Stepping Out From Behind The Tweed Curtain: Settling in . . .

The last week or so has been a little period of adjustment for all of us, with both some highs and some lows. It is amazing how weather can affect our moods. After Nancy, Ken, and Sandra left, we had a shift to some cool, stormy and very windy days which made us all less inclined to be outside on the glorious veranda. It left us all feeling a little out of sorts. Then in the last few days, the weather bounced back and it was like " a cloud had lifted" (figuratively and literally).

Despite the inclement weather, it did not stop us from going on outings and we have seen a lot in this Lot Region over the past week. It is an area offering lots of variety, with villages, towns and cities of significant historical age and interest. It has been a very interesting contrast for us after spending the prior month in Provence. It is much more of an Atlantic weather pattern here, compared with the dry Mediterranean feel of Provence. It actually makes this area feel a little more like northern Europe. The air is so much more humid and the countryside is much greener due to the wetter climate. We are talking every shade and hue of green you can imagine. For some it can seem a little monotonous, for others lushly verdant.

The style of architecture also evokes a very different mood. There are still the medieval villages dotted throughout the landscape but the materials they use tends to be grey in tone compared to the bright colours of Provence. For example, the roofs here are typically made from slate as opposed to the terracotta tile used in Provence. In a weird way it almost feels more austere in a religious kind of a way. It is easy to think about the power of the church in these regions and how communities lived under the Catholic Church's shadow. Of course, Provence also has churches dominating all the town centres, but somehow it does not feel as oppressive. It makes sense that the British love this Lot and Dordogne region so much because in many ways it feels more like rural England, except that the climate is little more forgiving (well . . . at least warmer.)

We are not meaning to sound negative because we are enjoying the different things this area has to offer. The truth is that we are just heat seekers and as a result the Mediterranean regions draw us a little bit more. It makes sense given that we live in Canada. Give us sun anytime, anywhere!

Of course, looking at all the pictures it may seem like a very subtle difference. The landscapes continue to be stunning and the food speaks of everything good that France has to offer. In fact, this region is said to be one of France's richest in terms of gastronomy. Excellent wines, cheeses, nuts, fruits and for the more adventurous there is the local Foie Gras speciality (seen by some as barbaric given the way in which it is created.) For those of you who do not know what Foie Gras is, it is either duck or goose liver that has been sent into "fat overload" by force feeding the unlucky fowl to whom it belongs. Then, of course, once the animal has been sufficiently over-stuffed, it is killed for its 'delectable,' fatty organ and for its fat (another delicacy.) So that is the shortened version anyway. As we mentioned in an earlier entry, we (not Ronato) did get a chance to try this regional delicacy when we were in Paris, and while we totally appreciated the opportunity at the time (you know "when in Rome . . . "), it's probably the only time we will partake in this 'treat' while we are here.

We have been trying to balance our time here between having some 'down time' (we know this sounds ridiculous coming from a family who has been 'off' for the past six months) at the farm where we are staying and seeing what the area has to offer in the way of sights. We usually alternate between doing something locally and then heading off a little further afield. There are things to do and places to see in all directions, though it almost always involves getting in the car to get there as we are living in a rather remote location, it turns out.

Below is a picture of a very picturesque little village called St. Cirq Lapopie. This little medieval village occupies a high cliff above the Lot River about 30km south of where we are staying. It was the sort of village where you could still imagine medieval people living in the houses and living their lives there -- in your mind's eye you could imagine seeing the villagers talking to each other from their doorways or windows across the narrow lane, throwing their refuse out the window into the street, congregating at the church, etc. Despite its beauty, it also has a dark, rather foreboding feeling. Nothing that a nicely flavoured creme glace couldn't dispel, though!

Below is a view of the Lot River taken from the crumbling ramparts of some old castle in the town.

The funny thing about St. Cirq Lapopie was that despite the blue skies in these pictures, it didn't feel like a sunny day -- the narrow alleys and close proximity of most of the buildings seemed to cut out the light and added to the gloomy medieval feel.

Seeing that it was going to continue raining for some days, we decided that we needed to choose some sights that wouldn't really be affected by the weather. This whole area has a number of sights with evidence of human habitation from Paleolithic and Neolithic times. One of these famous sights is the Grotte du Pech-Merle, which is about 30km from our farm. The Grotte du Pech-Merle is an underground cave that is as spectacular for its calcium carbonite stalactite and stalagmite formations as it is for its ancient art. We had no idea what to expect when we went, and it ended up being a real highlight. The visit involved descending down into this unbelievable cave with crazy different moonscapes. This site allows a limited number of people per day to see the sight, and as a visitor, one is required to go into the cave with a guide (groups range in size from 15 - 20 people). The tour started with an explanation of the site and its discovery, all in French (!), and then we got taken through a heavy door and down, down, down some steep stairs and into the first chamber of the cave.

