The Dordogne is a part of France I'd never seen until last month, when a few days there seemed not nearly long enough.
A short train-ride from Paris on a speedy, comfortable TGV gets you to this peaceful green and pleasant land, which the broad Dordogne river snakes through, and there is seemingly a chateau, castle or abbey around every corner.
We picked up a hired car at Limoges Bénédictins gare - and I had to include the pic below, because when did you ever see such beautiful architecture for a provincial railway station?
Driving through this peaceful countryside it was hard to imagine the wars that raged here in the Middle Ages - the Hundred Years War with England, and later France's 'wars of religion'.
The farmhouses we passed had weathered centuries of war and peace ...
The Dordogne is known as 'the land of 1001 castles'. For a special reunion with friends from far away, we had the great treat of two nights in one of those castles - the gorgeous Chateau de la Treyne
... perched high up above the Dordogne river, and built like most castles in the 11th and 12th centuries on inaccessible sites with strategic viewpoints, its terrace has stunning views over the river ...
The current owners, Philippe and Stéphanie Gombert have spent the last twenty years restoring and decorating, and their passion is self-evident for this place that they see themselves as caretakers of for a tiny fraction of its history (it goes back to 1342).
Arriving early afternoon and too late for lunch, Stéphanie insisted on ducking into the kitchen to rustle up some cheese, bread, salad and wine - producing this most elegant 'picnic' lunch in about five minutes! ...
The swimming pool beckoned ...
and with Walter the friendly retriever for company ...
and these seductive gardens to explore, it was clear to me that only by a cruel twist of fate had I not been born to a chateau life and that it was going to be very hard to leave.
But there was a region entirely new to me to explore, and so I shall duly sort through my snaps and show more of this gorgeous part of France very soon on my lately neglected blog ...
The current owners, Philippe and Stéphanie Gombert have spent the last twenty years restoring and decorating, and their passion is self-evident for this place that they see themselves as caretakers of for a tiny fraction of its history (it goes back to 1342).
Arriving early afternoon and too late for lunch, Stéphanie insisted on ducking into the kitchen to rustle up some cheese, bread, salad and wine - producing this most elegant 'picnic' lunch in about five minutes! ...
The swimming pool beckoned ...
and with Walter the friendly retriever for company ...
and these seductive gardens to explore, it was clear to me that only by a cruel twist of fate had I not been born to a chateau life and that it was going to be very hard to leave.
But there was a region entirely new to me to explore, and so I shall duly sort through my snaps and show more of this gorgeous part of France very soon on my lately neglected blog ...