Continuing my tales of rural France: On the Sunday, 2 days after arrival, Monkeygirl, S and I decided to set out on an adventure. CBC had to stay behind to work on his MA dissertation and J, her sister and husband (who came to see us on their way to the Pyrenees) just wanted to enjoy the beautiful garden.
We set off for the picturesque town of Bergerac (after Cyrano of the big nose!) . Now, CBC has been to this place we were staying before and he had seen the glory of a myriad sunflower fields. IN fact, I had visions of wandering through fields of flowers in a pretty dress and CBC being all Darcy-like and chivalrous. However, ALL the fields of sunflowers around us were dead and brown- it was really sad- they looked like rows of the exiled Biblical Israelites from the Old Testament, going off to Babylon in Exile- in the Good News Bible, their heads downcast, walking in row upon row.
However, as we were driving through miles of beautiful green scenery, all of a sudden I shouted, "STOP the car, there's live sunflowers!!!!!!!!" Yes, I had spotted A LIVE FIELD OF SUNFLOWERS! S stopped the car and I had my camera lens out (they were set back quite far from the road). I leapt out of the car without looking. To my horror, the ground was not where it should have been - we were in a really high People-carrier and I tripped over. In a bid to save my precious camera, I didn't attempt to save myself and spun in a circle, ending finally with a sickening scrape and thud on the ground, arm stretched out (camera saved from any impact!) . Monkey girl and S heard the impact of my fall but hadn't been looking so they looked on, fraught as I lay stretched, worrying that a car would come cannoning down that road at any moment. Let me tell you, that road was hard and rough! I was scratched and bruised all over my knees, elbows and landed badly on my bad wrist. Luckily, I got a photo of the sunflowers above!
Minutes later, I sat quietly mopping at blood with my hankie as we drove on until we reached the beautiful town of Bergerac. The weather was utterly perfec as you can tell from these turquoise blue skies in the following pictures.
Bergerac was really interesting architecturally- it is a bastide, a medieval town and it has all these Tudor houses which are wonderfully picturesque- it's really weird seeing what I've only ever seen in England, in France.
We were happy to meander the streets and soak up the atmosphere. It being so hot, MG and I decided to have a little waterfight in this water-fountain. I don't think the well-behaved tourists at their restaurant tables across the road thought much of our very tame splashing!
It seemed fitting some minutes later that we found these fountains which MG and I ran along- getting rather deliciously soaked- perfect for a hot day!
Here stands Cyrano De Bergerac with his generous nose!
This amazing sand-blasted church was amazing- it was so impressively large!
We headed off to a nice restaurant for lunch where I ordered the Omelette des Cyrano which listed eggs, onions, tomatoes and one other vegetable in its ingredients. So I was slightly dismayed when it arrived with CHAMPIGNON absolutely stuffed in every inch. We all know how I loathe mushrooms. In my terrible French I managed to say that there were mushrooms in it even though they weren't in the menu and could I please have one without (honestly, if there had been a few, I'd have just picked them out but it was more mushroom than omelette) and it ended up being delicious second time round!
We spotted an impressive ice-cream parlour which boasted 60 flavours (and it did!) so we couldn't resist the opportunity!
Trying to be adventurous, I went for lime-sorbet which was utterly gorgeous...
S and MG went for Kinder flavoured and mint-choc chip respectively.
We walked along the river which shimmered beautifully and sat and ate our ice-creams. Both MG and I had brought swimwear in hope of a river-dip but it was much too murky for that.
An interesting discovery we made was that a form of hydro-electricity was produced and supported the entire town in around 1900 here and here is the machinery that powered it- it was pretty impressive, the info we read about it. Now, it wouldn't even provide 8% of the town with their power but it was an interesting insight into sustainable energy a while back!
We picked up a flyer (oooh, and I went in a vintage shop though didn't find anything I liked. I had high hopes of coming back with some gorgeous French dress of yesteryear- not to be) for a newly opened, renovated chateau which had been restored for years and had never been open to the public until now. We decided to give it a try.
When we arrived, we weren't sure what we've get for our 8euro entrance fee but thought it was worth a try...
