Sarlat-la-Canéda: an insider’s guide

PUBLISHED: 09:42 30 June 2017 | UPDATED: 17:33 10 July 2017

by Peter Stewart for Living France

Sarlat-la-Canéda is one of Dordogne’s most popular destinations (Credit: Jonathan Barbot)

Sarlat-la-Canéda is a Dordogne favourite, where visitors never fail to be captivated by the town’s fine medieval architecture and gastronomic delights. Here’s our insider’s guide to the main attractions, restaurants and hotels and buying property in Sarlat-la-Canéda

 Sarlat-la-Canéda is unsurprisingly one of the most popular towns in Dordogne. Located just a few kilometres from the River Dordogne in south-west France, the town has retained much of its 14th-century charm and its medieval architecture is still a main pull for its thousands of yearly visitors. A popular base for exploring the Vèzére valley, you could easily spend all of your time discovering Sarlat’s quaint medieval buildings, twisting alleyways and picture-postcard squares.

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Sarlat-la-Canéda has lots of impressive manor houses (Credit: Dan Courtice)

What to see and do in Sarlat-la-Canéda

Originally an abbey church dating from the 11th century, the Cathédrale St-Sacerdos is a mixture of Romanesque and Gothic styles. The organ in the church is said to be one of the best preserved from the 18th century. Pop inside to hear it being played as part of a special concert or simply soak up the peace and quiet away from Sarlat’s busy squares. Nearby you can spot the a rocket-like structure called ‘lanterne des morts’, a 12th-century stone monument that is said to honour Saint Bernard, who is believed to have cured the sick by blessing their bread.

House-hunters to Sarlat should stroll along Rue des Consuls, which has a number of impressive mansion houses that are testament to Sarlat’s growth during the Middle Ages. From being a small community controlled by the church, it had, by the mid-1500s, evolved into a prosperous market town popular with wealthy merchants. Further on you’ll see elegant buildings including the 16th-century Hôtel de Mirandol with its imposing doorway; the 14th-century Hôtel Plamon with its mullion windows; and the 15th-century Hôtel de Vassal with its double turret.

You can’t go to Sarlat-la-Canéda and miss the buzzing Saturday food market in the city centre. You might have to jostle for space among the crowds of eagle-eyed locals but it’s well worth it. Trestle tables are laden with farmers’ produce: fleshy red tomatoes, brightly coloured carrots, farm-fresh plums and twisted cucumbers sit alongside seemingly bottomless boxes of garlic, truffles, and trays of foie gras.

 Another market well worth a visit is the indoor market at Église Sainte-Marie. Enter through the gigantic steel doors, and you’ll see stalls piled high with everything from spicy saucisson to local St-Nectaire cheese. Don’t forget to look out for the church’s main attraction; a glass lift that rises up through bell tower to reveal breathtaking views over the rooftops of Sarlat and beyond.

Place des Oies is where you can see the life-size bronze statue of three geese that seems to appear on every postcard of Sarlat; birds that have served as a delicacy for many Salardais over the centuries. Meanwhile, on Place de la Liberté, many visitors might experience a feeling of déjà vu, as this iconic square has often served as a backdrop for films.

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The Queen Mother’s Favourite Fruit Cake

For the cake:

• 225g dried dates chopped
• 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 50g dried walnuts, roughly chopped
• 275g plain flour
• 225g caster sugar
• 1 large egg, beaten
• 75g butter

For the icing:

• 5 tablespoons brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons cream
• 2 tablespoons butter

Grease and line a 23cm x 30cm tin.  Heat oven to 180ºF.

To make the cake:

Put the chopped dates in a bowl and pour over a breakfast cup of boiling water. Add the bicarbonate of soda and stir in. Set aside. Cream the butter with the sugar in another bowl. Beat in the egg and vanilla. Sieve together the flour, baking powder and salt. Add to the butter, sugar and egg mix, then the dates and incorporate well. Scrape the batter into the baking pan and spread it right to the edges. Bake the cake in the centre of the oven for 35 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean. To make the topping: In a small heavy saucepan, melt the butter, brown sugar and cream over a low heat. Bring the mixture to the boil and boil gently for 3 minutes, stirring all the time. Pour over warm cake. When cool, store in an airtight tin.

