I am finally in France.
We are having a lovely time in the Dordogne. The jet lag is beginning to wear off and we've done a bit of exploring around the area, which is beautiful. We've lucked out with some nice cool weather, though it is certainly tourist season--a regular flow of people stroll by our little rental village house on their pilgrimage to the Beynac Chateau at the top of the town.
We took the early tour to avoid the crowd, and were rewarded with a castle almost all to ourselves. Living in a castle was not all it is cracked up to be (unless you like cold stone floors), but the view was spectacular. The French and English battled for a hundred years over the valley that can be seen from the castle walls.
The area is very rural, with lots of rolling hills and forests, corn and sunflower fields, vineyards and walnut groves. Local farms raise geese and duck, which is more popular than chicken here.
Speaking of food--the grocery stores here offer an amazing selection of food--something as simple as yogurt takes up an entire isle in the supermarket. Going to the market is Felicia's favorite form of entertainment.
Yesterday we had an early morning at the Sarlat outdoor market where we met French cooking instructor named Daniele Delpeuch (who is quite famous in France, and one time friend of Julia Child) for a day long traditional Perigord cooking class at her farmhouse. The food, and her stories of cooking around the world, were a wonderful experience for the entire family--and one that I will need a couple of days and bike rides to recover from!
We head to Provence on Saturday--we are all looking forward to seeing our little house again after 3 years away. And on July 20th--the Etape du Tour awaits.
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