The last day!

On our last full day in the Périgord we got to visit the Saturday market at Sarlat - and I'm sure you all know how much I love markets!!! I love the hustle and bustle and all the food smells which are just sublime. Our guide went into her spiel about the cathedral but as I've said before, more and more I tend to wander off and do my own thing because if a place really interests me I'll listen for a while and then I can always look up more information later. So I was standing nearby and started chatting to a young woman selling just about every version of olive and/or tapenade you could imagine. They'll always offer you a taste of whatever they're selling so I tried the red tapenade and promptly bought some. When I commented that I loved the smell, "The One" (Mark II - the miserable market stall holder in our group) said that she hated the smell, and no she didn't want to try anything because she loathed olives with a vengeance. I tell ya, it was embarassing! She really must have been standing behind the door when charm was handed out! Eventually I wandered round the old town, bought myself a new basket for my market-hopping experiences and a pretty jacket for Elynn before sitting down for a drink with a few people from our group.

The Saturday market in Sarlat!

After lunch it was off to the pretty town of Beynac where we were to take a boat called a gabarre for a tour up the river. A gabarre is a flat-bottomed boat which was used for transporting goods up and down the river, flat-bottomed because the river was pretty shallow in places and not suitable for more substantial vessels!

A gabarre!

Beynac

Since it was our last full day our driver offered to take a group photo of us all. She took one and then suggested another one in order to be sure she got everyone in - and this was when old Misery Guts (the market stall holder) stormed off, loudly complaining that she wasn't going to hang around all day like an idiot (again, a charm school reject)!

I think what impressed me most about the region was the sheer number of beautiful castles, many of which our guide pointed out to us as we passed, but which only represent a very, very small number, of course, given that there are apparently 45,000 castles in France!

Below are google images of just a few of the castles that she pointed out to us (I obviously couldn't get any half-way decent photos from our bus):

Beynac

Castelnaud

Belcastel (I beleive it's also a hotel)

Treignes (also a working farm)

Montfort

The next day we had to hit the road quite early to make our way home. After about two hours we have to stop due to regulations relating to how many hours the driver is allowed to work without a break, so we ended up in some dismal little town in a dismal little restaurant - which was a shame as everything had been so good up to that point. And remember I mentioned I had sat and had a drink with Philippe in Rocamadour and he was saying that if I joined the Club's committee he would be willing to stay on as he felt that all it needed were a few new faces. I'd chatted to him a bit at the distillerie and he was telling me that he was divorced with three adult children, none of whom lived locally. Well in order to get up to the restaurant we had to walk uphill but nothing particularly strenuous compared to some of the walking this group does. But Philippe didn't feel well, and then he felt really unwell, and then he collapsed and an ambulance was called while the restaurant owner did cardiac massage on him after he stopped breathing, He managed to resuscitate him and hang on until the emergency crew got there (they took about 10 minutes). Oddly enough I think what shocked me the most was when they cut his clothes off him. I don't know why that would shock me - maybe because it suddenly became more real when they were hooking him up to the machines, but it was a chilling half hour altogether. They took him off to the nearest hospital and our group leader was trying to figure out how we could contact his family and make logistical arrangements when about 30 minutes later we got word that he had died - of cardiac arrest! Talk about a shock as other than having had cancer some years ago, they weren't aware that he had had other health issues! He was only 62 and while I can't pretend he was a friend, I was still very upset seeing him go so suddenly! The funeral was on Monday and well attended as I guess he was pretty popular. RIP Philippe!