Castle Touring, Gourmet Food Eating and Kayaking!

Another glorious day in the Dordogne! We started with a morning outing to the Beynac Castle, a really impressive fortress on a cliff overlooking the river valley. Maeve was so pumped to get to see a castle. She took the castle map and charged all around the place. Then Jude had his wish of a castle picnic come true with a beautiful vista. French picnics of baguette, cheeses and meats- so good and easy! 

Love bugs. Jude took a big fall running and Maeve tried to make him feel better. 

Castelnaud castle in the distance

"Castle!!"

 

 

 

 

 

With Maeve napping, Pete and I stole away down into town for a delicious lunch at Belle Etoile. They brought an amuse of butternut squash soup with some creme fresh and I nearly cried with delight! My starter was another specialty of the region, foie gras. It was served as a tatin with pastry dough and stewed apples. Yummm. 

 

 

Jude enjoying quiet time back home with Nana and Pops. 

The delightful day continued with Nana, Pops and I going for a 9km kayak ride down the Dordogne. I had hoped Jude could join us, but the company advertised as for 5+ years only. I thought we'd get away with pretending, but decided it would better without him and it was since we were gone for over 2 hours! We passed by our town, then Castelnaud, Beynac, and ended at les Milandes. The views and the current helped with the soggy bottoms!

 

And then the sunset from the house. 👌

 

 

Nana and Pops off to dinner in town

A Cro Magnon Cave and Riverside Lunch

In addition to great food, charming villages and beautiful chateaux, the Dordogne region is also known for its prehistoric cave art, featuring some of the oldest artworks known to man, dating back 12,000 years! (Think this). There are over half a dozen caves in the region that you can visit. The largest is a reproduction of an original that was being threatened by too many tourists. We would have liked to have seen that one, but decided to see one of the real deal ones instead. The tour was on a small train so we hoped that the kids would be entertained as well. No photos were allowed in the caves so I'll tell you what we saw: Cave bear scratch marks throughout and dozens of cave bear beds for hibernation (those suckers were BIG!). Gives a whole new meaning to "We're going on a bear hunt!" Just glad the kids weren't scared! Apparently the caves were used by bears and early man, but never at the same time (that may not have ended well). The cave art that we saw was mostly depictions of wooly mammoths and horses. They had dark outlines and often some carving, but no color like you can see in other caves. The caves were dug out to make room for tourists to see the art, but the cave men/women? would have been lying on their backs in these confined spaces making their art. What were they doing there? Why were they depicting these animals? What a wondrous world we live in! 

Exiting the cave back into daylight and the 21st century. 

Cave entrance

We drove from the caves to the little town of Saint-Leon-sur-Vereze, recommended by my friend Sarah. We found a lunch spot along the river, under the shadow of an imposing chateaux. One of the specialties of the region is noix (walnuts), so we made sure to try some treats. During the trip we had noix cookies, noix liquor, noix cake and my favorite, white pizza with goat cheese, noix and honey- yum!

Maeve was her normal clingly self, not letting anyone do anything for her except mommy. I'm trying hard to savor this time, but get rather fed up with all of the carrying/stroller pushing/removing her from carseat/bedtime/bathroom stops! She is at her happiest when given sweets (exhibit A below).

We were due some relaxation time back "home" after the busy day out!

Lovely La-Roque Gageac and Marqueyssac Gardens

Choosing a holiday home in the Dordogne posed a serious challenge because we were so spoilt for choice! So many charming, affordable options! We were torn between some lovely family friendly options more in the country (pools, trampolines, playgrounds) and options within walking distance to towns for the quintessential morning walk to the boulangerie. My parents found a great option in the town of La Roque-Gageac. The only negatives were the 2 meter wide "road" to get to the property and that the town boulangerie had closed (sad face!!). 

We set off our first morning to explore town, reached by a 10 minute walk past medieval ruins, adorable homes and stunning views over the river valley. Every morning, a thick fog hung low over the river valley, and every afternoon, the sun slowly burned it off as the temps rose into the 70s. 

Swinging became a main mode of transit for the little miss.

A gorgeous rental property near ours. 

The town is literally built into the cliffs! Scenic boat rides depart from here as do kayak/canoe trips which we did later in the week.

A little town exploration, playground time and then lunch at the pizzeria before retreating to the house for Maeve's nap time. Jude slept every other day and enjoyed all of the attention playing Uno the other days.  

Our charming home away from home. Three bedroom en suite renovated house owned by a lovely British couple. 

House views out to Castlenaud Castle. 

The beauty of getting to take the hot air balloon ride on our first night was that it gave us a great overview of the area and the things we'd like to see. In the afternoon we made the quick ride to the Marqueyssac Gardens. What a gem! Specially designed labyrinths and trails for the kids, manicured gardens, playground and awesome views. We were certain we'd return, but there ended up being too many other things to do in the area.

The gardens as seen by hot air balloon ride the previous night.

Maeve was all about this place, running everywhere! 

We got to watch our hot air balloon sail right overhead and float down in front of our town. 

Group photos are challenging!

Back home for dinner and the nightly sunset with wine while the kids binged imported British cartoons. I love vacations!