Credit/Source:  Julia Watson, The Bugle

 

Festive traditions in France & Christmas Vocab List

• L’Avent – Advent
• Un ange – angel
• Une chandelle – candle
• Une carte de Noël – Christmas card
• Un chant de Noël – Christmas carol
• Le jour de Noël – Christmas Day
• Le réveillon de Noël – Christmas Eve dinner
• La veille de Noël – Christmas Eve
• La fête de Noël – Christmas party
• Un cadeau de Noël – Christmas present
• L’arbre/Le sapin de Noël – Christmas tree
• Le père Noël – Father Christmas
• Un santon – figurine in a Nativity
• Un jeu – game
• Un jouet – toy
• La crèche – manger
• Joyeux Noël! Merry Christmas!
• La Messe de minuit – midnight Mass
• Le gui – mistletoe
• Le jour de l’An – New Year’s Day
• La Saint-Sylvestre – New Year’s Eve
• Le réveillon du Nouvel An – New Year’s Eve dinner
• Un cadeau – present
• Un renne – reindeer
• Un ruban – ribbon
• Un traîneau – sleigh
• La neige – snow
• Une boule de neige – snowball
• Un bonhomme de neige – snowman
• Une peluche – stuffed animal
• Noël sous la neige – white Christmas

French children traditionally leave their shoes in front of the fireplace on la veille de Noël (Christmas Eve) before they go to bed. Père Noël (Father Christmas) visits them while they sleep and if they have been good leaves presents in and around the shoes. In northern and eastern France, there is a parallel tradition which celebrates Saint Nicolas on December 6th. Adults traditionally wait until le jour de l’ An (New Year’s Day) to exchange gifts, although, increasingly, families are exchanging gifts on Christmas Day.

Festive traditions An important aspect of Christmas in France is the Nativité (Nativity) with its crèche (manger) and santons (figurines). The latter are often hand-made and passed down through the generations. Mistletoe is hung above the door and is considered to bring for good fortune. Note that it does not have the ‘kissing’ connotations of other countries! The sapin de Noël (Christmas tree) is not as important in France as, for example, in the UK, but it does still form part of the Christmas celebrations. Christmas trees are decorated a few days before Christmas and Père Noël will often leave sweets and treats on its branches in addition to the present in the children’s shoes. Unique to Lyon is the Fête des Lumières (Festival of Lights), where every house in the city will place a candle in their windows, producing a spectacular effect. The celebration usually lasts four days, culminating on 8th December.

Le réveillon de Noël The most important Christmas event in France is la Messe de minuit (midnight Mass) followed by the eating of a meal known as the réveillon de Noël (from the verb réveiller, to ‘wake up’ or ‘revive’). Although fewer and fewer French attend midnight Mass, it is still an important part of Christmas for many families. The ré- veillon represents a symbolic awakening to the meaning of Christ’s birth and is one of the most important meals of the year. Traditionally the réveillon is a family affair and the meal is eaten immediately after midnight Mass at home or in a restaurant. The meal varies from region to region, but typically will involve seafood, followed by a cooked bird and the traditional bûche de Noël (Yule log). This cake is made from chocolate and chestnuts and represents the log burned from Christmas Eve until Epiphany in parts of France. The log-burning is itself based on an ancient pagan Gaul tradition of burning a log for the duration of the winter solstice. La Saint-Sylvestre – 1st January French New Year is celebrated with a feast called the réveillon de Saint-Sylvestre.

On New Year’s Day friends and family exchange good wishes and sometimes gifts. The president also uses Saint-Sylvestre to make his annual address to the nation. L’Épiphanie – 6th January The final celebration of the festive season in France is Épiphanie (Epiphany) on 6th January. The tradition on this day revolves around the eating of a special cake known as the galette des Rois (literally ‘cake of the kings’). A small figurine or fève is placed inside the cake. The cake is cut into pieces and distributed by a child, known as le petit roi, or l’enfant soleil. Whoever receives the piece of the cake with the gift inside is declared King or Queen for the day and gets to choose a partner.

en Français

Ala veille de Noël, les petits enfants français laissent traditionnellement leurs chaussures devant la cheminée avant d’aller au lit. Le Père Noël leur rend visite pendant qu’ils dorment et s’ils ont été sages, il laisse des cadeaux dans leurs chaussures. Dans le nord et l’est de la France, il existe une tradition similaire : c’est la célébration de Saint-Nicolas le 6 décembre. Traditionnellement les adultes attendent le jour de l’An pour échanger les cadeaux, bien que les familles le fassent de plus en plus le jour de Noël.

Traditions festives En France, la Nativité est un moment important de Noël avec sa crèche et ses santons souvent faits main et transmis d’une génération à l’autre. Le gui est suspendu au-dessus de la porte afin de porter chance mais sans la tradition du baiser des autres pays! Décoré quelques jours avant Noël, le sapin tient une part importante dans les célébrations mais moins cependant que dans d’autres pays tels que le Royaume Uni. Le Père Noël laisse souvent des friandises sur les branches lorsqu’il dépose les cadeaux dans les chaussures. Célébrée uniquement à Lyon, la Fête des Lumières se tient sur 4 jours, le moment phare prenant place le 8 décembre. Les habitants dé- posent une bougie sur le rebord de leurs fenê- tres, ce qui produit un effet spectaculaire.

