Clédat - Dordogne, France Travel Blogs

Oops
Sep 16, 2008

Jacques has been a frequent visitor these days. Lonely and needing a shoulder to cry on, trying to come to terms with the prospect of going through life without his Bernadette. We do what we can, and that amounts to glass after glass of whatever ...

Credit Crunch
Oct 3, 2008 (2 photos)

... have to go. Worth a tidy sum yesterday, the price is plummeting as we speak. Let's just give it away. Then move to France (ok Johan, the advantages are becoming obvious), live off the land. Honestly, it's unbelievable what you just pick up by the ...

trompe l'oeil
Jun 26, 2008

Something funny happened tonight. The five of us had finally settled down for a game of Trivial Pursuit after a busy day of walking, eating, visiting, swimming, shopping, eating and eating and eating. It's been really hot lately, too hot for me, but the ...

counter-attraction
May 7, 2008

The Intermarché, a supermarket in Hautefort - a lovely village just 5 minutes away from our hamlet - is one of my most frequented places. By now, most of the staff recognize me and grant me a bonne journee, except for the butcher. Now he really looks the ...

lovely luna
May 22, 2008

Since I saw the owl on my second night here, I go out, every night before bedtime, just in case I might see him. I have not seen him again. I hope I will before I return. I also need to see the stars and the moon. Each night they appear in a  ...

I wish
Oct 11, 2008

Yesterday we visited my castle, the fortress of Hautefort. The inside was as impressive as you would expect. The galleries, halls, chambers and vaults. The floors, ceilings, fireplaces, doors. The paneling. I'm no good at describing those things, but it ...

tricky things, dreams
May 14, 2008 (2 photos)

You might dream of a place in France. And being tucked away in this idyllic little cottage may seem like a cosy set-up, believe me, it has it's drawbacks. Like my spouse suddenly becoming clingy. He looks positively hurt when I try to slip out of the ...

passions
May 13, 2008 (4 photos)

... -perfect, but not quite in sync with it's rural surroundings. We wandered through Nailhac yesterday, a pretty village right between Clédat and Hautefort. Typical to see a beautiful, well kept residence, just ten steps away from an abandoned, ...

fred
May 18, 2008

... the lot, Annie, inherited several properties. She mostly stays in Toulouse, and has a caretaker looking after the big house in Clédat. The caretaker is, or rather, was Fred. What can I say about Fred? He must be almost eighty but you wouldn't know ...

vive la france
May 9, 2008 (4 photos)

Yesterday I woke up with a start. For some reason or other the shops were only open for a couple of hours, so I'd better get a move on. No time to wash, I grabbed some clothes off the floor, found the car keys and bumped into my lower neighbor on my ...

moules frites
Oct 6, 2008

... of months ago I told you about the St. Rabier paëlla night and it's embarrassing end. There are many of such events in rural France, as the villages have little or no theatres, cinemas, discos, music halls and what have you. So these gatherings are a ...

night owl
May 7, 2008

just quickly - can't believe what I just saw. On an impulse I stepped out of the house before going to bed, and all the stars were out. It was cloudy before, but now.....I just can't describe the impact, infinitely beautiful. A great white bird circled ...

cheers
Jun 3, 2008

A friend's birthday came and went without my realizing. I'm not big on birthdays - if anything I think it's the one who gave birth that should be honored. But it's an occasion, an opportunity to let someone know he or she is special to you. Well, ...

sweet starry night
Oct 9, 2008 (1 photos)

I've been watching  the stars tonight. Staring and staring - I couldn't get enough of them, I wanted to drink them in, to hold them  and keep them - mine! The moon so clear-cut and bright, for a moment I thought I could reach out and touch ...

netherlands versus russia
Jun 22, 2008

I'm now watching a football (or soccer) match - a novelty for me but tonight is special. The Dutch team is apparently doing very well in the European or world series. There's a lot of to do about it and we are all officially invited to Bernadette and ...

party palaver
Sep 22, 2008 (4 photos)

