France Days 8 & 9: 6/5/10-6/6/10 (Saturday & Sunday)
This weekend felt in many ways, like any other weekend…except that it was spent in the south of France, running errands amidst ancient castles, quaint villages, and eating delicious French food.
We started our Saturday morning by heading to the local market in Le Bugue, a town just down the road from us. We purchased a fair trade bag from Madagascar (a former French colony) in order to carry our groceries around. The strawberries are by far the winner at these markets, as are the quiches!
After a bite to eat, we attempted to wash our massive bag of dirty (and by now very stinky) laundry. We found a local “Laverie”, and I got to experience my very first trip to a laundry mat…with everyone speaking French. It was interesting, to say the least, and after an hour or so we walked away with a bag full of clean (and partially dry) clothes.
When we returned to the bed and breakfast Alex decided to get to work breaking down some of the bigger rocks for easier shipment back to the states. It looked like hot, back breaking work, and everyone at the bed and breakfast certainly got a kick out of him. He has now been dubbed “Homme Crogmanon” (or Crogmanon Man), and people all know about the pile of rocks in our room!
I, on the other hand, decided I would take the opportunity to relax and read (and possibly nap) by the side of the pool. This was short lived however, as the owner’s 9 year old daughter decided I looked like a perfect playmate for the afternoon. Despite her lack of English, and my lack of French, we got along swimmingly (no pun intended). She slowly coaxed me down the steps into the cold water (each step saying “un, deux, trois,” as we descended down each step. We somehow managed to communicate well enough to play catch, ‘dolphin et orca’ (a game involving me being the shark and chasing her, then her being the shark, etc.
After an hour or so of swimming, she asked me where my “Moisseur” was, so we decided to go see Alex. She was very interested in the entire process, and Alex had fun teaching her about what he was doing (his French is much better than mine). He even put the antler he was using to break some of the rock on his head, pretending to be a reindeer, which she loved! He finally gave us some of the ‘junkier’ pieces of rock, and she used them to cut the grass, and dig holes, the entire time insisting I do so as well. (There is now a big hole in the parking lot)
After much persistence on her part (and her following us back to the room saying “Piscene”) outside the door, the three of us headed back down to the pool to play “Monkey in the middle”, and she and I played “Dora le Explorerteis” (you’ll have to forgive my spelling on all the French words).
We had dinner at the hotel that evening, and it was exquisite out on the Terrace overlooking the valley. We had fresh fruit from their garden, a salad with a poached egg, lardon, walnuts, and cheese (for me) and Alex had the salad with puff pastry (with cheese inside) and honey drizzled over it. For our main course I had the steak with a wonderful pepper cream sauce, and Alex had the duck confit. We shared a cheese plate, which was then followed by desert. I had the wild strawberries over glace (ice cream) and he had a Nut alcohol/ice cream desert. As we were about to leave for the evening (after 3 hours), the owner told us to sit down again, and brought us out Strawberry shortcake (on the house!). We nearly exploded, and I had to help Alex finish his (which I was happy to do).
Sunday was unintentionally very busy. We started the day off by disposing of Alex’s flint debitage (the little bits of flint he would not be shipping back to the states) with the Silex man (flint man) who does demonstrations in Les-Eyzies. Apparently years of living in France next to extraordinary flint sources has made him rather finicky about his flint, as he informed us he would not be knapping with it, but putting it into his floors.
From there we happened upon Font de Gaume, a famous cave painting site with extraordinary cave art inside. Usually one needs reservations in order to attend, but Alex and I showed up at the last minute as a group was leaving (for a guided tour in English, no less) and were able to sneak in. They have limited the number of people who can visit the cave each day due to the harmful effects of too many people (breathing, etc.) inside. The cave art was exquisite, and because we couldn’t take pictures, I had to make due with post cards.
Following Font de Gaume we made our way to Le Madeline Preshistoric site, the type site for the Magdalenian period. It was a gorgeous rock cliff dwelling site, which also had an amazing castle on top of it all.
Then, in an effort to kill time before dinner, we decided to tour the Eco Musse de La Noix (The Museum of the Nut). The Perigord is known for 3 things. Their foie gras, their truffles, and their nuts. Neither of us really wanted to learn more about the ins and outs of foie gras, and no one would dare tell you the whereabouts of their precious truffles, so the Nut museum it was! It was a cute little museum located on a walnut farm with walnut shell statues dotting the driveway. Despite the films and literature being exclusively in French, we learned a lot about the process of harvesting walnuts, as well as the various uses of walnuts. We sampled some nut products on the way out, and even bought a bag of sugar covered walnuts (which are now hidden from me because Alex knows I will eat them all).
So, a very unusual but fun day. Tomorrow we pack up and leave the Terrasses bed and breakfast and move into the museum boarding house. And so the adventure continues…