At first it just felt like a deep cave, but after being led into the next chamber we all felt like we had entered a different world. The ceilings dripped with enormous, oozy-looking stalactites, and the floors were covered with equally huge stalagmites. There were crystal formations all over the place, and then on various walls there were large frescoes of ancient art depicting herds of Aurochs (an ancient bull type creature), Mammoth, and other animals. It was all really quite amazing, despite not being able to understand much from our guide. It didn't really matter that we couldn't understand the guide, the cave and its art spoke for itself. There were some really spectacular paintings -- very realistic in their shapes and very imaginative in their design and execution -- the piece de la resistance was the two spotted horses (sorry it is a little blurry.)

After an outing day, it was time for a home day filled with some schooling and then a long-promised "Polka Dot Shoppe" session. Polka Dot Shoppe is make-up play, something that goes way back to Skye's youth and to her "Auntie" Diana's Polka Dot Shoppe sessions with 'the girls.' Pippin had been hankering to get into Skye's make-up for awhile, so on this rainy day, we decided to let her go for it. From the picture below, it is hard to see the crazy end-result, but we sure had a lot of fun with it.

After having checked out the southern Lot Valley for a number of days we finally decided to head north to the Dordogne region. We quickly fell back onto our old bicycle route (from a decade before), and kept arriving in areas and villages whose sights quickly snapped back into our heads. Below is a funny poster we saw in one of the villages that had John, Pippin, and Kai in stitches -- they all thought it was bizarrely funny and over the top.

We made our way through Loubressac on towards Carennac. On our way between the two, we decided to veer off to check it out some amazing old houses . . .

We discovered a local farm selling Eau de Vie, Ratafia, and dried prunes. Ronato had been on a mission to find some more dried prunes (a local specialty here -- they ARE fabulous and delicious), so we thought we would go check it out. We had a marvelous time sipping and sampling tasty items and chatting in our muddled French (the kids had opted to stay in the car, so no translators were handy), all the while laughing and piling up our purchases. In the end, we rolled out with samples of just about every item our hostess was selling. With waves, "Au revoirs," and big smiles we then headed off on our merry way. This little chance finding ended up being one of the highlights of the day.

Our final stop on this particular day, before heading home, was Carennac. It was only once we got to the church's entrance that we remembered the town from before.

After days of local sightseeing, we all felt it was time to go a little farther afield. On the recommendation of a number of friends, we had been told that "Carcassonne is not to be missed!" So we all got up to an alarm for the first time in awhile, and we quickly got into our vehicles for the journey down -- we thought it would take about 2 hours, given the distance and the speedy Autoroute that was supposed to take us there. Well, 3+ hours later we had finally arrived, and we were all feeling a little road-weary after making our way through heavy truck traffic and the usual speed-crazed, tailgating French drivers. We were all looking forward to the supposedly amazing medieval sights awaiting us in La Cite -- the old walled town. To say we were all a little disappointed with what we found is a bit of an understatement. The picture below shows how we all felt about it.

Okay, maybe that is a bit strong, but truthfully Carcassonne is a place that one can see was once an amazing treasure, but which has now been turned into a total tourist trap. It was hard to see the structure of the place because of all of the tourist stores. The streets were full of tourists who had arrived on tour buses. We were all disappointed at first, especially after our long, and rather grueling drive down, but then we all started to laugh about it. We managed to salvage the day with our levity. Below is a picture of a street performer in La Cite, not very medieval, but interesting nonetheless. This crystal ball "dance" is a phenomena we have sighted in Bangkok, Paris, and now, Carcassonne -- each artist has their own style.

On Saturday, we decided to take in one of the bigger local markets. Sarlat-la-Caneda is a beautiful old medieval town that has a huge Saturday market. When we got there, the town was was filled with vendors in every direction. While the market itself was not the best we have seen, the town itself was just lovely. The architecture was stunning and well preserved.

There were some great food stalls.

One of the cute cats we found on one of our rambles.

The field from our veranda..

A lovely little spot we found beside the Dordogne river on our way back from Sarlat. Pippin spent lots of time in the water.

Grannie Bay and Kai having some head-to-head time. It has been SO great having John and Bay here as part of this adventure and time away. By all being away from our day to day duties we have been able to spend some quality time.

With only a few days before Jill's departure back to Canada, we all felt that we needed a dinner out together. Last night we hit the local restaurant in Labastide Murat where we all had a superb dinner, probably our last dinner out while we are in France. We savoured every bite and every sip! Here are some pictures from this balmy evening . . .