I'm still enjoying my virtual vacation. Here are some photos I took in Sarlat, in the Périgord region of SW France,
on Saturday, April 29, 2006, which was a market day in the town.
on Saturday, April 29, 2006, which was a market day in the town.
This first one is a picture of a picture. The painting was hanging on the wall in the restaurant
where we had lunch that day. This is a local scene, I'd say.
L'Oie Blanche means "The White Goose" — Sarlat and the Périgord are known for raising geese and duck for the production of foie gras. I'm sure we had duck for lunch that day. By the way, Périgord is the name of the historical region around Sarlat, while Dordogne is the name of the river that runs through it and also the name of one of the current French administrative départements (counties, more or less) that make up the Périgord region.
Out in the countryside in Périgord and all of the south of France, including Provence, "dry stone" huts called bories like this decorative one were traditionally built and used as refuges by local shepherds. You can read about them in French here. Nowadays, many of them are preserved as tourist attractions.
Ceci est un poulet. Just because. It was market day in Sarlat and there were fine displays of all kinds of things, including decorative items and food products, for sale. It was all very colorful.
I believe this was the sign posted above a garage, but I can't be sure 14 years later. It's typically (or stereotypically) French, n'est-ce pas ? Esso is still the brand name of a chain of gas stations in France, by the way. A lot of us older people remember Esso stations in the U.S. back in the 1950s, and it's surprising to see them here. That's a 2CV (or deux chevaux) car in the garage. Pneus means tires, and you pronounce the P. Vidange means "oil change." Essence is "gasoline" or perhaps "petrol" in your dialect.
Nice pictures.
ReplyDeleteI was still using the big Canon barrel-lens camera that I bought in 2000 or 2002. I finally donated that camera to Emmaüs a few years back.
DeleteGreat pictures! We stayed there for a week several years ago. I remember eating a lot of duck there and in the area. I have forgotten the name of that delicious potato dish that Sarlat is known for but I’m sure you know it.
ReplyDeleteIt must be pommes sarladaises — sliced potatoes cooked in duck fat. It's better than ait sounds, of course, but then duck fat is really delicious. I have three or four jars of it in the refrigerator right now.
DeleteThis pommes sarladaises sounds wonderful. Enjoying seein "Les Carnets de Ken." I remember Esso too. It always seemed southern to me then.
DeleteAhhh, vidange, now there's a new word for me!
ReplyDeleteI remember ESSO in the U.S., when I was growing up in the 1960s. I remember when it changed to Exxon.
I've been to the Périgord, spent an afternoon in Sarlat, stayed in a hill town overlooking the Lot, visited Cahors, and several other places. It was one of my favorite trips!
Was the hill town overlooking the Lot St-Cirq-la-Popie, or Puy-l'Évêque? Walt and I spent a week or 10 days in that area back in 1995.
DeleteLovely colourful photos! We visited the Dordogne area quite a few times in the early 2000s. One of my brothers used to have a holiday home in St Cyprien (west of Sarlat). Beautiful old town Sarlat is!
ReplyDeleteSarlat is a beautiful town but it can get very crowded. Wonder what its like during this confinement.
DeleteTrue, well, at least in summer it is. We went there a number of times, always during summer, and as it is very touristy, it was always (very) crowded. It's not likely that has changed since. BTW, I tried to find an active Sarlat webcam, but - no surprise - there doesn't seem to be one at the moment.
ReplyDeleteYour Sarlat photos have been a kind of stroll down memory lane. I say "kind of" because I've never visited the place, but the area was the location of Robert Merle's maison secondaire for many years. It's also where he situated his post-apocalypic novel Malevil, published I think in 1972 and later made into a film. I had the good fortune to meet Merle in 1986, a wonderful connection that lasted until his death in 2004 at the age of 95. He is better known for his Fortune de France saga (13 volumes) which begin in Sarlat in the mid-16th century. Your post brought back many fond memories.
ReplyDeleteHello Bob, I remember your telling me about Robert Merle a few years ago. I've been to Sarlat just once, 2006, but Walt and I spent 10 days in the Lot, just south of the Dordogne, in 1995. Tell me, I read on Wikipédia that Merle refused to write about France under the reign of Louis XIV. What was that all about? Hope you and Norma and the rest of the family are healthy and not feeling too caged. Ken
DeleteHello again, Ken. Robert Merle invited me to lunch with him at the Chateau de Saint-Germain-en-Laye where I learned that Louis XIV was born in 1638. Merle explained that his 13 novel saga would end before the reign of Louis XIV because he detested le Roi Soleil. I can't be sure why but it makes sense that he strongly objected to Louis's Edit the Fontainebleau which revoked the Edit de Nantes (almost a century earlier) that guaranteed religious freedom and an end to the persecution of the French Huguenots. I don't recall exactly how our conversation went that day or if he specifically explained his objection to Louis XIV. Merle was not a fan of tyrants either historical or contemporary.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Bob. I guess the revocation of the Edit de Nantes would be a good reason for which to have an unfavorable opinion of Louis XIV and his times. I appreciate your taking the time to answer.
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