Bergerac

So things are starting to wind down around here as we approach the end of our vacation here in Bergerac. The last couple of days has just been visiting with family and neighbors, doing some shopping for things to take home (mostly food items that we can't get over there) and just trying to avoid the heat and humidity. Of course, I have a few new photos of food and some of the town.

We ate this salad last night. It is rice, tomatoes, lettuce, cantaloupe, grapefruit and for the brave ones, you can add that fake crab stuff. I was a bit skeptical at first but it was actually pretty yummy and refreshing. With the heat and humidity that we've been having, it was just right. Then we went over across the street to the neighbor's house and he tried to get us to eat foie gras, the goose liver pate that just isn't appetizing looking at all to me. Bernadette, however, loves it and she not only ate her portion but ours too.

When it comes to camembert style cheeses, this kind of stuff is just the best. It's double cream. It has a very creamy taste, is very smooth and is a heart-attack in disguise for those who can't tolerate that much cholesterol.

Dark chocolate. If it isn't dark then it isn't chocolate. This is my favorite type. It is 65% cocoa with little crunchy roasted bits of cocoa bean mixed into it. I've polished off half a bar already and I gave the cover to the family so they will know exactly what to send me for Christmas.














On my walk today, I took a few pictures of the gabarres that run tourists up and down the river. The gabarre is the ancient boat that people used to transport goods down the Dordogne. For a brief history, you can read about them here. GABARRE

This is the old church in the the old section of Bergerac. This one was built on the foundations of another church somewhere before 1147. Of course, it has been upgraded and added to since that time so probably only the foundations are that old by now.

Anyway, it is called 'Eglise St. Jacques and is of the gallo-roman style where the walls were thick and didn't allow for large windows and other openings. This church served the community for many years until the 1800's when it was decided that a larger Church was needed hence...

Eglise Notre Dame de Bergerac was built in 1863. We looked around inside it today and it had a couple of old paintings in there dating back to 1450 and 1550 respectively. They were in excellent shape and the colors were still quite bright. It is built in the neo-gothic style, using exterior buttresses to hold up the walls so they could be thinner and have larger openings in them for large stained glass windows.

Tonight, we are off to another friends home which is out on a small farm. We'll be eating dinner there. And that is it for today.