France - Day 2

We woke up, shared some cheese, bread, walnut cake and fresh blueberry jelly for breakfast, and then headed to the market at Le Buisson de Cadouin. The market was huge with vendors selling anything you could possibly need: from toys to clothes to fresh fruits, vegetables, fish, cheese, meats and nuts, to wine and prepared foods.







After lunch, we took a driving tour through the French countryside, getting out at various towns and walking around to look at each town church and the various buildings. First was San Pompon, which we jokingly referred to as the patron saint of cheerleaders. It was a small town of only a couple hundred and very quiet. Many of the houses and other buildings were for sale.





Next we went to Daglan, which was quite beautiful and a bit more lively. We stopped for a snack at the boulangerie and also picked up a baguette.



Unique to Daglan was that the medieval watering hole where women would go to wash clothes was still preserved down by the inlet to the local stream.



Then it was off to Belves, which is one of the larger towns in the area and sits high atop a hill. The same as most other villages in the region, Belves was hosting its annual medieval festival later that week (most of the festivals are July and August), so the town was adorned with wires of decorative, colorful shredded bags.





We grabbed a beer on the town square atop the hill and then headed back to Urval. For dinner we headed over to the night market at Le Buisson, which featured dozens of benches in the center of the town surrounded by carts and tables of food vendors. Giant legs of pork cooked on oversized spits, which browned slices of potatoes sizzling in an enormous pot below. A local wine vendor pulled bottles of white and rose' out of a deep freezer and offered various Bordeaux reds as well. Paella crackled in a giant pan and loaves of bread spilled over an adjacent table. Almost anything you could have wanted was available - even Vietnamese food. We also sampled some of the regions famous garlic soup, which is made from eggs, onions, chunks of bread and pounds and pounds of garlic.









Adjacent to us at the communal tables was a local woman who struck up a conversation with Joseph - she was there with her boyfriend, granddaughter and 91-year-old neighbor, who promptly offered us some of his Bordeaux red wine.



It was a great night with great food, which we then continued back at Urval over some more wine and a night of great conversation.