Generations Movement Le Club De L’Amitie Daglanaise (Club of friendship)

We have joined a club! This is a club of friendship for the Daglan people to get together to discuss events in the village and to meet people with similar or not so similar interests. Nearly all of the people are French with smattering of other nationalities.

We both had a very good time meeting and getting to know various people who are always very friendly and helpful and who I hope will knock on our door for a coffee or an aperitif or two in the near future.

Here we are on the left of the picture, waiting for the seven course meal to arrive.

 

Menu was as follows:-

Aperitif Maison nuts, crisps and small pizzas

Potage De Feves Et Son Lard Fume soup with smoked bacon

Prefet De Canard terrine of duck with salad

Parmentier de Canard Sur Son Lit De Salad cottage pie with duck and a side salad

Fromages local cheeses

Dessert Du Château chocolate gâteau

Café coffee

Paul loved the meal, I am a vegetarian, and so was a little limited to what I could eat. The chief did say that he would take the pork out of the soup for me! I did have the aperitif and two lots of salad, cheese and two helpings of dessert so I was fine, no problem. The funny thing is that I always get a sympathetic “Oh non!” every time I say that I am a vegetarian.

 

Speeches were made thanking the president and the chief for all of their hard work.

 

Dessert Du Château which had the clubs emblem on the top right hand corner. It was delicious; chocolate is always my favourite, so I had two lots I shall diet on Monday!

 

Some people were presented with a bottle of liquor to celebrate their birthday. This bottle was a liquor made from prunes which was presented to a friend who has reached a certain age. Happy Birthday

His wife and the president of the club also received a bottle of cherry liquor, Happy Birthday; I am so looking forward to my next birthday.

Thank you so much to you all for making us feel very welcome.

 

Event:-

Fête du Printemps – Maisons Fleuries Contest – the Marie has organised a contest this year, for the best house flowers in Daglan and hamlets to be held on the 20th March
Find more details here

Springtime has arrived early this year!

Springtime conjures up for me a romantic period of re-growth when buds appear on the trees, waking up to the sunshine streaming through the windows panes, delicious scents of coffee and croissants, lovely days spent walking down the many lanes around Daglan towards the river in gorgeous sunshine and of course dinning outside on our veranda.

We had winter snow in November, just a day or two and a few weeks of frost, fog and the gorgeous mist that tumbles over the Dordogne River. Rain has been the most prominent feature, but the extreme cold has not arrived, well not yet.

The normally tranquil River C’eou,

All of the rivers in the area are swollen to capacity producing rapids and waterfalls.

These friendly horses are from one of the stables we passed on our favourite walk around Daglan last week.

Another stable near to the river, quite a few of the trees are budding early this year.

Daffodils are in bloom in early February!

Events

Not to be missed:-

The Chocolate Festival in Sarlat on the 27th and 28th of February from ten o’clock to six o’clock, featuring master choclatiers of the Perigord, I might need to go on both of these dates!

 

Carnival of Pétassou

First we heard the loud music in the quiet streets of Daglan followed by a tractor with a scarecrow type figure attached to the tailor at the back

A Medieval custom which is still carried out throughout France.

Then came the children from the local Primary school in costumes and masks.

Brilliant animal costumes of cats, pigs and I think a wolf or two.

This was the carnival of the wicked Pétassou who is the object of a thousand evils from theft to the explotation of shale gas! The procession moves up and down the main street until it arrives at the commune space outside the Salle des fetes (community hall). Where all of the children dance around the scarecrow, his judgement is recited and then the evil Pétassou is burned.

Scary masks and head adornment, terrific.

One winner for the best costume is picked, then the children gather around for snack’s which were prepared by parents of the children.

A few of the children were in full costume, like the little boy on the left.

It was a terrific sight to brighten up a cold and wet morning in Daglan.

Hidden Gem Château de Fayrac

Beynac is having major road and pavement constructions which will not be completed until next winter. However, the road will be open as normal from spring to autumn for the tourist season.

We wanted to go to St Cyprien which unfortunately is to be found at the other side of Beynac, so a new route was in order. We have already followed the diversion signs that take you around Beynac to avoid the roadworks but this new route, told to us by friends in the village, did sound promising for the lovely vistas. So off we set on a rather cloudy morning.

From the bridge at Castlenaud take the D53 leading to Les Milandes so you will have the river on the right hand side and a stone cliff face on the left.

Bridge over troubled waters

The trees looked like they were slowly descending into the swollen river Dordogne.

Continue and you will pass Château de Fayrac on your left.

Château de Fayrac, how awesome is that!

Unfortunately the Château is not opened to the public, but is still magnificent on the outside and is worth a look.

In the 14th century, the Château belonged to the Lords of Castlenaud to serve as a lookout post during the Hundred Years War between the French and the English. In the 18th C during the French Revolution, it was seized has a National Property and sold to the composer Fernard Fouant of Tombelle who restored the Château to its former glory.
Like Beynac, Castlenaud, Milandes and Marqueyssac, it is part of the tourist complex called the “Valley of the five Castles”, which I hope will open to the public at a future date.

If you want to go on to St Cyprien follow the D53 until the junction where the road bears left to Les Milandes, do not turn here but head straight on to take you through two lovely villages of Envaux and Allas les Mines and over a narrow, single track bridge to a wonderful vista taking in fields, hamlets and forested hills and on to Les Cauffours at the D703 between Beynac and St Cyprien.

The bustling market at St Cyprien

On our return journey the sun was shining so we had to stop and take this picture of Beynac, still magical in winter with the houses clinging to the rock face.