Almost a chateau

Sunday 7th May

A few interesting food things to start.

Breaking up baguette or cake and dunking it/soaking it in your coffee (yuk! I hate it when you dunk a biscuit and get biscuit sludge in the bottom of your cup)

Breakfast coffee or tea served in what I would class as a cereal bowl (in fact I thought we were getting cereal for breakfast this morning)

We do not eat with our fingers - not even pizza

Obviously not done to order dessert and coffee at the same time - when the waitress brought our dessert she queried did we also want our coffee now

A lot of places seem to make their own frites

It's very quiet here in France on a Sunday. We had hoped to visit a nearby Chateau but it was closed today. We couldn't even get a decent photo - the chateau was hidden behind tall trees and fences. 

Somewhere behind these gates lies a Chateau.
It is still lived in.They hold weddings and receptions here.

These buildings are part of the chateau complex.
Probably workers lodgings in the past.

We decided to go to the town of Dax for lunch, only 30k away. Surprisingly the indoor food market was open and there was also an outdoor food market. We just wandered around and looked at all the fresh produce - and cheese!!! In the outdoor market it is all local producers - one place had rotisserie chickens which smelt wonderful. They were popular even though they were very expensive.

Spotted this on a roundabout leading into Dax.
This was a statue of a french champion cyclist from this village.
The Tour de France will pass through this area in July.

A man (centurion) and his best friend.

It seems that the market is more than just buying supplies; it is also a social event. People stand around chatting, with their dogs in tow. And we find them so polite. They are well used to just queueing in an orderly line and waiting their turn. 

Dogs and people all socialise at the market.

The town of Dax is another thermal pools town. There were lots of them on signs around the town. We did a full walking loop of Dax looking for a reasonably priced restaurant for lunch (Rob was worried he wasn't sure where the car park was). We eventually found one where they had a singer and karaoke type music - and dancing! We enjoyed lunch but ducked out before getting conned into dancing.

The house we are staying in is not really a Chateau but in terms of our normal accommodation style it is huge. We're not sure of the age of the house, the owner just said ancient, but the flooring timber and the staircases are just beautiful. 

Sitting and relaxing in our huge room.
Even the old timber furniture is beautifully made.
The doors still shut, locks turn, drawers open.
There are some beautiful old chairs in the house too.