Daylight savings time ended in France at 2:00 AM this morning. I neglected to reset my watch and have been an hour off all day. Mom prefers to remind me that I have been a bit off since she first met me.
Today is our last full day in Sarlat, so we will wrap up a few loose ends that we wished to see while here. First is the Gardens of Marqueyssac. The Gardens are associated with a Chateau, but the real attractions are the gardens and their view of the surrounding countryside. The gardens are perched on the top of a several hundred meter high hill alongside the Dordogne River, the major river flowing through the Dordogne Valley. The garden’s walking paths offer great views of the river and a number of magnificent chateaus on nearby hilltops (one of which is our second destination this afternoon.)
During our walk we ran into Richard and Sally from Nottingham England for the second day on a row. They are a delightful couple we met yesterday at Maison Forte de Reignac. We had a nice chat with them there and we continued our chats today as we strolled along the paths at the Gardens of Marqueyssac. It turns out that Richard and I have a lot in common with our work in the IT industry.
Chateau de Castelnaud was our last destination today. The chateau was initially built in the 1200s and after falling into disrepair has been repaired and opened to the public. As with the Gardens of Marqueyssac, in our opinion it’s main claim to fame is its views of the Dordogne River and Valley and the other chateaus in the area. The climbs up the Chateau’s steps were a bit much for Jan, so we limited our visit to the lower areas of the Chateau. Even with this limitation, our visit was thought provoking. In addition to their exhibits of daily life in a chateau of that era, the chateau offered an extensive display of armaments used in the 13th – 16th centuries and videos characterizing the evolution of chateau or castle design as the tools of war evolved over the same time frame.