Wednesday 4 September and Thursday 5 September

Wednesday 4th September
On Wednesday we went for a drive to some of the nearby  beau villages, including our local abbey town of Cadouin, where another market was just coming to an end since it was 11.30am by the time we had organised ourselves to move beyond our  idyllic green pastures and tiny peaceful hamlet. We discovered history at every turn and even Lady Penelope was getting into the groove and asking difficult questions about the Cistercian monks. There were gates and entrances where the pilgrims, including Richard the Lionheart had walked so it seemed somehow far more real than the boring history lessons she had endured during secondary school.

We pique niqued again in the shadow of  Abbaye de Saint-Avit-Senieur in true French style strolling through the almost deserted village as it was lunchtime and as we have discovered, not much happens in the middle of the day in French country villages. A brief visit to Eglise  Beaumont de Perigord,  where Flashy lit yet another candle to Saint Anthony, before purchasing fuel from a charming Frenchman at the Citroen car dealership in the pretty little town of Issigeac. From there our last stop was the Chateau de Monbazillac where sampling of de vin was first on the agenda. Luckily as it was mid week and post school holidays, the crowds were absent and we almost had the imposing chateau to ourselves. This 16th century chateau had an interesting history as when it was falling into disrepair in the 1960s  the family gathered a consortium of friends, 14 in total, to vote to determine the future of the Chateau. They unanimously voted to invest in the restoration of the property and to also incorporate modern art as a feature throughout the rooms of the Chateau and also in the gardens. An impressive view from the bastides over the Dordogne valley and Bergerac completed our day nicely and we retired back to our peaceful hamlet for dinner.

Thursday 5 September
Today was market day in Lalinde, our delightful little local village just 7kms away. Having being very impressed with the marche Le Bugue, We were not sure that Lalinde would be as good but even by 9.30am it was near impossible to find a park, most of the streets except the small one way ring road were closed off  and we had to hang threateningly over patrons to jump onto a table in the sun so we could enjoy a cafe au lait. We circuited the market, brought lots of fresh vege’s and more delicious fruit and on the way out saw some very good looking rump steak for only €21 per kilo. Now this was on our shopping list for Chef Roger to create a Boeuf Bourgignone for our first guests who were arriving on Friday night.  Fortunately the very nice honest butcher alerted us to the fact it was horse rump which probably explained why there wasn't a queue! We passed and instead went to our now local Intermarche store in the village where we purchased the real thing before returning home to prepare.
In the late afternoon we went for a drive to Tremolat, to wander through the village and around the Relais &  Chateaux – Le Vieux Logis – Dordogne. This was the venue earlier in the year for a French Chaine  dinner so we knew it would be fairly smart and the gourmet restaurant started with a Prix Fixe of €350 which explained the number of cars with Swiss number plates parked outside. As our budget did not stretch to this we instead booked their more casual lunch venue in the village square for Saturday lunch with our guests. Home to light our wood fired BBQ where Chef firstly smoked a delicious trout in preparation for the Sunday lunch gathering and then with the addition of some more wood cooked a delicious whole fish from the Lalinde market. Bon apetit.

This heralded the comencement of a huge weekend of gastronomy and guests so we are seeking forgiveness for the lapse in our blog but can assure you that more will follow tomorrow...........