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THE DORDOGNE EXPERIENCE:

The Belly of France is Glorious,

Semi-Secret and Tres Inexpensive

by Norman Mark

The language tapes I was listening to never told me how to exit a parking lot in Toulouse, France.  I didn't know you were supposed to pay first.  The gate wouldn't go up, the cars behind me were bleating their horns and an intercom in a small black box was blatting nasal gibberish at me.

I tried to say "I don't speak French" or "Je ne parle pas Francais."   But I couldn't remember that and instead said, "No par-lay Francoise," which might mean, "Don't speak to Francoise."  The gate lifted.

We wanted to get away from Paris, see the real France and enjoy the rumored beauty there.   We also wanted to avoid vacationing ourselves into bankruptcy, a good reason to stay away from Paris where ordinary hotels can be $600 a night.

We had rented a tiny stick-shift car from Budget in Angouleme, which is about 2 1/2 hours from Paris by high speed train.   It cost us around $420 for the week and gave us the freedom to explore the Dordogne River Valleys in the center of France and in the heart of duck country.  

Money-saving tip:  We quickly learned that hotel breakfasts, $10 and way up, are mainly croissants and coffee.  Instead, we bought our croissants for about 75 cents at the local bakeries and grapefruit juice at the markets.  We'd also buy bread, cheese, tomatoes and the local wines for as little as $4 a bottle, and enjoy picnics for lunch, saving money for a big French dinner.

Our first stop was La Rochelle, a walled college town and fishing village 88 miles northwest of Angouleme.   Our friends had advised that it was a must-see town and they were right.  We had a late lunch in a bistro that looked out at the fortifications and then strolled through the 14th century city with its cobblestone streets and arches over the sidewalks.

We chose the Hotel de la Tour de Nesle with a room looking directly out on the harbor for less than $70!  OK, so the room decor would have fit in any college dorm in America, but the staff was friendly and the view was spectacular. 

We ate at La Caravelle, where Marie Hebert, the maitre d',  was both the wife of the chef and runway model gorgeous.  The duck was superb, the wine delicious and reasonable, and the fixed price for the three-course meal was under $11!   The chocolate mousse desert arrived in a huge pot and I was invited to eat as much as I wanted.  Waistline concerns prevented that. 

The next day we drove through countryside dotted with grape vines beginning to show their leaves and wisteria in full bloom.             

Our destination was St. Emilion on the Valley of the Dordogne.  It was a chance to see where some of the finest red wines of Bordeaux (and of the world) are created.   On the way there, we bought two bottles of wine, for $2.50 and $5, from Caves De L'Abbaye in Guitre, a speck on the map of the Dordogne region.  The wines, with a label that was almost a cartoon, were excellent.  We were beginning to think that anywhere we stopped would be beautiful and only the slightest of shopping would give us good value.  That proved accurate for the rest of the trip.

We stayed that night at the St. Emilion's Hostellerie de Plaisance, which was recommended in Karen Brown's "FRANCE: Charming Inns & Itineraries," a book which was always accurate and helpful.  The hotel, which is on the walled defenses of this charming town, has only 12 rooms.  Ours had a canopied bed, a bathroom that seemed to be fresh from the pages of an upscale plumbing catalogue and a view of the lush fields.  We were even more delighted by the $140 bill.

We explored the town, carefully walked down the steep, uneven cobblestone streets and commented that the place needed a good Chicago paving contract.  We visited several stores specializing in the wines of the region.  At the Caveau des Remparts, we bought a $12 bottle of 1989 Chateau Picampeau from Jean Pierre Sicre because he was the man who was most proud of his product.   He had every right to be.

That night we dined on frogs legs, coq au vin, salad and wine in a square directly in front of an underground church carved out of limestone from the 9th to 12th centuries.   Our waiter, Eric Chauvet, helped us learn to count in French, and the bill for our delicious meal at L'Amelia Canta was less than $50.

We reluctantly left the beauty of St. Emilion the next day and explored the countryside.  Our delightful picnic lunch was outside of Bergeracin the field just beyond Chateau de Monbazillac, which was closed between noon and 2 p. m. leaving no one to tell us the grounds were off limits to picnics.   

We found Domme just before sunset.  The Hotel de l'Esplanade sat on a high bluff and boasted an incomparable view of the Dordogne River, which made a big arc in the valley below the town.  Another canopied bed was in our large $107 room, which also boasted antique armoires and our own view of the valley.  

Our dinner at a nearby restaurant was the only indifferent eating experience of the trip.  The chef seemed more interested in the waitress than the cooking.

The next morning we didn't want to leave the picturesque town and we again wandered the streets.  My wife found a magnificent nine-foot tall, 18th Century grandfather clock in an antique store.  I worried that she would attempt to convince me is was my carry-on luggage.

