Monday, 23rd April - Chateau d'Eyrgniac

When in France, the most important thing to arrange on a daily basis, before anything else, is what to do for lunch. Lunch in France is, of course, traditionally a two hour sit down affair during which time all the shops are shut, so 'le pique nique' is a popular option with all tourists - including the French. The village shops in Les Eyzies sell little else other than wine, tins of paté de fois gras and goat's cheese, so we had to go further afield to buy some simple bits for a picnic. Fortunately last year's recce to the region produced the rather useful knowledge that in the neighbouring town of St. Cyprien there is a Spar supermarket - probably the only one in the entire Dordogne region.

It's quite fun looking around supermarkets in other countries. This is usually such a horribly dull exercise back home because I know all the products like the back of my hand. In other countries, however, the range of products available is a reflection of the culture. I recently heard Delia Smith mention putting very finely chopped cornichons on salads and in dressings. Little gerkins are readily available in shops at home but she most specifically said they had to be cornichons. St. Cyprien's Spar had several varieties on offer so we picked out a jar to tuck into with our lunch.

I was also pleased to find that this small supermarket in the middle of nowhere had real vanilla pods on sale and bottles of orange flower water. I've never seen these 'luxury' on sale at home so I bought six pods and a couple of bottles of the flower water to bring home. This is part of the appeal of French trips - loading up the car with a couple of cases of nice wine and various little bits and pieces to enjoy on your return.

Getting up late, a leisurely breakfast and then the supermarket trip meant that it was already near lunch. We found a quiet spot to eat our picnic on the banks of the Dordogne river, and enjoyed our bread, cheese, cans of iced tea (surprisingly delicious since they don't seem able to make hot tea)...and of course some of those cornichons.

The whole of this region is riddled with underground caves so it's not surprising that one of the things available to buy are rocks, crystals, minerals and semi precious gemstones. I'm a sucker for these things and have a decent little collection of things like amethysts, rose quartz, malachite etc at home. Last year we discovered a treasure trove of a shop selling these items so we made our way there after lunch to have a look around. It's a funny thing about 'rocks' - they either 'call to you' or not. Last year I came away with a very large clear quartz crystal that most definitely wanted to come home with me (I'm sounding potty here aren't I?) but this year nothing grabbed my attention. However, Tess and Charlotte did well out of the visit. Tess bought some amber and silver earrings and Lotti a very pretty amber and silver ring.

After the shopping spree we all felt the need for a 'rest break' and pondered the options. Anyone unfamiliar with French sanitation, be warned: Stopping at any of the town toilets is a complete no-no. (You don't even want to know how bad these are). As Alain put it - in the US you get a little paper seat cover 'for your convenience'. In France you don't get a seat at all, or even a pedestal to perch on. (Believe me, nothing you have encountered in normal day to day life will have prepared you for the horror that is French public toilets. As an indication of their state, suggested attire when entering the cubicle would be a rubber wet suit and goggles...oh and don't forget to carry with you a plentiful supply of disinfectant hand wipes). Anyway, I digress here....we figured that the loos at one of the nicer chateaux might be OK so we headed to Erygniac which is said to have some of the prettiest gardens in France. (It's a hell of a way to pick sightseeing destinations, isn't it?....by toilet facilities).

Erygniac is beautiful. It's a private family house and the grounds have been restored over the last 40 years. Now opened to the public, they rely on receiving at least 100,000 visitors a year in order to maintain upkeep of the grounds. It's well worth a visit.

Our visit was slightly marred by being constantly 'buzzed' by a helicopter that kept taking off and landing in the grounds. At first it was a source of excitement because a film crew were filming something or the other to do with the chateau. After a while we got the impression that the crew had finished, but that the pilot wanted to use up his petrol budget having a bit of fun. He was constantly whirring around overhead and the tour guide was clearly becoming irritated by having her 'blurb' punctuated by the sounds of the 'copter engine.

In the evening disaster struck again - Pizza Romane was still shut. We really couldn't face going to the bar again from the night before so we went to one of the restaurants that at least had omelette on the menu. Even then, the only non-meat option available to the girls was 'potato omelette', which probably fairly predictably they found to be 'boring'. I scanned the menu and spotted some new 'delicacies' for the Dordogne that I hadn't seen on offer the year before. There were 'duck's gizzards' (should you feel so inclined), 'shredded duck' and 're-constituted duck - 30%' (what was the other 70% one wonders?). The 'shredded duck' idea provided a running joke for the rest of the holiday - every time we heard any unusual noise, someone piped up that it must be the duck shredder at work again. (Well we found it hilarious, perhaps you just had to be there....).

Next day...more chateaux, stupid phone calls and encounters with the local wildlife......