The Dordogne River valley

 We are now staying at a B&B in Sarlat la Caneda in the Dordogne River valley. To get here, you need to rent a car and drive some back roads, not a major center of tourism. You may easily get distracted and stop at other picturesque villages, such as Perigueux, on your way here. We did.  

We thought this quite unusual. Located at Perigueux.

Most tourists here are French. The surroundings are storybook, tall limestone cliffs, picturesque villages in yellow-tan stone, castles and chateaus scattered through the heavily forested slopes, and a pleasant winding River, carrying kayaks and canoes, flowing through the center of it all.  The area is also notable for the prehistoric cave paintings found here. Its beauty has made the area a popular location for the filming of movies.

The village of La Roque Gageac sited under the cliffs of the Dordogne River valley with the river itself nearby.

Beynac Chateau and its village below.

The beautiful green valley of the Dordogne River.  Many scenic villages and history here: from cave paintings by Cro-Magnon's to the castles of the medieval era.

Our first night here, we found a small restaurant open where we were the first customers (those early-dining Americans), and we had the chef all to ourselves. Our chef, Julian, has studied for four years in Paris and prepared plates of tapas (small plates of items to be shared) that were sumptuous.  Monday was a national holiday here, the end of WWII in Europe. We visited the village of Domme atop a rocky plateau overlooking the valley and then hiked a park located in a similar circumstance with trees and trails on a 500’ high plateau with views of the river valley and multiple castles.

Today we did laundry at a local laundromat this morning and then toured the chateau previously owned by Josephine Baker this afternoon. You should Wikipedia her name, she led an amazing life. This evening we did a partial exploration of the medieval old town section of Sarlat. Tomorrow, we plan to visit more of the ancient and fascinating villages.

I love those ancient, hand-laid stone buildings.

Putting a new timber beam roof on an old stone building, most likely a tile roof.  some of the old buildings have hand-laid stone times, very heavy stuff.

Isn't that pretty?  Dawn and I very much prefer to look at the old architecture than the inside of museums.

Part of traveling is the people you meet. On our cruise we met ‘Nancy’ who stated that she had been on cruises for the past 4 1/2 months and has visited in total 174 countries in her overall travels. I can’t even do the math on that one.  She was traveling by herself and had limited mobility.  She had a private van and driver to escort her on tours. Better than sitting at home if you can afford it.

In Madrid we had a tour guide for an evening of Spanish food at local restaurants. She was originally from Koln, Germany, but had lived in England for five years, one year in the US in Oregon, Santiago, Chile, for college classes, and now in Spain for five years. Her husband is from Argentina. Very knowledgeable.

A young server we met here was originally from Spain but also had lived in Germany (divorced parents).  He plans to stay here until the end of Summer, improving his French language skills, then back to school. He is considering changing his major from engineering to tourism. His command of English is a given.

Central Sarlat la Caneda.  Tourists, but not crowded. We had several nice dinners in this village (and one bad one).

Our hostess here is Claudine, born and raised here; she speaks limited English. Very ready to discuss topics with us but Google Translate is always at hand. Her husband, Patrick, speaks no English. Another couple staying here at the B&B were from Germany. She spoke only German, he (originally from Netherlands) speaks multiple languages and has traveled widely. We were able to trade commentary on many subjects with him.

This is the chateau of Josephine Baker. She was a young Black girl from St. Louis who moved to France in the 1920s and found fame and fortune.  Amazing story; check it out on Wikipedia. 

Tomorrow will be a long travel day, drive-fly-drive to Cockermouth, England, and our next adventure.