Tag: France

Sarlat-Le-Canéda to Rocamadour

Thursday was another lazy day. We packed up and left our Chambre de Hôte. On the way out of town we stopped to do laundry.

It was a short scenic drive to Rocamadour. Rocamadour is a medieval town and pilgrimage site built into the side of a cliff.

Rocamadour

We had to park and walk so that we could find the hotel and get directions for how to get there with the car and also where we could park. It turned out we had to go through a narrow gate and down a pedestrian walkway.

Rocamadour
Rocamadour

I don’t know how many times we have had a best meal of the trip but our dinner was certainly one of them.

We started with duck foie gras for Duke and mackerel for me. Duke and I always trade plates halfway through. Both dishes had perfect combinations of flavors. Now that we have had foie gras several times I realize that some are much better than others which I guess should be obvious.

Duck foie gras, figs and raspberry preserves
Mackerel salad

For main course Duke ordered a filet steak and I ordered venison stew. They were both tender and flavorful. We couldn’t agree on which was better.

Steak with autumn vegetables
Venison stew with a peach on top

Collioure

Collioure where we are today is a stereotypically picturesque French seaside village. Even though it threatened rain most of the day we had fun walking all around the village and the surrounding hills.

We stopped for a mid afternoon snack at a cafe on the beach.

We had a tasty fish dinner.

Tonight is our last night in France. We have totally enjoyed France and the friendly French people. Easter Monday is a busy travel day so tomorrow we catch an early train (6:51 am). After three trains we will be in Madrid tomorrow night.

Carcassonne to Collioure

Tonight we are in a picturesque little seaside town on the Mediterranean quite close to the Spanish border. Collioure was full of people when we arrived.

We couldn’t get a dinner reservation until 9:30. When we got our place at the bar we had a fun tapas dinner at Casa Gala. It was a small place but it was packed with people all having a good time Everyone was laughing singing and enjoying themselves.

Lyon to Carcassonne

We are now transitioning to the Spanish part of our trip. Today we took the high speed train south almost to the Spanish Border. Tonight we are in Carcassonne, a hill town in south west France. This is the view from our hotel window.

For the first time since Brussels we will only be staying here one night. For dinner we walked up to the old town you can see in the picture above and had a great dinner at a restaurant inside the walls.France. This is the view from our hotel window.

For the first time since Brussels we will only be staying here one night. For dinner we walked up to the old town you can see in the picture above and had a great dinner at a restaurant inside the walls.

Lyon

This morning started out with us taking a footbridge across the Saône River on our way to visit the Basilique Notre-Dame de Fourvière. You can see the Basilica under the tower of the bridge in this picture. That’s Duke on the left wearing short sleeves for the first time on this trip.

The Basilica is the most sumptuous church I have seen on this trip.

The mosaics on the floor and walls.

Deeply colorful and detailed stained glass windows.

The ceiling is as ornate as everything else in the church.

When we came out of the Basilica there was the fire department testing their ladder truck.

Next we visited the Lugdunum Museum and the ruins of the Roman Amphitheater. Lugdunum was the Roman City that sat where Lyon is today. The Museum is well done and displays some fascinating Roman antiquities. It is built into the side of a hill overlooking the theater. Here I am looking out of one of the museum windows.

You can see that same window from the Amphitheater.

This is a view of the Amphitheater itself.

After hiking back down to the river we had coffee.

Then we took a boat ride on the Saône.

It was interesting to see the old city from the river. We also saw new parts of Lyon. We saw the Confluence Development at the confluence of the Rhône and the Saône. It includes some exceptional buildings.

Last night I said our meal was one of the best of the trip and it was. But tonight was even better. We ate at La Maison Marie.

The two women who were handling everything in the front of the restaurant were efficient, happy and welcoming. We started with mackerel.

Then we shared turbot and pork belly. The presentation seemed particularly springlike and the flavors were subtle and exquisite.

For dessert we had green tea mousse and rhubarb sorbet again with subtle wonderful flavors.

Walking back to the hotel the moon was just coming up.