Dordogne - exploring our Chateaux

Dordogne - Commarque castle

Commarque is the castle that our lovely host, the Count of Commarque, is restoring. It dates back to the 12th century and many cave dwellings and art have been found there. It is a fascinating place to visit and visitors are left alone to roam as they wish.

http://www.commarque.com/htmgb/histoire.php

dinner from Chef Patrick

Patricia, is the very lovely woman who is like the concierge of the chateau. We were privileged to have a dinner created by her husband, Chef Patrick. It exceeded our expectations and is one of my favorites meals of the trip. Here is the break-down (photos to come). All the ingredients are local from the market in town.

amouse bouche :
smoked salmon / granny smith apples / celery / home made mayonnaise

appetizer :
carpaccio of dorado
tomatos / dill / parsley / olive oil / lemon juice / cashews

entree :
duck confit
potato / turnip / carrot / zucchini / red wine reduction sauce using potato starch for us celiacs.

desserts :
apple tart

strawberry and raspberry soup / mint / vanilla ice cream

Canoeing down the Dordogne River

The Dordogne River is a twisty turn river that is easy to take a canoe or kayak down. We enjoyed a nice afternoon of amazing scenery.

Dordogne - Castelnaud

Castelnaud is a fortress from the 14th century. It contains a museum of warfare in the middle ages, including crossbows, canons, trebuchet (catapult with a rope on it), swords, armor, and clubs. Daniel's favorite was the trebuchet demonstration. 

Paris to Tours to Dordogne

Friday and Saturday were spent mostly traveling to Bordeaux. Getting out of Paris was a total nightmare, beginning with the insanely packed subway ride from our apt to the airport to meet up with Bob, Carol, and Kristin. Unfortunately, during the subway ride, this computer decided to go swimming. (an entire bottle of water exploded in Dave's backpack and this computer got soaked. It has now dried out, mostly, but the screen is kind of a mess. Most fortunately, he was able to save our photos from this trip - what a relief).

After waiting in line at the car rental place for about 1.5 hours (why does it take so long to get a rental car that has already been reserved?). Then another 2 hours in traffic to get out of Paris (apparently it was the start of the Parisian summer holiday - who knew?)....we finally got on our way to Tours.

The chateaux in Tours was absolutely lovely. The building and grounds are breathtaking - and the decor matches Kristin's shoes ! We ate dinner at the chateaux, and it was one of the most amazing dinners we've ever had, including the gluten free bread made just for us.

The following day was an easy and beautiful drive to Dordogne.