The Dordogne
Wednesday–Friday May 13–15, 2003
Rocamadour is a little village built into the side of a hill, and apparently overrun by tourists in the summer. We did not have that problem. The town was a stop on the pilgrimage to Compostela in Spain during the middle ages. Rocamadour is worth a stop to see its famous steep steps people once crawled up on their knees to receive pardons for their sins and the 12th century frescoes.
An attractive street in little Beynac.
This is the Dordogne River from Beynac. A beautiful fig tree is on the right in this photograph.
This is the abbey in Cadouin, built in the 12th century. It was once a very popular stop for pilgrims, as it held what was thought to be a cloth that was used to wrap the head of Christ. Alas for the abbey, what was thought to have been a decorative border on the cloth turned out on close examination in the 20th century to be an inscription in Arabic praising Allah.
Still, the abbey is worth a stop to see its nice cloister.
In the Cahors area for dinner we had white asparagus and river crayfish with a mousse of red piquillo peppers; duck confit with ceps; garlic potatoes; and codfish in a curry sauce with mashed celery root.
Near Sarlat for dinner we had a ragout of vegetables with black truffles and fried chicken with potatoes. Dessert was a warm chocolate cake with cappuccino ice cream. Note, Sarlat is the center of homage to foie gras. We found it overdone.
We next drove north to the Dordogne area and the towns of Sarlat, Cahors and Rocamadour.
Next—Saint–Émilion.
