April 27, 2010 - Sarlat-la-Canéda

Up early. Ed’s medicine seems to be a great help. Not only did he sleep; he slept very quietly. We both felt better today. This was Sarlat day so we set Garmin, our GPS, for Le Clerc gas in Sarlat and started up the D46. We crossed the Dordogne and passed Le Perigord when the GPS told us to turn right on D53 . . . quelle surprise. We turned, thought better of it, reversed and continued on D46. We are still not very comfortable with Garmin.

Garmin recalculated and I checked the menu to discover that Casino gas was now closer than Le Clerc. Garmin dutifully took us there and as we drove in, the clerk simply closed the caisse and left. Great . . . no clerk; no gas. I reprogrammed Garmin for Le Clerc but as we turned a corner, there was a Shell gas station so we filled up there. When we left, we discovered we could only turn right . . . the wrong way! I turned on Garmin again and programmed him for a downtown parking lot. He had us driving through a residential area completely lost but it worked. Hooray! We soon pulled into a free parking lot with a stair and walkway to the medieval center of Sarlat-la-Canéda. We are GPS converts.

We found ourselves at Place de la Petite Rigaudie and followed a map borrowed from Mme. Guinot for a touristique walk through the Old Town. We walked through the covered market in an old church, visited the geese statues at Place du Marché aux Oies and on through the town snapping pictures and checking restaurant menus as we walked.

Sarlat is beautiful and we understand why it attracts so many tourists. At lunch time we walked back to our chosen restaurant, Auberge de Mirandol, and chose an inside seat facing the street so we could watch the world walk by while we ate. For 11 euros we got excellent crudités and magret de canard with potatoes sarladaises and haricots verts. When Ed paid l’addition, the heretofore French-speaking waiter announced in perfect English, “You can visit the cave if you like.” pointing to a glass door inside the restaurant. Hm . . . curiosity got the better of me so I walked back, opened the glass door and entered a real cave. There were cave paintings on the walls, a little spring and water dripping from the ceiling. I have no idea if the paintings are genuine cave art but the cave was certainly genuine. Fun! [Auberge de Mirandol, 7 rue des Consuls, 24200 Sarlat-en-Perigord, +33 (0)5 5329-5389, Fax: +33 (0)5 5328-9442, Click here for the Auberge de Mirandol web site]

Sarlat-la-Canéda

Sarlat-la-Canéda - Ed and Les trois oies de François-Xavier Lalanne

Sarlat-la-Canéda - Auberge de Mirandol

Sarlat-la-Canéda - always look up

Sarlat-la-Canéda

Sarlat-la-Canéda - Le Présidial

Sarlat-la-Canéda - La Lanterne des Morts

Cathédrale Saint-Sacerdos de Sarlat

Cathédrale Saint-Sacerdos de Sarlat - stained glass

Sarlat-la-Canéda

Sarlat-la-Canéda - cave paintings in Auberge de Mirandol

Sarlat-la-Canéda - cave paintings in Auberge de Mirandol

Sarlat-la-Canéda

Sarlat-la-Canéda - tiny statue -- keep looking up

Sarlat-la-Canéda - Ed in the beautiful parking lot with blooming chestnut trees

We then finished our walk and continued on the other side of rue de la Republique ending at our stairway to the free parking lot lined with pink chestnuts in full bloom. I set Garmin to get us out of town and somehow it worked. We were on our way to La Roque Gageac to buy postcards from Sylvia.

Parked and walked to Sylvia’s store where we bought postcards and visited for a few minutes. Next, to La Poste for stamps and then across the road to check Gabares for a ride on the Dordogne River. Gabares Norbert left at 3:00 PM . . . too late . . . but Gabares Caminade left at 3:30 PM . . . perfect. We got our tickets, Ed paid for more parking and we boarded our boat. They have headphones in English so we even knew what we were seeing from the flat-bottomed river boat. We turned and sailed past La Roque Gageac, Château La Malartrie, Château and Parc de Marqueyssac, Château de Castelnaud where we turned back, passing several natural sites, the Château de Lacoste, a héronnière, many hawks, the old chapel of the village of St, Julien de Cénac and back to La Roque. Gorgeous trip.

La-Roque-Gageac

La-Roque-Gageac - troglodyte dwellings

La-Roque-Gageac -

La-Roque-Gageac - a gabare

La-Roque-Gageac - the Gardens of Marqueyssac

La-Roque-Gageac

La-Roque-Gageac - Château de Castelnaud-la-Chapelle

La-Roque-Gageac - Château de Castelnaud-la-Chapelle

La-Roque-Gageac - a Plus Beau Village of France

We drove back to Cénac, visited an ATM and then walked back to Xavier Guinot’s Boucherie for a dinner sausage. On to Shopi for more cheese, apples, paper towels, batteries and 4 ice cream bars. Love Magnum . . .

Back at the house I put photos on the computer and then fought with the mouse. Nothing will make it work . . . most annoying. I tried calling Jane Hummer, our landlady next week, a couple times and had no luck there either. I get a message in French I can’t understand so finally I attempted to leave a message. We need to revisit the Internet café.

Dinner and journal and probably prehistory tomorrow!