We have had a busy three weeks here since returning from Hamburg, and now we are packing for our river cruise – leaving in a couple of days’ time for Amsterdam! In the meantime I just thought I would share a few photos taken as part of all the running around as this is such a beautiful part of the world that we are so lucky to live in.
So first off we had to go to Montpon Menesterol to see our accountant – this is not a particularly pretty town, and it’s a good 90 minutes’ drive, so the only reason to go is for these increasingly distressing meetings! This post is not about “reality behind the dream” so I will resist the urge for a mini rant here and move on. Our accountant did take us for lumch, but we were disappointed to find her place “she wanted to take us to” featured Fish & Chips and Burgers as its main specialities. The Dordogne locals seem to love fish & chips – you see it in a lot of restaurants and there are many vans touring and doing good business – hey ho! It keeps B happy that we have one which comes to our local boulangerie once a week 😉
After lunch we decided to take the cross country route back via the outskirts of Bergerac for a quick look a Grand Frais – a supermarket, not a place! Grand Frais means Big Fresh and its good for all the fresh stuff, funnily enough, including great sausages for the BBQ. We stopped off in Le Bugue for a coffee by the river and a quick wander through the back streets.
The following week I was off to Limoges with my lovely neighbour Amanda, to take her to an eye appointment. This was our second trip and as the appointment was early enough, this time we planned a stop for lunch on the way back. I picked Montignac as I though it would be nice to revisit (I was there with B for his birthday but it was somewhat wet then, doh!).
We found a lovely restaurant by the river and I had carpaccio and then sea bream, both of which featured homemade pesto, as did Amanda’s tomato and chevre frais starter. Luckily it was a good pesto, tasty but not too overwhelming. We then wandered around the old town till it got a bit too toasty- back to Hugo and his happily very efficient AC!
On the way back from Montignac we detoured through St Geniés, previously recommended to me for a good restaurant, scouting for our next trip out 😉
Next off was lunch with my friends Patricia and Julie at La Roque Gageac (which has also featured before, especially on the canoe trip). We know how to do things here – have a lunch in order to plan a party! We went to Les Terrasses de la Roque, a lovely restaurant with 2 terraces with views over the river – we were on the upper one which I think was the best. The lunch menu was mostly salads, I had tartare du saumon which was excellent and I will definitely have it there again sometime soon. 😊
A few days later some friends hosted a party in central Sarlat so it was time for Hubert to do his thing. We parked up in the town centre camping car aire – surprisingly very easily as Saturday is market day, but it seemed most had left afterwards – phew! After a very enjoyable party we tottered back up the hill – hills are always involved in Perigord Noir as our part of the Dordogne is called – and promptly passed out for the rest of the night.
Next day it was off to Rouffillac to a favourite spot which has featured before – Les Ombrages campsite with its lovely riverside café serving local produce at very reasonable prices. Chill time, sadly only for 1 night, but hey!!
A couple of days after that we went to Perigueux to see a tax adviser, which resulted from our dissatisfaction with the previous accountancy meeting. This meeting went very well and should go a long way towards saving us some tax here – because boy do they love their taxes and oh boy do they make it complicated (sorry, couldn’t resist!).
We stopped in Les Eyzies de Tayac on the way back (yes this has featured before, we stayed there 10 years ago on the big trip). Too early for dinner we settled for an ice cream and then picked up a pizza later on from the local van set up in the Physiotherapists car park next to the boulangerie with the fish & chip van, so we have options now. The pizzas are cooked in a wood fired oven in a tiny van – rather them than us! It’s a young guy and a couple of assistants, recently set up and they are the best pizzas we have had in a long time so good reasons to support them and our current emergency go to.
Finally, I took another lovely friend, Patricia, to her hospital appointment in Merignac on the outskirts of Bordeaux. This is a bit of a long haul to do in one day, so when she asked if I could help she suggested an overnight and nice dinner as part of the plan. Of course I said yes – I never refuse an offer of dinner! – and we decided to avoid the big city (phew!) and go to the coast which is just a bit further on.
We ended up in Arcachon in a hotel recommended by one of her friends. Such a pretty building, as were many in the streets around us, and just 400m from the beachfront which featured a lot of restaurants and cafés.
We ate out at Chez Pierre, which was recommended by the hotel. A cautionary note here – this was not cheap, but I suspect all the others along the promenade are likewise as this is a top location in a top holiday destination – be prepared to pay for the privilege! That said the food was top quality, so we didn’t mind.
We had a lovely moment on the way back to the hotel when we happened to stop for a chat in a little bar in a side street – we ended up there for nearly an hour chatting with the owners and their friends over a totally unnecessary but free, and rather good, Armagnac. 😊
The following morning we popped over to Pyla sur Mer – recommended by a waitress the day before. A lovely beach spot, largely residential (we didn’t find any commerce) with great coastal views along the dunes which stretch for miles and miles southwards down the Atlantic coast here.
So that’s about it! I was in Sarlat for a hair appointment on Saturday and it was market day. The town was thronging already, and most of the holidaymakers have yet to arrive as it was the first travel day of the French school holidays – Black Traffic alerts for most of the country. I wish them all happy holidays in our town while we go for ours elsewhere 😉