To market, to market.....

Tuesday 22nd May

Time for lunch at Madame Murats, but first a visit to the market in the local town of Cenac. Nothing really on the list to buy but it is always nice to look at the fresh produce on offer. From there we headed to the town of Pomarede and as we were early we had a short detour to a place called Puy l'Eveque. We must have driven right by this town on our first trip to the area and blinked, but when we went right to the heart of the town we found it to be a lovely old medieval city. It was market day here too so we had a quick stroll through the market but didn't buy.

Madame Murats - We visited here on our first trip to France and it was our first experience of lunch at a relais; a la workers lunch. Nothing had changed at this place except we are all a little older, and our understanding of French is much better. Places all set as before, wine on table, and we wait for the food. Soup, entree salad and cold meat, main of veal steak and frites, cheese, and creme brulee for dessert. Still only 14euro per head. Excellent atmosphere and a very relaxing lunch.

Lovely coffee and a petite chocolat to finish lunch.

I think these dogs come here every day for lunch.
They looked very comfortable wedged into the back of the buggy.

Milly???

We had a chat with madames daughter and found that Mary Moody was in the restaurant last Thursday. She is at her house in Frayssinet le Gelat (only 3k up the road) for 5 weeks. It was reading her book that gave Rob the desire to have lunch here. We passed through MMs town on the way home but didn't see the welcome mat out.

From there we just meandered back to our gite via some lovely back roads through the forest.

Along the way...

Opops, where did these come from?
The patisserie in town is getting to know us.

Wednesday 23rd May

Today was market day in Sarlat le Caneda. Sarlat is a town that dates back to 14th century and has a well maintained medieval centre where the market is held. This is supposed to be one of the best markets in France and we visited here for the Saturday market in 2014. You wonder when you go back to a place for a second visit whether it will still hold the same appeal. Well, we weren't disappointed. It was still a very vibrant place to visit - lots of tourists and a lot of locals too. A lot of American visitors to the town and we spotted a few Trafalgar tours badges around. The market stalls are scattered through the centre of the village and we just wandered the town picking up cheese, fruit and a few other food items. But the town was more than just the market - everywhere we looked there was a building or laneway waiting to have its photo taken. We did walk through the town last time we were here but I felt this time that I saw more.

Love the woodwork.

Narrow streets and laneways.

Looking across some of the market stalls.

Odette making friends.

... and visiting the chateau.

Dog of the day.

This is the street lightimg throughout the village
- definitely not medieval but blended well.

Called lantern of the dead built in 12th century.

Hey Dan, we found you a kombi with a split screen.

Have a look at the angle on this building.
Wonder what they put in the corner?

We had lunch in a little square where there was a busker playing guitar - he was very good. The only disappointment in Sarlat was that the patchwork shop had closed.

After leaving Sarlat we detoured via a town called Goudron which is in our 100 beautiful villages in France book. The tourist information centre gave us a map of the town with the places to see but we felt that there wasn't really a lot to see and maybe they bought their way into the book. Still, it was a nice detour home, again via the forests and back roads.

A couple of photos from Goudron.

Thursday 24th May

Washing day and rest day. We had a quick trip to the supermarket for lunch and dinner items but apart from that it is a day at home. We've done a little more planning of our trip heading towards Italy, and booked a couple more gites in France. We just have a short gap in the middle to fill and then we are booked through to Florence where we meet up with my sister, Gail.