Sarlat-La-Caneda- Markets and Medieval Streets

A slow start and quieter day today. Sarlat is known for it's markets and we had been warned that going out might be tricky as the town would be busy and it might be hard to find a park when we returned. We therefore planned to have a slow day (which we needed after all our exploration) and explore the market and town. This was a good plan as, in addition to struggling with parking, navigating out of the town would have been tricky as a lot of streets were closed off. What a huge market! It seemed to go on forever through the squares and down the streets surrounding the medieval centre. We clocked up about 3 km just exploring the market! There was a good range of foods and delicacies as well as clothing, leather work, jewellery etc. The market in Creon was more authentic for fresh foods, this one did have a range of that type of thing but was more aimed at tourists but it was interesting to stroll around. It was pretty busy and I can't imagine that I would enjoy it in the height of summer tourism season. We only bought some goodies to take home for lunch. Tried out caneles which were very tasty along with apple tart and a savoury bread and bought sausages for breakfast.
After our lunch and once most of the market was packed up we ventured out in the rain for a stroll around the medieval town (which we are staying right in the middle of). There are little lanes and narrow streets everywhere and the whole centre of the town is protected so the historical authenticity must be kept.
We had not intended to 'do' any official sites but the Manoir de Gisson looked interesting so we ventured in. I was really glad we did. Parts originated in the 13th century and rooms were outfitted to show what the private rooms would have been like for the family Gisson who were fairly elite. It was not on the scale of the chateaux we have previously visited so interesting to see what a house in town would be like. I particularly liked the kitchen which had an original sink hewn out of a piece of stone and an outlet into the lane behind. They were a family interested in science and a collection of curiousities from around the world were displayed in the basement, including some that were far fetched such as a unicorn horn (narwhal horn). A recipe of how to shrink a head I found disgusting and that there were actually some on show. A reminder of some of the horrors of colonisation and exploration by the western powers
Servants of the Gisson family would have have had to fetch water from this spring several hundred metres away from the household.
The small square outside was the original goose market and there seem to be endless shops selling foie gras and other products in the town.
We continued on our stroll around the town taking in the lantern of the dead, dating to 12th century and thought to indicate the location of an early cemetery, a cathedral and any number of narrow medieval streets and buildings.
Some buildings looked like they had been abruptly cut off, having triangular corners, presumably to fit the available space.
A lovely town to explore and come back to our lovely apartment and pop one of those bottles of bubbles we picked up in the Loire Valley

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Bon jour France 🇫🇷

Image
 Well, here we are in France after months of planning and anticipation. After a somewhat bumpy journey due to turbulence we stumbled off the plane early in the morning and nervously got into our rental car to navigate driving on the right hand side of the road while jet lagged.  We had planned a few things to do on the way to our hotel as we couldn’t check in until 3pm.  First on the list was to explore Auvers sur Oise, the small town where Van Gogh died.  The Chateau d’Auverse sur Oise was having an exhibition about him, with some of his original paintings displayed. I was especially pleased that one of the paintings was sunflowers as in my art paper at teachers college we had done crayon pictures of sunflowers inspired by Van Gogh’s paintings. My brain was a bit woolly from jet lag so I don’t remember much detail from the exhibition but it was an enjoyable way to spend an hour or so. Chateau d’Auverse sur Oise After a stroll around the gardens we found a cafe in th...
Read more

The Magnificent Mount St Michel

Image
We were away to an early start to drive to Mont St Michel on our way to the Loire Valley in the hope of beating the crowds. Arriving just on opening time the early start certainly paid off as we did not have to queue to get into the Abbey. What a stunning sight as we drove along the country roads approaching the Mount. I have seen pictures but seeing the reality was quite different. A shuttle bus took us from the parking along a bridge to a point close to the mount and it was a short walk from the drop off point to the entry. The view only got more spectacular as we got closer. I can't imagine how they built such an immense Abbey on top of such a small island and got all the materials required transported there. The narrow street up to the Abbey is not wide enough for a car and is quite steep. It is lined with souvenier shops and eateries designed to woo even more euro away from the tourists but quite pretty. Already feeling breathless we arrived at the foot of steep stairs takin...
Read more

A day in Rouen

Image
The day began with a challenge when, on researching where to park, we discovered that to drive into Rouen we would need a sticker on our car showing we had paid an emissions tax. This can only be purchased in advance and is posted to you and our rental car did not have one attached. After some minor panicking we did a bit of research into park and ride options, then had a brainwave and decided to take a train from the village near our hotel and pick up the car at the days end. Feeling proud of our flexibility we packed up and set off. Imagine our dismay when we missed the train by two minutes and found the next one was two hours later! Rising to the challenge we amended our plans again and drove to the park and ride location. This turned out to be easy and convenient, a lot less stressful than driving into the city and trying to navigate narrow one way systems and to find parking - and was also cheaper than parking in the city. Lesson learned. Rouen is a beautiful city and the place ...
Read more