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.