Yeah!! We get to go to Sarlat. 
A lot of the things we wanted to see were in Sarlat. A 2+ hour drive away. We started the adventure at McDonalds…. the only really safe, decent place to go to the bathroom. We visited it 5 times today. I guess the adventure actually began with the drive. We saw houses and businesses, hotels, etc. built right into the mountain around it. Like part of the house must be a cave in the mountain. 
It was really strange, but cool. When we finally got to Sarlat, we went to the outdoor market place. The very first vendor was a man with 3 gigantic cooking pans that looked like a wok, but they were easily 3-4 feet in diameter.
In one he was frying potatoes, the other two had Paella, with whole muscles and shrimp, with the head and antennae still attached. Dad said that because we are so close to the Spanish border, the food has a Spanish influence. We walked up a few more vendors and went straight back. We decided that we were eating Paella for lunch. There were shrimp, muscles, calamari, chorizo, and chicken in the Paella. It was so fresh and so good, but we couldn’t eat it all, so we put it in the lunch cooler in Mom’s car. So yes, for the second day in a row, I ate squid or octopus or whatever.
After lunch we walked the market which went winding down into the little old town on the side of a mountain. It had to have been soooo very old, but it was like a shopping mall, with stores like the United Colors of Benneton. It’s so cool how they value the heritage of the old buildings and make them into new dwellings or stores etc. We bought some great gifts for the kids, and a thing or two for ourselves. But mostly we just enjoyed our surroundings. It was just too cool for words. We took pictures, but pictures just don’t do it justice.
We wanted to go see the gardens and castles next. After we drove for an hour we found that the castle we chose to visit was closed for the season, we picked another and Dad called to see if they were open and they were not either. Sooo we went with the third choice. Marqueyssac. It had a big castle with gardens that went on and on and on.
The gardens took the whole top of the mountain that the castle was on. We think that castles were on mountains to protect the family, and to show their aristocracy to the village below. And maybe to watch over their vineyards. There were also peacocks and a pigeon coupe with some rare exotic breeds of pigeons. 
I think it’s mating season from their behavior and aren’t most baby animals born in the spring. It was interesting anyway. The castle itself was closed for the season. Again!! Of all the castles we saw we have yet to go inside a single one. That’s what you get as an off season tourist. But from the gardens you could see for miles, and there were other castles in the distance. (on the other mountain tops)
A lot of the things we wanted to see were in Sarlat. A 2+ hour drive away. We started the adventure at McDonalds…. the only really safe, decent place to go to the bathroom. We visited it 5 times today. I guess the adventure actually began with the drive. We saw houses and businesses, hotels, etc. built right into the mountain around it. Like part of the house must be a cave in the mountain. It was really strange, but cool. When we finally got to Sarlat, we went to the outdoor market place. The very first vendor was a man with 3 gigantic cooking pans that looked like a wok, but they were easily 3-4 feet in diameter. In one he was frying potatoes, the other two had Paella, with whole muscles and shrimp, with the head and antennae still attached. Dad said that because we are so close to the Spanish border, the food has a Spanish influence. We walked up a few more vendors and went straight back. We decided that we were eating Paella for lunch. There were shrimp, muscles, calamari, chorizo, and chicken in the Paella. It was so fresh and so good, but we couldn’t eat it all, so we put it in the lunch cooler in Mom’s car. So yes, for the second day in a row, I ate squid or octopus or whatever.After lunch we walked the market which went winding down into the little old town on the side of a mountain. It had to have been soooo very old, but it was like a shopping mall, with stores like the United Colors of Benneton. It’s so cool how they value the heritage of the old buildings and make them into new dwellings or stores etc. We bought some great gifts for the kids, and a thing or two for ourselves. But mostly we just enjoyed our surroundings. It was just too cool for words. We took pictures, but pictures just don’t do it justice.
We wanted to go see the gardens and castles next. After we drove for an hour we found that the castle we chose to visit was closed for the season, we picked another and Dad called to see if they were open and they were not either. Sooo we went with the third choice. Marqueyssac. It had a big castle with gardens that went on and on and on.
The gardens took the whole top of the mountain that the castle was on. We think that castles were on mountains to protect the family, and to show their aristocracy to the village below. And maybe to watch over their vineyards. There were also peacocks and a pigeon coupe with some rare exotic breeds of pigeons. I think it’s mating season from their behavior and aren’t most baby animals born in the spring. It was interesting anyway. The castle itself was closed for the season. Again!! Of all the castles we saw we have yet to go inside a single one. That’s what you get as an off season tourist. But from the gardens you could see for miles, and there were other castles in the distance. (on the other mountain tops)
We found out later that the area was called the place of 5 castles. We drove into the distance to search out the castle we saw. Dad knew the name of the castle, Beynac, and there are signs for EVERYTHING. If you know where you want to go, and the names of neighboring bigger towns, you only need to follow the signs when you drive.
We found parking for the castle at the base of the mountain where the castle was on the top. We said “if that’s it, and we have to hike to the top, we’re not seeing this one.” However we found an alley way sized road that said castle parking, and we drove, and drove. Passing parking for the castle, but continued onward and upward. We eventually got to the very top and it was so worth it. The view of the river was sp
ectacular, and we were only 15 minutes from sunset. We walked down a little street, just wide enough for a small car to drive on. And it was very steep. Part of the way there were stairs. We knew it would be a workout, but Susan and I went down and left Mom and Dad at the top. It was so intriguing. It was like a little village wound down from the castle all the way to the bottom of the mountain. And there were people who actually live in these little dwellings. We saw a car in front of one, and garages in the back of a few. I don’t know how to describe how unusual and interesting the whole experience is. We didn’t walk all the way to the bottom, but we went pretty far. If we’d had cell phones we would have had Mom meet us at the bottom and kept going. Oh well the exercise of climbing back to the top, was part of the grand experience.
ectacular, and we were only 15 minutes from sunset. We walked down a little street, just wide enough for a small car to drive on. And it was very steep. Part of the way there were stairs. We knew it would be a workout, but Susan and I went down and left Mom and Dad at the top. It was so intriguing. It was like a little village wound down from the castle all the way to the bottom of the mountain. And there were people who actually live in these little dwellings. We saw a car in front of one, and garages in the back of a few. I don’t know how to describe how unusual and interesting the whole experience is. We didn’t walk all the way to the bottom, but we went pretty far. If we’d had cell phones we would have had Mom meet us at the bottom and kept going. Oh well the exercise of climbing back to the top, was part of the grand experience.
We went back down, found a boulangerie open, bought a big round of bread, had the lady at the shop cut it in fourths, and added mexican tuna fish salad from a can to the center of each quarter of the bread, and had dinner. Then we drove home exhausted.
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