After wandering through and not liking Rocamadour, which seemed over-run by cheap tourist shops, we headed off the roads marked in red on the maps and on to the little pathways. 

Above Rocamadour, which is on N140, there was a small road called D 14 which took us to Loubressac, a town of limestone walls perched on the bluff high above a lush valley.  The nearby Autoire was even more difficult to find, but both towns had a "Brigadoon" quality--they seemed to spring forth for the sole purpose of being beautiful, quaint and old.   We strolled through both villages in a state of continual awe at their beauty and peacefulness.

We stopped for dinner at the Hostellerie Fenelon in Carennac, a short distance away, and decided to spend the night.   The large comfy room was less than $52 and our two meals, among of the best we had in France, with duck, salad, cheese, desert and a delightful red wine, came to only $34.

When we were introduced to the chef, I wanted to tell him the food was very good ("tres bien").  That was when French failed me again and I repeated "Combien, combien."  He looked puzzled.  I was telling him, "How much?  How much?"   Perhaps I was listening to the wrong language tapes.

After picking up our daughter at the Toulouse airport, we drove north to Cordes and the Hotel du Grand Ecuyer.  Cordes is a medieval hilltop village, with winding steep cobblestone streets.  The hotel, which was once a hunting lodge, is the definition of a grand establishment with antiques and four-poster beds, and breathtaking views of the fields below.   Our spacious room, which allowed us to feel like a king (or maybe a count), was $125 for the night.

That night we ate outdoors under a huge wisteria vine with its light blue flowers slightly perfuming the area.

The next day we traveled north, again towards Rocamadour, where we found the unique and glorious Domaine de la Rhue just off the N 140.    Eric and Christine Jooris, the owners, have converted their huge, old stables into a grand and beautiful hotel that felt like it was a city block long.   The oak stall dividers remain in the main hall as a reminder of the building's previous tenants.

Don't think that living in a former stable means that the furnishings are less than the best.   Our room was huge, the stars from our window that night were spectacular, and the entire bill, with breakfast, was less than $130.  

The next day after an invigorating walk on the La Rhue property, we parked on the D38 road to just outside of Meyssac, and walked into Collonges la Rouge.   We couldn't see the beauty of this village from the road.   The cobbled streets were edged by stone buildings created from the local burnt red rocks.   It was so inviting that we stopped for what our daughter, Anne, called "strategy eating," meaning enough salad to prevent peckishness before dinner.

We were disappointed to learn that the inn in Brantome was closed and the even prettier hotel in the smaller village of Bordeilles would open later in the year.  Our concerns vanished when we were directed to Chateau de la Cote, less than five miles away.

What a breath-taking discovery.   As far as we were able to determine it is not mentioned in most guide books (Karen Brown and others take note!), yet it is as beautiful and as charming as any stately home we had seen in France.   There were walking paths on the grounds under huge trees.   Our room in the tower, which rented for $110, was as big as most apartments and our circular bathroom was the size of many Chicago living rooms.  

The dinner, and especially my duck, was superb.  The maitre d', who doubled as the manager, seemed to be part of the "Fawlty Towers" cast.    He asked, "Did you see the house by the gate?  The owner's first wife lives there rent free to the end of her days."  The owner was dining with his girl friend, meaning the wife would see her ex-husband driving on and off the property with all of his "friends."   Dante could not have thought of a worse punishment for an ex-wife.

We entered mid-France with a sense of exploration.  Perhaps we found the real France, where nearly everyone was friendly, where the towns resembled those collectibles placed under Christmas trees, and where the price was surprisingly right.  We also ended our visit with the image of an ex-wife living rent-free in hell.     Ah, the French!  Vive l'amour!

The hotels mentioned in this story include:

Chateau de la Cote, Biras-Bourdeilles, 24310 Brantome.   Fax: 05 53 03 42 84.

Domaine de La Rhue, 46500 Rocamadour.  Fax: 05 65 33 72 48.

Le Grand Ecuyer, 81170 Cordes.   Fax: 65        53 79 51.

Hotel-Restaurant L'Esplanade, 24250 Domme, .   Fax: 05 53 28 49 92.

Hostellerie Fenelon, 46110 Carennac. Fax: 65 10   94 86.

Hotel de la Tour De Nesle, 2, quai Louis Durand, 17000 La Rochelle.  Fax 05 46 41 95 17.

Hostelerie de Plaisance, 33330 Saint Emilion.  Fax: 05 57 74 41 11.

Norman Mark, the former movie reviewer for NBC Chicago, is a travel writer, documentary producer and author.   His email address is: Normanmark@aol.com

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