There is something pretty cool about saying, "look there is another castle!" We did that a lot today.
We did the driving tour in our guide book. Our start was 9:30 (pretty good) so everyone was well fed and happy.
The drive was on small roads. You'd think they were one lane, but they were bi-directional. Good thing there is not a lot of traffic. (We only shared the road with a tractor the whole time.) It was twisty, windy roads, and the destinations were top notch.
First we saw the "fairy tale castle" of Montfort. Then we went on to La Roque-Gageac. It is often on the list for "prettiest village in France." We can see why.
It is built into a rock - and really only has one street - that goes along side the Dordogne River. When we got there, we said, "wow" (we end up saying that alot) and found a parking place. It was easy to park - we just used the first lot we saw - and it had a play ground! Sara got to play a little, while I checked out the boat trip logistics with Julia walking beside me. (If she has her choice she will walk, and she is mighty cute doing it.)
Many people canoe on the Dordogne River. With Julia being just 1.5 years old, we thought a boat trip may be better. It was 9:59 when we arrived and there was a 10:00 boat. I thought about bolting to that boat. Glad we didn't. We bought tickets for the 10:30 boat (8Euro each, and he let Sara and Julia on free, even though the kid price was 6 Euro). With 1/2 and hour before our boat we decided that Dan had enough time to put the stroller back in the car. While he did that, I ran into La Roque-Gageac looking for a bakery. I didn't know where there was a bakery, but we are in France - there had to be one near.
I bolted down the street along the river. How cool it was to dash with a river on my left and a towering cliff to my right. I heard people speaking English and asked them for the bakery. They pointed and I kept bolting towards it. I hopped up the steps, ordered one of everything (something with apple inside, something with chocolate inside, and a baguette) and ran back to the boat dock. My bakery excursion was so quick I beat Dan - who had Sara and Julia - so his stuff took longer.
We got onto the boat. It had wooden seats and no top. It was already occupied by a tour group. We found seats easily (people make room for our cute kids). Dan had Sara next to him and he let Julia walk around. I thought I was going to have an easy breezy boat ride! But one minute later, Sara was sitting next to me, and Julia was on my lap. I don't know if they gravitated to me because I'm their Mother, or because I was the one holding all the stuff from the bakery.
Sara began munching on a bread-thing, and Julia took a piece of the baguette. They are right in the groove with how the French eat. The boat started. The tour was in English! How lucky. The 10:00 boat was a French tour and we some how stumbled on an English tour! The tour taught us a lot and helped us understand more about the River Valley and the Dordogne River itself.
The view from the boat was spectacular. We passed castles, we passed greenery, we passed river wild life, and by the time we saw the Chateau de Castelnaud (an incredible sight from the river!) we were in awe. It is medieval. The girls did great. Julia just sat on my lap perfectly. Sara talked to the guy next to her (poor guy, he said hello to her and so she talked to him the whole time! He was of Grand-father age so he got a kick out of Sara, and even began pointing things out to her!). So I enjoyed having my girls right by me. (Dan was in the seat just in front of us.)
The boat turned around after giving us an eye-full of Chateau de Castelnaud (people took a lot of pictures) and we went back to La Roque-Gageac. For a spur of the moment boat ride in the South of France, it turned out to be a marvelous way to spend our morning!
Then we walked around La Roque Gageac, where people from the boat said, "Hi Sara! Hi Julia!" we were local celebrities since they were so sweet on the boat. (Julia smiled and did her cute wave to everyone on the boat - so they thought she was so cute. Sara was a charmer too. Then we hopped in the car and continued our driving tour.
Our next (and last) stop was Beynac. It is only 4 miles downstream from La Roque-Gageac. Our book called it "a picture perfect Dordogne village." We paused briefly at the parking lot at its base. But after climbing up, up, up, up, a LOT of towns we now know to look for a higher parking lot. So Dan went up, up, up with the car instead of our feet. We ended up at the castle - way up top. It is a cliff-clinging chateau (castle) 500 feet above the river.
Lucky for us, the castle was closed for visits. That kept us outside! It was closed due to them filming a movie. I looked for movie stars. We did see a lot of actors - in period costume (dressed like Knights) outside eating lunch. I wanted to join them, their lunch looked pretty good! There were also horses around for the movie.
Staying outside on our beautiful sunny day we took a short hike up to a view point. We stayed there probably an hour. The valley view was jaw dropping. You could see the twisty river, four castles in the distance, and loads of green, green land. While we soaked in the view, the girls soaked in bread with peanut butter, and they also played in the sandy gravel. That was fine with us. Dan and I sat on a bench and just took in the scene. People came and went (also looking at the view) but we just stayed up there. No need to rush. We just breathed, enjoyed it, and let the kids play a bit.
(A video of the view is above)
Then we got back to the car. They didn't sleep for the 10 KM back to Sarlat ( a quick drive) which was good since Julia napped when we got back here and Sara was able to relax on an out door deck chair for a bit. Lucky me, I got to nap for about 45 minutes too!
Then we walked to town while Dan telecommuted. It was similar to our other walks to town - except no ice cream (!) I gave Julia a pear and Sara an apple. The town was percolating with people strolling around. Cafe tables were full of people enjoying a drink outside. Restaurants were closed of course. They don't open 'till 7PM, which may as well be mid-night for us. Both kids are asleep by then - so that isn't really an option for us! (If we wanted to eat out we'd likely do it for lunch or find a cafe that serves an early dinner.)
When the cathedral bell tolled 5:30 we walked back up the hill to our house. Dan made bacon wrapped pork medallions, and broccoli. When I asked Julia if she wanted any she said, "yeah" she is a good eater! After dinner the girls played together on the lawn. Running up and down the hill chasing each other, their shadows, and butterflies.
Fun day.
Quotes of the day:
Scenario-On the boat ride, it was a clear blue sky (no clouds) but we could see the white moon. We were gliding along the water with the moon hovering above the trees.
Sara: "Papa the moon is moving."
Papa: "It looks like it is. But we are moving not the moon."
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Scenario-Way up by the castle Chateau de Beynac we enjoyed the view while Sara and Julia ate. Sara ate up on a rock wall near Dan who was sitting on a bench.
Sara: "This is like a picnic on a wall." (see picture above)
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Scenario- Walking to Sarlat from our house with Sara and Julia in the afternoon while Dan telecommuted. Sara was asking why there were holes in the road.
Me: "Those are called pot holes."
Sara: "When I go to Kindergarten, I'm going to tell them that I went to France when I was four and a half and that there were holes in the road. And that I brought a chicken named Peep."
[Note: she loves "Peep and the Big Wide World" so she has a Peep toy that she loves - and Peep is a chicken.]
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Scenario-Sara climbed on to my lap, curled up into a ball, and relaxed.
Sara: "This is the love-y-ist day ever."
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Scenario - There is a Doctor kit here so the girls are playing with the plastic doctor stuff. The stethoscope is the favorite toy (you should see how cute Julia looks walking around wearing a stethoscope!). They took it with them on our walk to Sarlat this afternoon.
Sara: "Mama, sometimes people listen to their bladders, with a stethoscope."
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Scenario: In Sarlat
Sara: "Mom, everything can break. Except the sky."
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Scenario: Talking about naps
Me: "Naps are a great chance to re-charge your batteries."
Sara: "Mom, I"m already at 100%."
[she knows the iPad is fully charged when it is at 100%]
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(She knows where her bladder is (see one of the quotes above). I asked her to move her hand for this picture!)
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