This was one of our first stops as we rode into the Dorgogne 20 years ago. It's called CastelNau meaning "New Castel). A first castle was built here in the 12th century, but it was torn down a century later. Castelnau was often more of a ruin than it was a proper fortresse, from what I've read.
This is not a photo I took in the Loire Valley but in the Dordogne in southwestern France. I was there 20 years ago with Walt and our friend Sue, who lives in northern California. I think I might publish a few other pictures from that trip over the next few days.
For our lunch yesterday, I made Jacques Pépin's mother's cheese soufflé. It's a fairly simple recipe which doesn't reuire separating the whites from the yolks of eggs and then whisking the whites until they are light and foamy. The most complicated part of the recipe is making a white sauce (une sauce béchamel) with butter, flour, and milk, cream or Half-and-Half. Pépin says this is the kind of soufflé his mother often made when he was growing up (in France, near Lyon).
