More castles and food

There is nothing in rural France that is ugly. We drive through beautiful countryside, rolling hills, small villages, past lots of vegie gardens, walnut and hazelnut trees, leafy forests, the occasional castle. If anything new is constructed here it is built out of stone, or rendered concrete with the small tiled-roofing and shutters that harmonise with the old buildings.



Just before noon we arrive at Brantome, the Venice of Perigord, a lovely village built with small canals through the centre of town. There is a market stretching across a bridge and on either side of the canal - more fabulous local food produce to buy and I find a great hat for Bruce.


Sue describes lunch:


“We find a delightful spot by the river to eat our picnic lunch of three different cheeses, a basil pesto, tiny grape tomatoes, fresh bread, sweet strawberries and muscatel grapes – washed down with a local rose.”


Afterwards we wander over to Jardin Botanique, a communal vegie garden that has been going for a couple of hundred years. On the way home we stop at Chateau Puyguillham, all rather grand but not a patch on our local castle!


Home for a quick tart up and out for dinner at Cheviux de Cubas, the next village north.

Sue again:


“We all choose the menu of the day which costs 12.50 euros and and to develop our appetite we have aperitifs – peach and walnut.


“The vegetable soup is served from a large terrine at our table. After finishing the soup, which is delicious, we pour in a drop of wine from our bottle of red, as is the custom before starting to drink the bottle.


“Entree is a salad of duck gizzards and greens with a light dressing and was enough really in itself foodwise.


“Next course is a confit of duck legs (three) with potatoes sauted in duck fat. A platter of five different cheeses follows. We finish with a crème brulee, which slides down rather nicely, and we complete the meal with coffee before rolling home to bed.”


We are sure all the food is going to cost us more than 12.50 euros but no the total bill is a ridiculously small amount. It must be a conspiracy against foreigners in France - death by overconsumption!