Today I drove about 200 miles southeast from the Loire Valley to the Dordogne region, which is just east of Bordeaux. Since it rained most of the day and I didn’t stop along the way I don’t have photos to share, but do have some descriptions of what I saw along the way, as well as some thoughts on my experience of driving in France.
The countryside I passed through was mostly consistent until I got closer to my destination — rolling hills and farmland. It reminded me of Iowa, vs. the flatness of Kansas, except sometimes over the tops of the rows of corn or the fields of sunflowers you could see a spire or a tower or a turret and a sign would direct those interested to another chateau or ruins of an abbey. Most of the sunflowers were past their full bloom, their giant “heads” all bowed in the direction they last saw the sun. An occasional “volunteer” could be seen poking up through the rest — still in full vibrant yellow, head up. It seems that the sunflowers are pressed for oil — went through one town that had a large factory touting huile.
There were several signs for chateaus for sale. I suspect there isn’t a huge market for old stone over-sized homes in this economy, but I will offer that the profession of stone mason must be pretty good here. Every old relic site I’ve visited has been or will be renovated, and the stone work seems to be the most elaborate part of the efforts.
I passed a freight train that didn’t have hard sided box cars. Each had a cover of some thick opaque material that fluttered in the movement of the train. The cars were sort of rounded at the top too — not squared off. It wasn’t clear what was being transported.
As I got closer to this region I began to see signs of and for the local products produced here — foie gras is a huge business, as are truffles. There are special walnuts and apples from Perigord (one of the names of the area), and Salat potatoes from the next town south. And of course, wine from Bergerac.
Once I got close to the town I’m staying in, Les Eyzies de Tayac-Sireuil, the landscape changed dramatically. Large cliffs appeared, and most fascinating were some houses built into the cliff side. Once I visited the tourism office I came to understand that there are prehistoric sites here, and troglydyte caves and a museum to present it all. The town is overlooked by massive rocks. Tomorrow I will explore what there is to see and know and have more about it in that post.
Some notes on driving here. My GPS has been wonderful once I got the hang of it, and some days it’s the only English I hear spoken! My car tells me what the speed limit is in a little window on the dash board and sometimes will even start the windshield wipers before I’ve hit the button. I feel like it even pulls me away from the center or side of the road too, but I might be imagining it! The roads are good, but since I’m not always on a highway, the speed limit will change with every little town which makes the going slow. As do the roundabouts. There are some beautifully designed larger ones — today there was one which was ceramic mosaics, and another which had large metal sculptures of geese about to take off in flight. And some just have been beautifully landscaped with a large tree in the middle and lots of flowers.
I succeeded at first at the toll booths — in Normandy I could use my VISA card without a problem. Once I got to Brittany and the Loire, the company running the toll roads changed and wouldn’t take my VISA. Or my Amex. So I had to get a ticket in order to pass through and pay online within a few days. Which I did, but that little episode left me stressed for the moment — drivers behind me were quite annoyed. Have also had some trouble with my cards in getting gas. One station would take my Amex but not my VISA, another would only allow me to pay cash. I’m learning — most importantly which nozzle is diesel (since my car only drinks that)!
So I had 5 hours on the road — lots to muse… not all of it interesting. But that’s what happens when I don’t have a museum or a church or a chateau or a temple to visit!