I promised you a full account of Saturday's party, but to be perfectly honest, there's not that much to tell. Not that it was boring - no, not at all. It was a great party, we all enjoyed ourselves, and had lots of fun.  Fleur and ...

don't want to
Jun 28, 2008 (1 photos)

... . I didn't get round to telling you about the times I went swimming, in the rivers and lakes. The Vézere, the Dordogne, Coly, l'etang Coucou, lac du Causse. The water so cold  the saying  'freezing your tits off' suddenly makes perfect sense. ...

gold
Jun 7, 2008 (1 photos)

 What would you have done? Driving back from the Intermarché, Alabama 3 full blast 'Hypo full of love', I see a car across the road, stranded and what seemed like a woman half hanging out of it. A young man was frantically trying to flag down ...

weather or not
Jun 12, 2008 (2 photos)

It was a wonderful day today. You know, the weather has been really strange all through our stay. Very unsettled, lots of rain and thunderstorms, alternated by sunny, sometimes even hot, spells. Luckily, I like walking in the rain, specially if the sun ...

nuts
May 8, 2008 (5 photos)

... If you enlarge the 'approaching cledat' picture, you can see them in the middle.) Walnuts are big business in the Dordogne. Walnuts and foie gras (goose liver). Walnut oil, walnut cake, plain nuts, sugared ones, postcards picturing them -& ...

nemo saltat sobrius
Jun 1, 2008

Yesterday I ate and drank so much I swear I wont touch a thing for a week at least. How do these things happen, get so out of hand? It was definitely not planned. It was a perfect day, sunny, not too hot. I was wondering what to do for lunch. Not much ...

not today, thank you
Oct 1, 2008

... one. I sort of got myself lured into it. A couple of days ago we spent a lovely day swimming and yes, eating, at the Dordogne riverside. My favourite spot, it is near Creysse and that has to be the most beautiful old village in the whole of ...

le grand coderc
May 19, 2008 (4 photos)

Of all the interesting places to visit here, the magnificent castles, the world famous caves, museums - the obvious, there is one place,  you definitely shouldn't miss: L'Auberge le Grand Coderc. Restaurant and place to spend the night when you ...

one for bob
May 29, 2008 (1 photos)

I'm overwhelmed - and tickled pink, of course - by the amount of hits on this page. Thank you all, it's most encouraging. At least, I think it is, for so far only two visitors have rated it. One, I'm sure,  my dear husband,  so that doesn ...

wild and sweet
May 22, 2009

... . Normally I'd be counting the days, the minutes, the seconds, longing to be there, now I feel frozen in time. So what's up? Cledat hasn't changed, the house, our hamlet, the hills and the trees - they will be there for ever. It must be me. I guess ...

so why?
May 24, 2008

Peter's been working a lot lately - I've been reading. Bernadette is amazed at the amount of time I spend poring over books. 'Still reading?' she calls every time she passes the house. She thinks I'm bone idle, but I'm an addict - got to read whenever I ...

invaders of the sweetest kind
May 15, 2008 (1 photos)

The most extraordinary and wonderful thing happened. For days I've been keeping an eye on some swallows that have chosen our roof as a good place to live under. Shy at first, they quickly get used to having us around. Off and on they fly in search of ...

heart's content
Sep 26, 2008 (1 photos)

... , they make everything seem peaceful, they calm you, they soothe you. If I ever get to live in France, I want to be somewhere near the Limousin cows. But the evening was different. The sun had set, taking the warmth of the ...

out of africa
May 16, 2008 (2 photos)

The Terrasson market, every Thursday morning, is a treat. The town, I think it's big enough to be called that, is built up a hill. Spectacular views, and wandering through the ancient streets you get a real feel of times gone by. The Vézere runs through ...

hands off
May 30, 2008 (2 photos)

We finally made it to a castle - Fénelon, somewhere between Sarlat and Souillac. I'll tell you it was magnificent, and beautiful, inside and out. Views  (of course, it's strategically built) you want to jump right in to -wouldn't  recommend ...