Any Excuse Will Do…

for a 4 course lunch. Last week on 26/08/12 we had officially been ‘en vacances’ for 12 months and thought a nice lunch out would suffice for a celebration. We are in the Perigord Noir region of the Dordogne, home to Foie Gras and Black Truffles. I now know why the locals have no qualms about force feeding their geese and ducks to fatten their livers, they practice on the tourists and watch us stagger about gasping after lunch, see that we survive and then do the same to their animals. It was a feast of pork and gizzards and cheese – we even refused dessert.

La Roque Gageac

We are staying near a medieval bastide (fortified town) called Domme, perched high on a hill above the Dordogne Rover, by which we are camped. Bastides are fairly common around here, as are lovely stone villages and picturesque vistas of the river.  Sadly Domme is now a tourist town filled with shops selling tourist tat, expensive jewellery and local food, but still worth a visit.

Chateau Montfort

The area is positively lousy with Chateaux, almost every turn you take, there is another incredible edifice standing proudly on a cliff. We only have been inside one, as really they are all quite similar, but climbing up to them and walking around the associated villages, we never get tired of. There’s always a cold beer to reward to the effort.

Beynac

We visited another bastide, south of here called Montpazier, perfect in it’s originality and lack of rebuilding. A wonderful market was held in the original market place, followed of course by a wonderful lunch of local food and a dog to beg for the scraps.

Montpazier

The weather has been kind, well kind of hot, but we never complain after wet Wales. There is the occasional thunderstorm in the early evening, and following downpour, but it doesn’t last and we just sit smugly under our awning, having a glass of Rosé. Today, on the contrary has been cool, hence a moment to write the blog.

Chateau Castlenaud

The local wine is from an AC called ‘Pécharmant’. Of course we have sampled a few and some have been very good. Mainly Bordeaux right bank blends of Merlot, Cab Sav and Cab Franc, with a very dense dark fruit on the palate.

Lawrence needed little persuasion this morning to drag out the tool kit and rejig one of the under seat lockers to provide more wine storage. We have devised a new unit of measure – WBE (wine bottle equivalent). I think we’ve increased capacity by about 18 WBEs.

We are heading to Bordeaux on Monday and I have a feeling that it will be filled fairly smartly.