Wednesday, 25th April - Perigeux

We didn't feel much like sight-seeing again and since tomorrow marks the start of our journey back northwards we decided to do a bit of shopping and take a look at a French hypermarket. We had absolutely no idea if there was one anywhere near so we took a wild stab by heading northwest towards the nearest big town/city of Perigeux. This choice of destination was also tempered by the fact that we know Perigeux has a McDonalds. (Just a little side note to prospective travellers here: Experience tells us that by far the safest place to find decent toilets is under those golden arches. The French may hate having McDonalds in their country - travellers will breathe a sigh of relief to spot these havens of westernised sanitation).

We found a hypermarket, of a sort. It wasn't of gargantuan proportions but it was big enough to stock everything from food to fridges to TVs to CDs....

Isn't it odd the things you buy on holiday? We found ourselves loitering in the stationery section (I seem to have a thing about stationery). For some reason I decided that my life would be lacking something if I didn't return to Jersey with a steel ruler and a nifty little pink plastic pencil sharpener. We had a good look around everywhere but couldn't honestly see too much else that were 'must have' purchases. In the food section we came away with a wholly disparate selection of another jar of cornichons, a jar of Mexican salsa, some basil flavoured mustard (could be an interesting combo) and a packet of crisps. Not exactly all typically French fayre then.... What we also gained from the visit was the nostril clenching smell of the strongest BO you have ever encountered. It hung like a heavy smog over one of the long aisles and was emanating from one of the shop workers. Pew! Someone station that woman in the deodorants section in future - pleeeease!

Lunch at McDonalds - funny just how appealing McFlurries and McFries can seem after days in a vegetarian wasteland. .....And those McToilets...well what can I tell you....

After our bon repas (or even our McBon Repas) we hit the road again in order to find an artist's studio out in the boondocks of the Dordogne. What artist? ...You may well ask. Well, in the Centenaire they were displaying small metal sculptures by an artist called Gerard Bouvier. We admired them last year and had decided to go home with a piece this year, but were rather hoping they would be more reasonably priced direct from the artist's studio (on the principle of 'cut out the middle man' I suppose). We had the address and we found the tiny village of La Bachellerie, but no Mons. Bouvier. Following the directions of a helpful villager, we drove around in the backwoods for some time, but still had no luck. To be honest, we were starting to feel a little uneasy at that point - we were in unknown territory.... very wild and overgrown unknown territory... without a map. The whole area was extremely sparsely populated and some of the properties we came across looked very run down. It was when I started humming 'Duelling Banjos' (that little tune that we all know from the film 'Deliverance') that the family suggested we call it quits and head back onto the main roads.

Back at the ranch (well back at the Centenaire actually) Madame Sholly explained that Mons. Bouvier's workshop was quite a way outside La Bachellerie and was, indeed, hard to find. During the conversation she also told us that he is a personal friend of theirs, and for that reason they don't charge any commission on the sale of his work. So our venture into the backwoods was not only fruitless it was also completely pointless. That'll teach us for being cheapskates.

Next day...missing all the simple things, and the car journey from hell....