Back in 2008, after working at the Beijing Olympics, I took an extended break and travelled to a small village called Figeac in the Lot department, South Western France. We rented a local house and lived like the locals. I fell in love with the french countryside and village life. So every time we go to Europe, I always try and fit a week into a french village. This trip, we chose to stay in Issigeac. A medieval village dating back to Roman times on the Dordogne and of the Perigord region.
Why Issigeac?? It is in TRUFFLE country, and being winter, this is the time where they find the most prized BLACK TRUFFLES and there are truffle markets held throughout the region. I was quietly hoping to go truffle hunting with a local rabassier (truffle hunter).
I was lucky to find a beautiful house located right within the small village of Issigeac on homeAway.com owned by Janice. Located on Rue Raymond Barriere.
It has been beautifully restored with stone walls and large timber beams, a massive fireplace in the lounge room, a fully equipped kitchen and luxurious furnishing. The house is set on 3 storeys, sleeping 5 people comfortably.
Our gorgeous friend, Blaza joined us on this leg of our journey. She flew over from the UK and we simply picked her up from Bergerac Airport.
Issigeac is a good base to explore the surrounding villages and chateaus. The entire area is covered with vineyards as far as the eyes can see. Everyday, we set out exploring. Took us to places like - Bergerac, Mobazillac, Lallinde, Monpazier, Sarlat, Saint Alvere, Tremolat, Cadouin, and Perigueux just to name a few.
Good to see everyone is having a great time. The weather is perfectly cold and crisp but warm in the sun.
Lots of Chateau to discover
This is in LaRoque St Christophe, which is remnants of both prehistoric and medieval communities.
Most of the villages and towns we went into were very quiet with not a soul in sight. It is the quiet season during winter. Towns such as Perigueux, Sarlat and Bergerac are a bit bigger and the town squares are busier.
The most important thing to remember is, if you do travel out to the French countryside are, open markets starts at 6am and closes by midday, everything apart from restaurants are closed between 2pm and 4pm, lunch in restaurants are only available until 2.30pm. The best and cheapest is to go for Plat du Jour. You will normally get this for about 9 euros and this includes a main dish and cofffee.
During my time in Figeac, I discovered two of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. Roccamadour and St Cirq Lapopie. I took Steph there last time when we were in the area. As this is Blaza's first visit in the area, we couldn't resist not taking her there. I love sharing with friends as you can see !!!
My photo doesn't do this place justice. Every time as we approach these 2 areas, I still am in awe of its beauty and all we can hear in the car from everyone is WOW !!!! how they built a whole community on the edge of a cliff is way beyond me............ if you are ever in the area, do go and see it for yourself. I guarantee you won't be disappointed.
During summer, it is filled with people and all the shops and restaurants are open for trading. This time when we visited, there was not a soul to be seen apart from some workman doing renovation work on the existing shops and houses. We were lucky to find a restaurant open for lunch and only a handful of shops selling gourmet goods such as foie gras, confit de canard and the likes opened. It still didn't dampen our excitement in seeing this wonderful place.
Blaza earned her gold star when she found us a wonderful place to explore - Vezere. Its a delightful village of about 20 houses and a beautiful picnic area on the river.
Blaza's Find
Getting use to getting her mug shot if she gets caught for stealing this number plate !!
After initially contacting Janice about the house, we got chatting online and I mentioned I really wanted to go truffle hunting. It so happens that she also owns a chateau nearby which has truffle forests within its ground and she is going to talk to her friend who is a rabassier to take us out while we are here ....... we might be going truffle hunting after all, but she did warn us that this winter has been very warm and that is not ideal for truffle hunting..... fingers crossed.
Unfortunately, it was not meant to be. The condition was just not cold enough to go out. So we opted for the next best thing...... go to a truffle market held at St Alvere. It was held inside the local town hall, trestle tables set around the hall with stall holders displaying their truffles on the table. They are graded 1 or 2 and their weight and price on the label. With our broken french and limited understanding. We got the idea that they were inviting us to pick these truffles up in our hands and have a good sniff.......... quite amazing to hold these fresh truffles and take in the unique aroma. We couldn't resist and so purchase one.
Steph has promised to cook Blaza and I a feast.
Truffle scrambled eggs for breakfast, and truffle pasta for dinner, all washed down with a nice glass of champagne.......... ah.... what a birthday feast to remember. Thanks Steph and Blaza xx
Next post........ Issigeac market day !!!
