safe in Paris.

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