The Pig in Carcassonne

We had another good breakfast at Chambres la Barde in Montfort.  Today Marie-Christine fixed crêpes, in addition to the regular breakfast fare.  I think it's funny that so many different countries claim these thin pancakes as their own.  They go by lots of names, but are essentially the same thing - crêpes, German pancakes, Swedish pancakes, and my Dutch former in-laws called them flinchees, although I can't find any reference to them by that name on the Internet.  Whatever the name, they're a favorite!

Phillipe asked where we were headed, and when we told him we were going to Carcassonne and then to Provence, he said Provence was nice and all, but really what was there but one pretty hill town after another?  The Dordogne, he said, had more to offer.  Pretty hill towns abound, but there are also caves and castles.  I agree that this area warrants more time!  We didn't visit even one cave with prehistoric paintings, and that is one of the big attractions of the area.

As we headed to Carcassonne the weather was overcast and very windy.  We went by toll road again, in the interest of time.  Do GPS systems in the U.S. ask if you want to avoid the toll roads when plotting your route?  We hadn't experienced this before, but we live in a part of the U.S. without toll roads, so what would we know about it?  Some days we elected to go the backroads, just because we wanted to see more of the local color.

All along our route from Normandy to Carcassonne we've seen fields of sunflowers, but all the flowers were drooping and the stalks were often brown.  We must have been just a bit late to see them in their glory.

We had sandwiches at a truck stop on our route, and arrived in Carcassonne about 2:30. 

Carcassonne on approach

The main gate into Carcassonne

It's a big fortified city, and parking is outside the city walls.  We decided to pack enough in our carry-on bags for our one night there and leave the big suitcases in the car.  Even with wheels our suitcases are cumbersome on the cobblestones of old villages.  Visitors are warned not to leave anything in cars in plain sight, although there were attendants at the parking area. 

We thought maybe we could drop off our bags at our B&B and walk around the city.  Check-in time was 3:00, and when we rang at the door at 2:30 we weren't exactly welcomed with open arms.  Our hostess said holding our bags would be no different than checking us in early, so she allowed us in.

We're staying at Chambres l'Echappée Belle, run by Johanna and Bruce  from Scotland.  It's listed in Rick Steves' France guide, but Tim booked it through booking.com.  One downside of using a booking service is that you have to pay in full when you book.  All of our other B&Bs were booked directly, and all but one requested only a credit card number to hold the rooms.  They required payment in cash while we were there.  We booked everything many months in advance, and if we had to change or cancel our plans (within a reasonable time frame), it would have been possible with all but the booking service reservation.

The rooms at Chambres l'Echappée Belle were very nice and the breakfast room looked out on an enclosed garden.  There are only a few places to stay inside the old city walls, so we were looking forward to our experience.

The old story about Carcassonne is that the city was under siege by Charlemagne 1,200 years ago.  The siege went on for years, and it was hoped by Charlemagne's forces that the occupants would run out of food and eventually surrender rather than starve.  They were indeed close to starving and surrendering when a very cunning resident of the town, Madame Carcas, suggested that the last pig be fed the last few bits of grain and tossed over the wall.  The troops below, thinking that the town still had plenty of food to waste if they were tossing pigs over the wall, retreated in frustration.  The town was saved, and named in honor of Madame Carcas.  Alas, this great story is thought to be just a fable, but believe what you will!

We wandered the busy and touristy streets, and worked our way up to Chateau Comtal, at the top of town.  It's been redesigned and renovated many times since it was built in 1125.  We enjoyed touring the chateau and walking the ramparts.  We had great views of the peasants below.

View from the ramparts in Carcassonne

A pretty garden inside the walls of Carcassonne

Wooden rampart enclosures at Chateau Comtal

We picked up baguettes, cheese and wine for our daily happy hour, and gathered in Tim and Linda's room.  The tablecloth I brought has been invaluable with our crusty baguettes.  No crumbs are left as evidence in our nice rooms.

We may not look too happy yet, but soon we will be!

We asked our hostess for a restaurant recommendation for dinner in the city.  She said she feels bad for the tourists, since our diet is sorely lacking in fresh fruit and vegetables, and will surely lead to scurvy for some.  I told my group that Carcassonne is known for cassoulet, and that's what I wanted to have for dinner.  Cassoulet is a classic dish made with confit of duck, sausage and beans.  Our hostess Johanna suggested Restaurant Adelaïde, which was just a short walk from the B&B.  We all had nice salads, in addition to our cassoulet, to fend off scurvy.  The cassoulet was pretty salty, so that was disappointing, but it was tasty. 

At home in Washington, whether we're making our own cassoulet or just hoping to buy some, we go to Picnic on Phinney Ridge in Seattle.  Jenny and Anson carry the supplies and also sometimes have cassoulet ready-to-eat.  Plus, it's just fun to talk to them about good food!

After dinner we walked down to the bottom of town and out through the main gate.  We took a few fun pictures, and wandered back up the deserted main street, which had been crowded with tourists and trinket shops during the day. 

