Sarlat

We are in the land of foie gras, truffles, and walnuts in the perfectly preserved medieval village of Sarlat-la-Caneda, considered one of France’s prettiest villages and one of Europe’s best preserved medieval towns. There are more registered historic sites in this town than anywhere else in Europe. Many historic sites in France were heavily damaged in WWII but for some reason this town is completely intact- like stepping back into the Middle Ages.

Sarlat was also a great place to be when invaders were sacking and pillaging the surrounding area because its city walls were strong and there are several springs inside the city delivering fresh water. If you were one of the ‘powerful, rich’ people in the town, your home would have a turret that would let everyone know you were important. There were less than half a dozen turrets. We learned this from a local guide that we hired for half a day.

We stayed at a cute Airbnb, just a one room shack that used to be a pottery studio for the artists owners who also live on the same property. Enjoyed our easy downhill walk into the village.

Our cute Airbnb above the city of Sarlat

This area of France is referred to as the ‘Perigord’ and is part of the Dordogne region with rivers that run thru many of the villages. In the Dordogne, the river was the number one way to move goods from one town to another. Now it is great for renting a kayak or a canoe and spending part or all of the day flowing with a river.

Truffles, foie gras, mushrooms, walnuts, duck confit, chestnuts… lots of yummy stuff. I think I’ve died and gone to duck heaven. Foie gras is cheap and prevalent- like getting chips & salsa in TX.

Foie gras, lingers on the brain, melts in your mouth like butter, and sticks to your hips & thighs. It is a bit of heaven on your tongue even if it is politically incorrect and controversial. California has banned the import…

Yes, I did have a foie gras macaroon…and it was amazing!

foie gras macaroon

This issue is that the ducks or geese are force-fed. The counterpoint to the ‘cruelty’ is that these ducks and geese will naturally over eat and in this region they are all cage free. Now compare this with, for example chicken in the USA, shot full of hormones and antibiotics , kept in over-crowded cages with no movement, and more or less force fed to fatten. Me thinks the ducks in France have a better deal. Of course you could just go vegan. How cruel can someone be to a mung bean?

Another Michelin 1 star restaurant our 2nd evening in the village: Le Grand Bleu http://www.legrandbleu.eu/ Every single dish had a scoop of flavored ice cream to complement the food. Lisa had the filet and Douglas had the cod. The food was excellent, the chef came out to chat- voila!

Service is very focused at a Michelin. At Le Grand we ordered a 2007 Saint Cosme red vin and when the waiter was attempting to remove the cork, it broke and some bits stayed in the bottle. After their attempt to ‘fish’ out the errant cork in the first couple of glasses, they just went back to the vin cellar and got another bottle.