Sarlat-la-Caneda and Medieval Perigueux

Yesterday we visited Sarlat-la-Caneda, which is like a town out of a storybook. Film makers like to use Sarlat to shoot films set in the Middle Ages. Today we spent time walking in the medieval section of Perigueux, only some 15 miles from where we are staying. *****Notes: 1) President Sarkozy's UMB Party got a comfortable majority in yesterday's parliamentary elections, which should make some economic reform possible--under protest and strikes I would expect. 2) Tomorrow we leave for Spain and then Portugal. For the first part of the drive, we plan to follow the French [Pilgrimage] Route to Santiago de Compostela. 3) This afternoon we say good-bye to Le Cyber in Brantome, called the Venice of the Perigord. Hopefully we will find easy access to the internet over the next week. 4) We have not been able to go canoeing. Too much rain; the rivers are running too high and fast. 5) The Perigord is lush, beautiful and full of historic structures dating back as far as the Romans. It is more than one can take in. It saturates the senses.

Flashback: Ventenac / Carcassonne

We enjoyed our time with Bob, Claudie, Clara and Remy. Good food, good company, and a lovely house overlooking Carcassonne and the Pyrenees!
PS - Claudie's recipe for roasted Vegetables à la Carcassonne with midi spices has been a hit with my epicurean friends.

Uh-oh! Wanderlust

Wanderlust is setting in again. We may leave Montagrier early to wander back through Spain and Portugal. We will turn in our car and catch our flight home on the scheduled date in Lisbon.

Language versus Usage

We were driving on fumes of gas after a long unexpected detour. We finally reached a bourg with two gas stations. But they had both just closed at noon for lunch. One would reopen at 2:30 and the other at 3:00. "But you can buy gas on a few pumps if you have a Blue Card." We don't have a Blue Card for gas. We found the next day that a Blue Card just means a credit card, because the first cards issued were blue, so theoretically we could have gotten gas. It doesn't matter, though, because the man we talked to at the gas station tried to use his Blue Card and the card reader wasn't working. We had a long lunch that day.

France - Economy

New President Sarkozy has promised to address the economy and make France more business friendly. The final elections of deputies this coming Sunday are predicted to give him a supportive majority. In the meantime, it is interesting to know that Le SMIG (minimum wage) is €8.03 per hour (ca. USD 10.40), the work week is limited to 35 hours and some people prefer to work 30, paid vacations are about 30 work days per year, and unemployment about 8.9%. *****Nicolas Sarkozy has given himself 100 days to pass a first wave of economic reforms to break with the stagnation that marked the 12-year administration of his predecessor.
Before the summer is over, Sarkozy wants to loosen the 35-hour workweek, cut taxes and curb the power of France's labor unions. "I will not act fast, I will act very fast," he has vowed.

Le Cyber

We are at Le Cyber in Brantome to access the internet at this excellent facility. We are getting better at coming when they are open. Le Cyber is always closed all day Sunday and from 12:00 to 14:00 on all other days. It is open once on Monday from 14:00-17:00. It is open twice on Tuesday from 9-12:00 and 14:00-17:30. It is open twice a day Wednesday through Friday from 10-12.00 and from 14:00-17:30, and twice on Saturday the same hours as Tuesday--but I may be confused. This way Le Cyber is not open more than the maximum 35 hour work week in France. If employees worked shifts, could Le Cyber be open more than 35 hours?

The Weasel Waltz

At first we thought it was a stampede of wildebeest in the attic, with the loud, chaotic thumping and stamping, but the space is only about 5 inches high between the wood plank ceiling and the tile roof. "The weasels, zey are in rutt Madame, and zey are protected. We can only trap and move them, and zey are too many." So at dusk they begin their wild chase and dance and squeal their amours until dawn. We fall asleep and sometimes they waken us as they noisily tryst right above our heads. It is Spring in the Perigord.

Dolmens

A Dolmen is a type of megalithic tomb, usually consisting of three or more upright stones supporting a large flat horizontal capstone. Most date from 4000 to 3000 BC . We happened across this one driving through the countryside two days ago. I didn't know that they were thought to be tombs when I climbed on top of it. I have thought them to have positive symbolism.

The Superb Oysters of Marennes

We are at Maryvonne L. and Alain's in Vaux-sur-Mer near Royan on the Atlantic coast. This is only minutes away from the oyster beds of Marennes-Oleron, which produce the best oysters in Europe. For lunch we went to Marennes and ate oysters just out of the water. They were a gustatory delight. Maryvonne had taken me there before. *****PS on June 15: I stand corrected. Marennes produces the best oysters in the world.

A Perigourdin Dinner

Foie gras paté, aiguillettes of duck with cèpes mushrooms and a walnut cream torte were the highlights.