What an amazing day

We had the most incredible day yesterday.  It was fantastic.  John firstly prepared us a lovely brekky out on the terrace.  Porridge and scrambled eggs seems to be the favourite and it is lucky John is great at both of these.











Canoeing the Dordogne



From there we headed out to do some canoeing.  The plan was that John and Bea would go to La Roque and go on little boats they have there and the rest of us would go canoeing from Vitrac to Beynac.  We called into Vitrac on the way to La Roque to get details of time etc and we asked about canoes for the disabled and he said "no problem".  They had a three man canoe with two actual seats in it.  So there we were the six of us out on canoes with Bea sitting up in the front of one and loving it.  For those of you who don't know her, she has a disease like MS.  She is permanently in a wheelchair and has been for many years.  We were very worried about taking her in a canoe but her and Phil approached it with so much excitement and ease that we had to go along.



We all loved Daniel our French chef, the essential kitchen appliance



Carmel was also pretty worried having had a bad experience once on a canoe.  So off we set with Phil (an old canoer from his fossicking days in the Yukon), Gerry and Bea in one canoe, and John, Carmel and me in the other.  We had the most glorious couple of hours - all of us - paddling past little villages and big chateaux and enjoying the peace and calm on the beautiful Dordogne River.  The company we went with were marvellous and had Bea's wheelchair waiting for her at the other end where there was also a cafe for coffee and hot chips.  It all went perfectly, everyone loved it.



Third course - seafood



We came home and Sam Stosur's match had just started so we sat and watched that.  Pity she lost but I'm sure that Italian girl must be on something illegal.  She did well to get to the semis though.  The owner of our house was here when we got home mowing and fixing up the garden a bit.  He was the most delightful Frenchman, mind you they are all pretty delightful, and gave us three bottles of wine before he left.  It was great to meet him after having a lot of correspondence with him. 



His brother, Daniel, was our chef for the night.  He has been a chef for 30 years and is now retired so Daniel also arrived with all the produce for our meal.  We set our big table inside the 16th century salon and got dressed up for our French meal.



Fourth course



We started eating at about 6.30 and finally finished about midnight.  It was so delicious.  We had seven courses.  First course, which Philippe the owner had with us, was fois gras, a speciality of this area.  Second course, truffles (1000 euro a kilo.  Daniel had bought two little ones and put them in a light egg mix).  Third course, seafood (scallops, prawns and cray) with beautiful sauce and salad.  Fourth course, duck legs and rare mushrooms.  Fifth course, duck breast with sauce to die for and vegies.  Sixth course, warm goat's cheese from Rocomadour and walnut salad.  Seventh course, a beautiful strawberry and custard and cream concotion which was Daniel's signature dessert.  We had eight bottles of wine at the end of the table - all empty - and a couple of champagne bottles in the bin.  So by midnight we could hardly move.  It was just amazing and every mouthful was delicious.  Don't think I will need to eat for the rest of my life.



Fifth course - duck breast



Today (Friday) we are having a day here as it is our last day.  We might pop into Souillac to pick up some groceries to take to Switzerland with us tomorrow but other than that a relaxing day around the pool and packing ready for an early start tomorrow is in order.

This has been a wonderful week.  We have all got on so well and everyone has done their bit - not just in cooking, cleaning, etc but in making our time here fun and memorable.  Thanks everyone for a great week.



Seventh course



Seond course - truffles in omlette