Up early and off we went to the cave paintings at Lascaux. Unfortunately there are no photos allowed, but these paintings, reproduced exactly from 8,000 years ago, were magnificent. We were still talking at dinner about how those early people were able to draw and paint with excuisite shading the bulls and horses running and jumping through the cave. How did they understand dimension and perspective so well? Amazing!
On our way home we were looking for a small place to eat lunch, heading for some gardens at a large chateau... when we discovered Sainte Genie. What a delightful little village.
We wandered a bit before finding the town restaurant. I do love these old buildings, their decoration and structure. Reading Pillars of the Earth while we are here has just peaked my interest.
Don't you just love the carved faces and the bird nests in the round arches?
Autumn is quickly settling in here in the Dordogne valley. The grape vines are beginning to show their colors and harvest begins in a week. The vines on the old buildings are turning spectacular colors too.
This was the view from our lunch table out on an outdoor garden patio. We had to laugh, every item on the small menu was duck of some kind. Duck in pate, duck fois gras, smoked duck breast, duck meat salad, duck legs, duck soup...
You get the idea. We girls are sick of duck and fois gras. We ate the surroundings and took the rest home to the feral cats that guard our castle.
This beautiful cottage home grabbed my heart. Isn't it wonderful?
This village had very different roofs. Each was constructed of rock shingles stacked in a very unique way. They fascinated me. This shot below was one of the church steeple. The photo below is a close up of the little ferns and other plants that are able to work their way under the shingles and grow.
And look who we found on the way home! Our first large flock of geese. I made the guys stop the car (nearly a miracle) so I could get a few photos. There were hundreds of geese, honking and flapping their wings at first. When they investigated me, they all calmed down and came close to "talk". Meanwhile, my husband was yelling out the window "geese can get mean, get away". Well, I knew that, but these were absolutely delightful. Maybe they knew that I had sworn off fois gras!!
This beautiful cottage home grabbed my heart. Isn't it wonderful?
This village had very different roofs. Each was constructed of rock shingles stacked in a very unique way. They fascinated me. This shot below was one of the church steeple. The photo below is a close up of the little ferns and other plants that are able to work their way under the shingles and grow.
And look who we found on the way home! Our first large flock of geese. I made the guys stop the car (nearly a miracle) so I could get a few photos. There were hundreds of geese, honking and flapping their wings at first. When they investigated me, they all calmed down and came close to "talk". Meanwhile, my husband was yelling out the window "geese can get mean, get away". Well, I knew that, but these were absolutely delightful. Maybe they knew that I had sworn off fois gras!!
The night was capped off with a delicious dinner at our favorite village restaurant and then a ripping thunderstorm. During the night, windows were banging, doors were opening and slamming and the wind screeched and howled like you would imagine around a cornered castle. We were all in our nightclothes locking up what we could. Castle doors don't close so well. The bats must have taken cover too. We are up to nine visits now. Whoo-whee! Life in a castle is exciting!
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