November 26th

November 26^th Figeac to Sarlat la Caneda

If we thought the light fog made for a cold day, today was a real test. It was thick with fog this morning and very damp and cold. We wanted to do a couple of things in the village before heading off to our next stop, so we headed down the hill again. We had forgotten that Saturday was market day, but when we got to the main square we were reminded. There were stalls everywhere, and not just at this square but along the streets to every square in the vicinity. 

We mooched around looking at fresh fruit and vegetables, cheeses, meat, honey, olives, sweet things and other delicious (and some not so) foody things, and then at another set of stalls, clothes, and then some “antiquey” items. It wasn’t too long before our coffee shop beckoned us though, and we went in and had hot coffee and a basket full of baguette with a selection of  jams, and butter. We skyped my neice, Kate, in NZ much to the amazement of the barman, but it was so noisy we couldn’t communicate too well so we gave up quite soon.

After coffee we went to a few shops we had been waiting for to open, before going back up to the truck and readying ourselves for departure.

It wasn’t a long way to Sarlat, more beautiful countryside, and it did involve back tracking to Gourdon, but we took different roads to on our way over so it wasn’t a problem. Sarlat is actually only about 15kms from Gourdon, so we arrived early afternoon, and though it was still bitterly cold we decided to go into the town/village straight away as being Saturday the markets were happening, or rather the hardy ones were still operating in the gloom and damp. These are different in a way from other markets, lots of clothes rather than food, though I suspect had we been there in the morning they would have been present. We browsed along the stalls which lined the main street, stopped to buy a couple of things for Christmas presents, looked in Christmas themed windows, and fine food shops, but also admired the buildings and architecture.

We made our way to the tourist information centre where for 50 cents we obtained a route to walk around the old town and historical information about Sarlat. This we did, a really lovely little town and quite different style to most we have seen. ………………………………………..

Hilary in a squinch (our new bananagrams word)

Cemetery or glasshouse manufacturer? The former.

After we had done most of the circuit we decided we deserved a hot coffee and a wee nibble, so Hilary had an orange juice and a crepe du sucre, while Di and I had coffee and shared a piece of chestnut cake with chocolate icing. It wasn’t as good as it sounds, though I may be tempted to try something similar at home, though not so dry!!! The coffee was nice, but the whole affair was significantly over priced for the amount and quality, 15 euro which would have bought twice as much in Spain,(not that they do the patisserie thing like the French), and with better service and manners from the staff.

We went back to our camping area which we should have paid for (only 5 euro a night) but the ticket machine and barrier arms were broken, so we couldn’t pay (had we really wanted to), and made dinner and settled in for a quiet night of word games, and then bed.