The Dordogne

23/9/2018

In the heart of the Dordogne, even the barns monumental in size, stone work, beams peg nailed, thick walls, a rural landscape with small hamlets, cattle,  corn, sunflowers, hay, winding roads.

One morning we take a track on foot to a nearby village, climbing gradually through woodland,  to the boulangerie, for our daily baguette.  The tracks are maintained by a local volunteer group, maps available at fhe mayor's office.  Nearby a memorial to the fallen, in Algeria, Morocco.

Yesterday we drove to Brantome, to a fine outdoor market, to shop up for our week here- local produce abounding, with wild boar salami, pate, a fine cheese produced by nuns which is washed in walnut oil, figs, crisp sweet radishes - a cornucopia of fresh foods.

The village is bounded by rivers, an abbey dating back to the 8th century backed against a limestone cliff where the first monks lived in caves.

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