Unfortunately my WordPress blog is not working so I am continuing on Blogger. If I don’t get these blogs written, then I’ll forget what we did. Once I get too far behind, I won’t ever catch up and this is supposed to be a record of our trip. (Update 01/03/11, my WordPress account has been fixed and I am transferring all blogs over.)
So here we are in Eymet two days before Christmas. It is cold and rainy out but we decide to check out Market Day in Eymet.
Soggy market day in Eymet
We check out the little church. Our landlady has told us that the little church had protected Eymet from getting snow in the last big snow storm.
The little church is not too exciting. It was built in the late 19th century. It has some Christmas decorations. The end. But at least now we can report back that we have seen the little church since our landlady has already asked us twice if we’ve seen it.
We also poke around the old walls and buildings of the original bastide. In the 13th century in order to colonize the wild southwest of France, bastides were built. Bastides were sort of planned communities and the local lord would offer farmers a plot of land in the city, a garden plot and some land to farm on at the edge of the bastide. The farmers would become free men. So a good deal for everyone. There are lots of bastides in this part of France.
Parts of the old bastide of Eymet
Then we set off for the larger town of Bergerac which is somewhat nearby. This is the Bergerac of Cyrano de Bergerac. There is a statue of him although the town really doesn’t have anything to do with him. It’s good for the tourist trade, though.
Then of course there is lunch. We stop in at the Restaurant Saint James. They are very nice and welcoming. It is nice to get in from the rain and cold.
Sarah at Restaurant Saint James
And what would a blog post be without food pictures?
John has ris de veau. The sweatbreads are sauteed and crispy. Thumbs up.
Sarah has roast pork with lentils and beans in a mushroom sauce.
I have the foie gras with country bread. This is not quite the foie gras I am looking for but very good nonethelss.
Leaving the restaurant, our main goal is to find a store that the landlady has suggested to us.
Ah, here it is Valette’s foie gras. Hopefully our purchases won’t be confiscated by gourmet TSA agents.