Hotel Restaurant Marcel Sarlat-la-Canéda

This village clings to the side of a cliff. We first saw it in an articule in the TNT magazine in London.

It is another stop on the pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compestela. It has a famed image of a Black Madonna which is reputed to be responsible for many miracles.

From a distance this village is spectacular. We ...

Another pretty little village this time famous for its red brick houses. A little more life than the last few villages and even a few shops open, one of which specialised in foie gras. As this is foie gras territory we did as the locals do and bought ourselves some which we will enjoy one night with one of the remaining bottle of champagne we still have in Scooby.

Today was eventful yet relaxing. We just walked around this town that had tons of history and shops and was just great. I bought some new jeans and a shirt and found some things that i only wish i had the money to buy! We got a can of Dr. Pepper, which you can't find anywhere by the way, for 2 euros which is like $3.50 or something. Karen keeps getting ...

We left the bordeaux region today for the dordogne valley - the ancient town of Sarlat - waaaay medieval-
I've determined that there is not enough of france to walk in to justify the amount of food we've been eating...oof. We havent even had any pastries or creme brulee we're so full from lunch and dinner!
we"ll post more in the matin!
Bonne Nuit!

We spent the entire afternoon canoeing down the Dordogne. We packed a lunch and found a nice spot along the river to enjoy some wine and cheese. It was so peaceful and beautiful. Every couple of Kilometers was anothe castle overlooking the river. The river was so flat that we could just float along and enjoy the view.

From the cousins house we moved further west to Neils parents house. They have a place in a beautiful old town. It is an old walled vilage on the hilltop overlooking the valley. The village is full of cobblestone streets, windy narrow alleys and cute little homes. We ate great meals, enjoyed excellent wine and spent time with Neils parents. thank you again for hosting us!

... sometimes in France, if you ask someone if they speak English even in French, you don`t always get a great response. I`ve taken to asking `Do you speak Spanish or French?", as a way of getting around this. When I did this at the TI, the lady was quite surprised and said "Espanol? Si!" I got the feeling that she likes practicing as well, so that's how we conversed. And it's been confirmed - Spanish spoken with a French accent is still HOT ...

Because of the ...

... the beautiful cuisine would be like going to London without seeing Big Ben, going to Paris without seeing the Mona Lisa, and going to Spain without drooling over the senoritas - it would be a mistake of epic proportions!!!

Normally I write in my journal as I eat, because I've got nothing else to do, as I have nobody to talk to, other than myself - but that usually turns off fellow diners, so I try to limit that. But tonight, all I did was eat - in ...

... drank in a beautiful Frenchy countryside setting and learnt heaps including that if you eat a heap of oysters with champagne and champagne sauce followed by foi gras and then duck confit and some lovely French wine your body really does not appreciate it although I think it should. It really was a fantastic week and I now enjoy making on a regular basis French foccacia with my ...

... br>Next was a trip up to Bordeaux where we met with Emma. Spend the next few days around the coast south of here including the biggest sand dune in Europe. Really good.

More to follow...