Day 35 Tour outside Domme in Dordogne region.

Day 35 Tour outside Domme in Dordogne region.

(Notes kindly donated by Noeline - with some additions from Dale)

Friday morning we left for a sightseeing run with the thought of being in Sarlat at some stage to look for a laviriere (laundrette).  Not sure about the French, they are either wearing dirty clothes or they wash them in secret. The only time you see any washing on the line is in a peasant village   Nelleke had done some laundry for us but laundry's or washing facilities are non existent.....and we are now at the desperate stage!

We had wound our way out of our walled village which is all one way (except for the locals who seem to drive any which way) down the hill which was almost a 3 point turn for the 12/50's, turned left into another village and lo and behold a laundry!  It was better than any tourist attraction for Dale and Maritta especially who desperately need to wash jeans.  It's a bit difficult to wash them out in the room!
 

Walking to the parked cars

12/50 just makes the turn in Domme

We drove on through a couple of very pretty villages, one with market, but we couldn't stop to browse as Alan had to roll start the car so did not want to chance it not starting.  The scenery around was absolutely amazing with two medieval castles built on the rocks high above the villages.  We drove past one sign for 'Jardins of 'Marqueyssac' which I had thought would be interesting to see and then on past another sign leading to them.  Mike was apparently just watching the road, not noted any signs of interest!  We caught up to him and said we would like to go back which we did, arriving at the same time as a busload of 'grey nomads'!  unfortunately we blended in!  

One of the advantaged of such groups is that they generally have a guided tour booked on their arrival. Such was the case here and although it did cross our minds to just walk in with them we opted for honesty and paid!  Their tour leader was from Derbyshire (UK) and didn't mind us joining on their guided tour which was good as it was in English.  

The chateau and gardens are a private estate dating from the 17th century. Restoration works are gradually being carried out  to the Chateau, the roof itself a job worse than the Sydney Harbour Bridge. The stonemason can only achieve 1 square metre at a time - so laborious is the process.  The gardens themselves consist of only box plants and it is fascinating. 

The superb gardens of Marqueyssac - Dordogne

 There are more than 6 kilometers of walks and as the estate is quite high there are stunning views from a most everywhere.  The gardens themselves were planted around 1861 but had been let go for many years. They were restored and reopened in 1997.  It is incredible that the totally overgrown box which had lost most of their shape were able to be nurtured and groomed back to their present state.  The basis of a really great garden.
 
Even those among us who are not garden fans were totally enthralled,so interesting was the whole place.
after a picnic lunch of fresh baguette and leftover "24 euro olives and dip" we visited the Chateau de Castlenaud, a medieval fortress dating back to1214.  These castles, fortresses  etc., are just fascinating for us whose history is so young.  Every corner has some ancient history on it!
 

Chateau de Castlenaud

The fortress had a fascinating display of armaments and weaponry from the 12th to 19th century.  The amount of work that wen into making the cross bows was over the top with engraving and embellishments considering most of them would have been left lying on the ground after a battle.   The displays include in depth explanations of the work and skill of the craftsmen who designed and created all forms of weaponry and armaments used to defend or retake this fortress.

This fortress castle landed back in the hands of the English six times before coming back into french hands.  A lot of to-ing  and fro-ing went on.  

A superb collection of Armour.

These 2 visits filled in our day and we raced back to Domme so Dale and Maritta could go and do their laundry.  We made our dinner reservation later allowing them to get their washing done.  But in no time they were back??  The laundry is run by an English couple who had obviously seen a gap in the market. They actually do your washing with the motto "no one touches my machines" so they left the washing with them and came home for drinks instead.
 
Dinner was at a little place in town which had been closed til today.  The Moules a la Creme were so good Noeline, Dale and Mike couldn't leave any of the juices behind.  They are tiny mussels, not at all like we are used to.  Braised lentils with Chicken was Alans choice and very good.  All meals were enjoyed.