C'Obs: Deepest Dark Périgord

The Périgord region, in the mid south of France, is divided into four parts. The oldest is called Noir(black). Our gite (guest house) was at the very bottom of this area. Our hosts told us that the best local bakery was at Villefranche du Perigord so we headed out for milk and bread. On our way we passed lots of chainsaw carved mushrooms, I guess this heavily wooded area would be just right for the above ground fungi as well as the black truffles prized in the area. I read that the truffle production has steadily fallen in recent years, this may explain the many areas of fresh oak, walnut and chestnut planting we saw on our treks to and from the little towns. Oak and hazel trees, infected with truffle spores, have been sold to farmers in Canterbury - NZ and Tasmania - Aus, who now have trained truffle dogs and are increasing production yearly.

Hotel de Commerce opposite the town hall and beside the village church. This yellow stone was the colour of the soil and all the stone buildings in the area. It would give a warm glow in winter.

There is a flower and produce market here every Saturday. This type of village hall - with no sides, is the common style.

A closed gallery with some interesting work by
Lucie Nouhaud. Closed shop grills in the reflection.

The bakeries in the village did not disappoint. We came home with a peach tart and a couple of delicious loaves. The colourful macarons and brioche shaped profiteroles were very tempting too. If visiting the town on a Monday as we did, expect to see most businesses closed from 12-3pm, a rolling start to the week? The tourist office in this little town has a good display on the chestnut business and lots of brochures on local attractions. M bought himself another Opinel knife at the odd little hardware store. They also stocked the strange ceramic platters with a duck head turning around to look at the contents. They are for serving the local specialty of Foie gras - which is mainly the liver of a duck or goose that has been force feed corn. Am I strange to think the plate is a little macabre?
The girls had stayed at the gite to swim and sunbathe, Willow's excuse was that she was getting behind in her prescribed reading and the deck chairs really were in a perfect spot. Petal was not interested in driving anywhere for the day so missed stopping at a little purple cafe for a drink and crépe too. Chestnut flour was for sale, it is gluten free and is used mainly in sweet dishes. It apparently effects people with tree nut allergies badly. Without Willow, I couldn't ask the all French talking waitress if the crépes had been made with it - I wasn't even certain if the pack was of chestnut flour until I showed Willow a photo I'd taken of the tag later on.

Lunch spread with Granny's favourite olive bread from Loubejac

A haze of colour through the green on many street corners

Most farms in our gite's little pocket seem to be small and rather mismanaged. I have never seen so many weeds in arable pasture before. Hay bales from years past sat rotting beside the new year's collection. Horse paddocks uncleared of fallen manure and empty, unfenced fields were common. Perhaps this is because the cheap land and houses have been sold as holiday properties and their new owners have not been as responsible as our hosts. The property immediately behind our gite had a long drive lined with young oaks, a poplar type tree plantation and a very old friendly dog guarding a large paddock of ducks that were feed twice a day. A 20 min drive in any direction took us past neat plantations of walnuts and sunflowers. On many intersections locals must have sprinkled wildflower seed because some corners were simply beautiful.

Duck farm, the corn trough gets filled twice a day - for Foi gras

A poplar plantation?

On the advice on a note from a previous guest we went to the little village of Loubejac for their weekly dinner market (Thrusday nights in summer, 7:30+). Their hall was strung with bunting and trestle tables and chairs were set up waiting for customers. When this area was full and people kept coming they went and helped themselves to more tables and chairs until the whole churchyard was full. We were warned to take our own picnic plates etc, the locals bought beautifully embroidered table cloths and bottles of their favourite liquor although one of the stalls sold out of their locally made wine. Takeaway trays of garlic escargots were for sale but I preferred to spend my Euros on the local artisan bread, spicy roast potatoes, local honey to eat with the chervil cheese, tomato and mustard tart slices, barbecued to order local steak and duck, salads, delicious fresh picked raspberries, blackberries and mirabelle plums, peach confit (which made a mainly apple fruit cobbler I made for tea last night an absolute delight), a jar of chataigne confiture (chestnut jam) and a myriad of dessert choices. If you are staying at one of the bigger towns near the Dordogne, I would recommend the 40 min drive south to experience this event. If you stay late enough they often have live music and traditional dancing. I think all up we spent around €40 on tea for us all and our take home treasures. The fresh raspberry juice (pips strained out) slushies were a real treat, no sugar required!

Loubejac village hall

Yay - bread stall, others still setting up behind

Granny encouraging Petal to try a honey pastel. I think I've already finished the goat cheese behind the mirabelles

I bet the farmer is hoping the roots of this
young oak are infected by truffles.

The chestnut - hero of the Perigord

For the more mundane grocery requirements we headed off to the E'Leclerc supermarket at Fumel, south of the Périgord. The choclate aisle was a revelation, they had Lindt varieties that we hadn't ever seen before - not even at the Swiss factory shop. Of course the Noir Raspberry ganache came home in multiples and the 'Maxi Plaisir - Noir Praline caramel' was a big hit. The variety of Maille vinaigrette was amazing. My favourite being the balsamic and orange, although the apple cider and sesame varieties are also delish. The Maille Cornichons extra Fins were also a great addition to our lunch spreads.Why aren't these available in places I live?

Sunset woods down the track from our gite. Granny and I cleared the biggest sticks off the winding track and found that it lead to the road we used to travel north. M risked the 4 wheel drive and gingerly took the detour one afternoon.

On one of our drives the diesel level was looking rather low and we suddenly discovered that the majority of village garages had been dismantled and converted to cafés, my fascination with local cuisine began to diminish as I became anxious about the inner beast of the VW van. M assured me that the gauge said we had 60km left in the tank which was less than the distance to our destination which would be big enough for a functioning bowser. I still felt a little distracted from the sights though as we passed through village after village - full of picturesque restaurants but no fuel points. As we drew into Cenac iwas able to release the lungful I didn't know I was holding. At the town's first roundabout was a filling station, Shoppi supermarket and a large building advertising local walnut produce. The interest in food recovered as the van slide up to the pump. Gramps' favourite biscuits of the trip, Croquants aux noix (a meringueish snap loaded with non bitter chopped nuts) were found here and a delish (there were many sample bowls) walnut tart that was hard to hand over to Revd and R for caring for Charlie for the week. If travelling here from outside of Europe be prepared for your credit cards not working in the fuel pumps, Gramps has got a few examples he wants to share with the bank when he gets back but I think it may just be the old equipment that can't handle them.

A lake with a danger sign down the track.

Londie chimney pots for Granny's collection

A very old tree in the Villefranche du Perigord square

At the end of our road are three big bins where the Londie residents sort their waste into rubbish, recycle and organic. When Gramps tried to close the organic bin lid, that had been left open by the guys who empty them, some very angry wasps swarmed up and warned him off, he got three stings. We left the lid to be closed by someone else.

Thanks so much to I, E and their kids for letting us use their gite for the week, we saw a part of France and absorbed it's ancient roots in a way that wouldn't have been possible otherwise. We didn't manage to make it to the many prehistoric sites in the area, including the famous Lascaux cave paintings. The medieval chateaus and the history of the 100yrs war in the Dordogne valley distracted us from travelling further afield.