Carcassonne at night

Caving in the Dordogne

La Barde in Montfort is a great little B&B.  Breakfast was wonderful. (Is it just that I love being waited on?)  We had croissants, baguettes, cereals, yogurt, fruit, coffee or tea and juice.  We really enjoy sharing a table with the other guests.  It's always interesting hearing what they've done in the area, and where they're from, and their input sometimes helps us decide what we'll do with our day.  One couple had been at the B&B for a week and said the nearby caves, Les Grottes de Lacave, were really interesting.

Our hosts had brochures and info about everything in the area, and said the caves were about 25 minutes away by car, so we were soon off to see Les Grottes de Lacave.  After a short train ride into the hillside, we were met by a guide who would show us around.  He apologized right away for not being able to translate everything he was saying into English, but would give an English synopsis as we went along.   The caves weren't claustrophobic at all.  There were easy walkways throughout, and beautiful rock formations in the walls.  Still pools of water created a fairytale reflection of the stalagtites.

This formation is called the spider, for the bent-leg appearance.

Lots of dramatic formations all through the caves

The reflection in the water makes it look like a fairytale village below

We bought sandwiches at a local deli and had a picnic in a nearby park.

What is a picnic without a bottle of wine, or in this case, three bottles?

Our actual priority for the day was to do a canoe or kayak trip down the Dordogne.  Phillipe, our host at the B&B, would have arranged this for us, but we hesitated to commit based on the weather.  As the morning progressed we all agreed it wasn't really warm enough to be on the water.  We decided instead to visit a few of the most scenic villages along the stretch of river we would have floated, but to visit them by car.

Domme is a picturesque hill town high above the Dordogne river valley with beautiful views over the town walls to the valley below.

A view of the Dordogne from the hill town of Domme

A view of the farmland surrounding the village of Domme

Next we headed to Le Roque-Gageac, a medieval town built along the river.

La Roque-Gageac, with stairs going up to ancient cliff dwellings.

More of La Roque-Gageac, built into the cliff

We got back to our B&B in time for a glass of wine out on the lawn.  We asked our hosts for another restaurant recommendation, and hoped there would be a place within walking distance.  This is a tiny little hamlet, and we'd only seen two restaurants, but Phillipe said one of them was pretty good.  We walked down the street and had a nice dinner.

The restaurant owner spoke some English, and told us he loves to go fly-fishing in Montana.  There aren't many big fish in the Dordogne, so fly-fishing is not very exciting here in France.  The music playing in the restaurant was American jazz and blues.  We complemented him on his choices.

We walked down the dark lane back to our B&B with the chateau looming above us.

Down in the hilly Dordogne

Dordogne River

Today we left the Loire valley and headed to the valley of the Dordogne river,  another scenic area of southern France.  The Dordogne is known for the many caves in the area, the beautiful scenery, great hilltowns, and of course wineries.

The drive will take at least 3-1/2 hours.  We plotted it out on our GPS at home, but always figure it'll take longer.  You never know if there will be a big traffic jam on the tollway or the highway because of a school holiday or something else going on.  It's strange to be in a place where we don't really know what's happening.  We're not watching the news, we can't read the local papers, and we don't know the calendar of holidays by heart, like we do at home.

We stopped at a truck stop for lunch.  It might seem funny, but the truck stops have pretty good food.  They're modern and clean, with nice bathrooms, lots of snacks for sale, and very often a restaurant or café.  I counted 8 of the exact same coffee vending machines (espresso and the variations thereof) at more than one truck stop.  Everyone needs coffee, of course!

On this day we had sandwiches at a stand-up outdoor table, and were on our way.

We arrived at our B&B, Chambres la Barde Montfort, early, of course. (We found the B&B in Rick Steves' France book.)  We were greeted warmly by our hosts Phillipe and Marie-Christine Peeters.  They just recently took over the B&B and are from Belgium.  They were very friendly and eager to make sure we enjoyed our stay.  This is a post-retirement career for them - having worked in banking and finance in Belgium.  They were self-conscious about their english, but spoke it very well.  Our rooms were beautiful and clean. 

View of Chateau Montfort from the lawn at our B&B

We left our window open and had an unexpected guest

We asked for a restaurant recommendation in the area and they suggested Le Bistro de l'Octroi.  Marie-Christine called and made a reservation for us.  The restaurant was in Sarlat, probably 20 minutes away. 

We all ordered the same thing on the menu.  It sounded like a set tasting menu, no choices for each course, and was 25 euros per person.  We were all surprised when everything came on a platter all at once.

Tasting menu at l'Octroi

It included a salad, a slice of foie gras, a bit of goat cheese on toast, breast of goose with a potato and onion gratin, a piece of thin-sliced smoked duck, a fig confiture, a couple of vegetable mousses, a little jar of sauce for the goose, and a slice of rich chocolate cake and a small crème brulée for dessert.  We had some wine, and of course bread, and we were all stuffed!

Tim got us back to our B&B, with Rick's navigational help, along the winding roads.  All was quiet in the village of Montfort.