The fairytale exterior should have been a sign of the beauty and joy that awaited us within.
Inside the ramparts, the castle itself looked all the more magical
The surprise of the day, and the best thing about it was the grounds. They had created a medieval games, activity and action gounrds where there was plenty to entertain and delight anyone of any age. It literally was the Medieval zone of the Crystal Maze (oh how I miss that programme!) with all its challenges.
In our bid for our first crystal, MG took on a physical challenge which was an automatic lock-in. You had to get through the web of ropes without ringing a bell (they were attached to all the ropes). It was really hard and if this really had been the maze, we'd have all been locked in! Great fun though- I could have done it for hours. We thought about how easily you could make one of these for your kids in your garden or a playground or even as a fun challenge for guests at a wedding! All you need is an old frame, bells and rope/string!
In this round of skill challenge, you had to do something with this topple-table. MG got it whilst I wandered off.
This was a sort of 'Hungry hippo' game in reverse- you each had an air-bladder which you had to use to shoot the ball away from you and defend your goal from the other three players- great fun!
MG and S went all Alice in Wonderland playing croquet.
To this day I am not sure if we were supposed to be touching these- but we had fun getting into the spirit of Medieval knights.
More Alice activities ensued when after the three of us had had a go at a variety of throwing arrows, darts, balls, bean-bags and the suchlike and concluded that we are all useless at aiming and throwing (surprisingly, I was more successful than them- HOW?!), MG and S played lawn chess. Quite a crowd turned out to watch them which was embarassing for them as they weren't really taking it that seriously!
I set my sights on the Chateau itself and I cannot fail to gasp, even now, looking at this picture. I am quite sure, the Princess Aurora, Cinderella, Beauty, Rapunzel and all manner of fairytale princesses were living in this castle.
The great thing was, there was none of this 'Keep away from the articles' business you get in NT properties (I understand why you have to), you could go up to things and examine.
I became hideously excited in the drawing room when I saw this panelling as there was a hidden door which you couldn't get into! It COULD COULD COLD have been that secret passage that it is my life's mission to discover and explore!
The billiards room was fun as you could have a game. Can anyone explain the rules to me?
It had a 'Cave' underground which all 3 of us mistook to mean a labyrinth, catacombs, great scene of exploration and adventure. To be fair, it was quite cool and exciting but it did just turn out to be a wine cellar and a place to leave your enemies to rot....
Onwards and upwards, we found where Rapunzel was hanging out. (I am trying to persuade them to put this on their wedding invitations!)
Your could see right into the tower and see the wonderful craftsmanship of the room weaving.
And peek out the windows and see the roofs.
Yet another thoughtful feature for visitors was the quill room. Paper, ink and quills had been left for you to practice your calligraphy. Here Cyrano de Bergerac writes his.... Ah wait, that's me!
The family chapel was serene and a sanctuary.
Ineresingly, when you climbed the stairs to the second floor, you could see just how much work they had had to do to restore Chateau Bridoire. The second floor is yet to be restored, I imagine they've opened so far to raise more money. But in a lovely un-British (it being France!) way, there was no anxiety about health and safety so you could actually come and see this and look at it (and several other rooms in a similar state of degradation)
It was a real privilege finding this gem of a place to visit. It was well well worth the entrance fee, they had set it out so thoughtfully. The games and activities (there were stacks more than I featured) were a particular
boon and you could happily spend an entire day there playing with a family or as a group of adults. If you ever go to the Dordogne or rural Bordeaux, do look it up-
here are the web-details. I love the sound of their next Courtyard day- replacing 300 window panes sounds like fun!
On our way back to Taillecavat, we saw many interesting sights including this lovely decoration in a village and some sort of flying event in which all sorts of people were landing on a big field in all sorts of tiny aircraft.
It was a real highlight to visit- fun, interesting, informative, historic and yet light-hearted and relaxed. The only thing that would have made it better is if CBC could have enjoyed it as well but MG and S are really good company- they are fun, interesting, intelligent and considerate people who I was lucky to spend the day with.
Would you like to visit? It really is a lovely area of France!
