Domme and La Roque Gageac - May 19, 2022
- Scott Farnsworth
- May 19, 2022
- 3 min read
Last night, after we went to bed, a big thunderstorm blew through. The lightning was amazing. Where we are, when you turn the lights out after dark, it is pitch black. As such, every time the lightning flashes, it’s quite the show.
Today will be another day of more beauty, history, food and wine. It will be our third and final day doing the long, ninety minute drive to go sightseeing. We're visiting two of our favorite towns: Domme and Roque de Gageac.
Yesterday on the drive the sun was in our eyes because of the hour and direction of travel. Today it’s mostly cloudy, which is lovely for the driver (me). We get to Domme and wind our way up to the village on the hill and park.
We need (and get) coffee at a lucky coffee house with a most spectacular view of a river valley with hilltowns in the distance. We split our time between drinking coffee and taking pictures of the view.
The next hour or so we walk through the small village of Domme. They’re having their outdoor market, of course. Our intrepid chefs shop and interact with the cheese and vegetable merchants. The tomatoes all look delicious. They also buy two kinds of strawberries for dessert. We’ll have a taste test.
We hike around the rest of the town (there isn’t much of it) and walk along the path with the most spectacular views. We realize we don’t have much time to get to lunch across the valley, off in the distance. We hightail it back to the car and after some near mishaps with the mini "Train Touristique", and some detours (due to it being market day), we’re on our way.
In Roque de Gageac we park and marvel at the dwellings and houses built into the cliffs. We realize we’ll be late for our reservation if we don’t focus. Karen picked La Belle Étoile out of TripAdvisor based on reviews. When we show up we are almost the only ones there. By the time we leave the place will be full.
Our delightful waiter, a French gentleman, oldish (meaning our age), seats us at a table overlooking the river below. We order wine and lunch and soon amuse bouches (if that’s the plural) start appearing. First is a trio and they are beautiful to look at and even better to eat. That’s followed by a fourth amuse bouche, as expertly prepared and delicious as it is good to look at. We haven’t even gotten any of the food we’re paying for yet.
We get the cheaper of the three Prix Fixe lunches on offer (35€ per person). Each of the entrées (appetizer), main courses and desserts have two choices. Each couple orders one of each, so everyone gets to taste everything. The entrées and main courses are all delicious. The desserts, too, are heavenly and there is, of course, mignardises (free 'after desserts') in case we are still hungry. This is probably the best meal of the trip.
Post-meal we're thankful that we’re due on a boat ride on the river we’ve been overlooking. Time to sober up before our drive home. The boat holds sixty or eighty people, but we are maybe forty or so. The tour is in French but we have a recorded version in English to listen to. It’s fun, interesting and relaxing. Eventually we get off the boat, pile back into the car and drive home. Along the way we point out other homes and châteaux we’d accept to live in, if offered.
The evening is as before: wine, swimming, a great meal prepared by Ron and Karen, and more wine. Part of the meal is a sampling of the strawberries. There are ‘normal’ and ‘Fraise du bois’ or Strawberries of the woods. They're both good, though each unique. We devour all.
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