Wednesday May 21, 2014 - Rocque de Christophe - Losse Chateau - Truffle Hunting - Day 21

We requested a "petite petit dejeuner" this morning - only coffee, juice and yogurt.  We can't keep on eating these large breakfasts as well as large lunches and dinners!  So we met at 8:30 for our petite petit dejeuner and it was perfect.

We headed off about 9:45 for Roc de Christophe not too far from St Leon sur Vezere which has caves where it is believed man lived 50,000 years ago.  Certainly is thought provoking for us.  This was a very educational stop:  Cro Magnon man – 150,000 years ago, the Neanderthal disappeared 30,000 years ago, and Modern Man came to Europe later – as it is believed they started in Africa and migrated north to Spain, France, and the Middle East.  The Renaissance started in 1492!
 

An excellent timeline showing some development of man - prehistoric to the present

 

These were their houses in the Middle Ages - it is believed that cave men lived here 50,000 years ago!

 

One of the caves where early man lived - naturally formed

 
 

This is where animals were slaughtered

 

Shelves cut into the rock for storage and seating

 

The view from the city - gave them a good vantage point to see invaders coming

 

As many as 20,000 people lived in this city in the rocks in the Middle Ages

 

A depiction of what the Middle Ages City looked like

 

Huge rock overhangs provided natural protection

 

They had replicas of pulleys and winches that were used to move things up or down

 

One of the pulleys like we saw earlier at the new medieval castle - a man would walk inside the circle and he could life up to 5 times his weight

 

They even had a jail in the caves - this one went WAY BACK into the rocks - UGH!

 

The kitchen area in the caves

 

More of the kitchen - there is a rock basin in the lower right that caught water dripping from above

 

How the early cave dwellers lived in the caves - here depicted fighting off the bears

Then we drove a short way to Chateau de Losse that was built in the 13^th century.  It was just outside Thonac.  Jean II de Losse took over the chateau in 1576.  We spent an hour walking through the gardens and then went on the tour (in French) of the chateau at 1 pm.  We wished that we could have just walked through as we had already read the tour in English and it was informative.  The iron chest with the hidden lock (like at Chateau Barben) was cool.

Entry to Chateau Losse lined with evergreens

Front entry to the chateau over what used to be a draw bridge

The moat surrounding Chateau Losse with lookout towers

Beautiful sculptured gardens at Chateau Losse

The "lady of the house's" resting room where she escaped to during the day

The lady's bath room

Beautiful knot garden down by the Vezere River

Another view of the garden by the river - these gardens take a LOT of work - just ask Tim!

A cool fountain in the main garden of the chateau with water feature

The entry courtyard to Chateau Losse

View of the moat from what would have been the drawbridge

Different kinds of arches supporting the new entry bridge

The bamboo maze needed some work but was interesting

Private gardens at Chateau Losse

Looking out from the front door of Chateau Losse at the courtyard and gardens beyond

 

We actually left our tour early as we had a 30 minute drive to the truffle hunt.  We stopped for a quick lunch in St Leon sur Vezere.  We found a deli but he could only make "cooked" sandwiches so we ordered hamburgers and fries to go - they were ready in 10 minutes and were really good.  He was very accommodating.  We ate quickly and then drove to Pechalifour – and the GPS actually worked this time - took us right there.  This was the home of the Truffiere – Edouard Aynaud.  We learned so much about the truffles.  Edouard was an excellent speaker and funny too.

We learned that there are 4 types of truffles:  Tuber Melanosporum – 1000 euros/kg, Tuber Brumale 380 euros/kg, Tuber Aestivum (the summer truffle or white truffle) 150 euros/kg, and Tuber Indicum from China that tastes awful.  They are afraid that the spores from the Chinese truffles will somehow get introduced into France and Italy and change the truffle industry.  Many truffles are sold under false pretenses in the markets so one has to be careful.  This was so much fun.

This was Edouard explaining the difference in truffles to us

Edouard was very expressive - and funny - and he has his little basket in which to put the truffles

Here we are with Edouard and his dog out in the field truffle hunting.

He accused me of "poaching" the night before since I knew many of the answers to his questions!

SUCCESS!!!  The first find . . .

And guess who got to dig it up????  

Tim loved it - and wanted to keep the truffles (there were actually two)!

 

Edouard put the "black gold" in his little basket

A second "find" and the little 10 year old girl in our group got to do the digging. 

The dog wanted to help!

The dogs "waiting for their treats" after each find of the truffles.  Cute!

A bumblebee orchid - the flower looked just like a bumblebee!

What we thought was a third find turned out to be NOT a truffle - Edouard explained this to us.

For dinner Dominique had made reservations for us in Bars - a little town not far from our B&B.  The restaurant was the Restaurant Gourmand.  We were the only ones there for a while.

Tim checking out the Restaurant Gourmand in Bars, Dordogne

 

  We decided on what we would order from the menu but then the owner (also the chef) came out and offered us his "potage" (soup).  I have heard that this is common in some places and to accept it.  It was good.  Then he offered to make us a special meal that we understood most of - white asparagus with salmon and cheese to start and a filet for dinner.  We accepted his offer for the special meal and it was so good - and filling.  When, oh when, will the diet start?  Great strawberry cake and ice cream for dessert.

Back to the B&B and then to bed.  Tomorrow is a VERY busy day according to our schedule.