Villages in Winter

On a clear bright day in winter one of our favourite things to do is to continue to explore the quaint and picturesque villages in the area. Although they are no longer festooned with flowers they still exude a wonderful and peaceful atmosphere and there is time and space to enjoy the architecture .

A fountain project

We have a project going on in our old cattle yard. It is gradually being turned into a garden. The work at the moment is the creation of a fountain against one of the barns. The search is now on for a traditional spigot as shown in the photo so we are off to visit and rummage through the local brocantes to see what we can find.

Bories du Breuil

Not far from one of my favourite chateau, the Chateau de Puymartin, is a cluster of stone huts with ‘lauze’ roofs ,called the ‘Bories de Breuil’.The bories were built to be used as agricultural buildings such as sheds, workshops and places for animals to shelter. It is a really good place to visit while holidaying in the Dordogne.

Blazon de Monpazier

Monpazier is our local village and is considered to be the best preserved bastide village in the region. The castle on the ‘blazon’ shows that it was a fortified village as can been seen by the gateway entrances.

A French Tradition

Now that we are back home at Domaine des Faures we have been able to enjoy participating in the French tradition of a “galette-des-rois”. The galette des rois is a cake traditionally shared at Epiphany, on 6 January. It celebrates the arrival of the Three Wise Men in Bethlehem. Composed of a puff pastry cake, with a small charm, the fève, hidden inside, it is usually filled with frangipane, a cream made from sweet almonds, butter, eggs and sugar. Whoever finds the fève is then king for the day and gets to wear the crown.

Christmas Greetings

As we busily prepare for the festive season we would like to wish all our past, present and future guests a very Happy Christmas and prosperous New Year.

Christmas market

This year seems to have flown by and we are once again preparing for the festive season. The shops are full of chocolates, candied fruits, canapes and festive drinks. There really is nothing nicer than wandering through the Christmas markets soaking up the  lively and joyful spirit.

Back Home

After a very successful season we took a vacation in Canada which is very beautiful but it was wonderful to come back to this special region of France.

We had a guest stay with us during the summer who is a whizz with the camera and loved walking our organic fields finding diverse wildlife. She has very kindly allowed me to share some of her photos.

Cadouin

Cadouin is a beautiful village not far from here with a delightful abbey and cloister. Opposite is one of our favourite family run restaurants where you can enjoy a lunch or evening meal and relish the wonderful location.