Le réveillon de Noël Pour les Français, la messe de minuit suivie d’un dîner appelé «le réveillon de Noël» (du verbe «réveiller») est le moment le plus important de la célébration de Noël. Bien qu’en nombre décroissant, de nombreuses familles se rendent toujours à la messe. Le réveillon permet de revivre symboliquement la naissance de Jésus et c’est l’un des repas primordiaux de l’année. Le réveillon se passe généralement en famille et le repas est consommé juste après la messe de minuit, à la maison ou au restaurant. S’il varie d’une région à l’autre, le menu typique se compose de fruits de mer, d’une volaille rôtie et de la traditionnelle bûche de Noël. A base de chocolat et de noix, le gâteau symbolise une bûche qui se consume de Noël à l’Épiphanie dans certaines régions de France. C’est l’héritage de rites païens qui consistaient à faire brûler une bûche pendant le solstice d’hiver pour garantir une bonne récole. La Saint-Sylvestre – 1er janvier La nouvelle année est fêtée lors du réveillon de la Saint-Sylvestre.

Le jour de l’An, familles et amis s’échangent leurs meilleurs vœux et s’offrent parfois des cadeaux. Le président choisit ce jour pour adresser son discours annuel à la nation. L’ Épiphanie – 6 janvier La saison festive se conclut le 6 janvier, lors de la célébration de l’Épiphanie. Les familles et amis se partagent alors une galette des rois. Une fève y est dissimulée et un enfant désigné comme «le petit roi» ou «l’enfant soleil» distribue les parts. Celui qui trouve la fève devient le roi ou la reine d’un jour et doit choisir un partenaire de sexe opposé.

Credit/Source: Sophie Arsac for The Bugle

Saturday Market in Sarlat

Sarlat’s population is approximately 10,000 but in summer jumps to around 100,000.  It’s late May and today, I saw two tour buses, strategically parked for attending the weekly Saturday morning market: the main street through town becomes an avenue of vendors, as well as throughout the historic center and its side streets – a true medieval maze of sights, smells, and flavors!

Regional specialties are walnuts, foie gras, strawberries, confit de canard, and a cheese made from goat’s milk, called “cabecou.”

Walnuts

Couronne de fleurs

Nutcrackers

Paella

Incense

Incense

Food screens & dream catchers

Place de la Liberte (main square)

Rue de la Republique

Confit de canard

May the ‘Feve’ Be With You!

(My French husband’s slice of this year’s King’s Cake hid a special feve/charm – see photo after recipe)

Epiphany:  The Christian holiday when a special cake eaten on or around January 6, called the ‘galette des Rois,’ is well know in France and celebrates the arrival of the three kings in the Bethlehem stable.

There are three different styles of the cake dependent on the area in France. In the north, puff pastry and almond filling; the south’s ‘gâteau des Rois’ is a circular brioche decorated with candied fruit, and western France has a sweetened shortcrust, rather than puff pastry. Both galette and gâteau are widely available – and even variants with chocolate, apple purée and nuts. All come with a cardboard crown and a “fève”, which traditionally used to be a bean before trinkets were introduced, often in the form of a baby Jesus, but today, it is just as likely to be a blue plastic “Schtroumpf” (Smurf). The cake is eaten with friends, family and colleagues, and the person who finds the fève is crowned king or queen for the day (a crown is sold with the cake).

Personal Note: A dried bean can be used in place of a figurine for the fève for a DIY version. In order to make sure the cake is served randomly, the French tradition is for the youngest member of the family to sit under the table (or simply close their eyes) and call out the name of the person to be served the next slice of the cut cake. Everyone tries to guess who got the feve and they are declared king or queen.

Ingredients: (Can serve 12 people)

1/2 cup ground almonds
1 stick butter
3 eggs
1/4 cup of sugar
2 sheets puff pastry
powdered sugar

Directions: 

Grind almonds in food processor

For the Frangipane filling:

Beat sugar and butter
add two (2) of the eggs and almonds.

Next:

– Butter a flat baking sheet and unfold thawed puff pastries and using a pie pan as a template cut into two circles
– Spread the Frangipane filing in the center of one pastry layer and place a dried fava bean or ceramic figure
– Using the last egg, beat and paint the edges of the dough
– Place the second pastry circle on top and seal the edges
– Brush top with egg.
– Bake for 25-30 min at 375oF

Being City Smart & Staying Safe

French former policeman turns to animation to warn tourists of crime

Safety Scouts Advice is a series of free clips designed by Christophe Gadenne that advises on how to avoid scams in Paris and other European cities

French gendarmes patrol Gare de Lyon train station in Paris. Photograph: Jacques Brinon/AP

Former Paris police officer Christophe Gadenne knows all the tricks of the thieving trade. Five years of hearing distraught tourists describe how pickpockets and scammers have ruined their holidays in the French capital made him determined to do something above and beyond the call of official duty.

Today, four years after leaving the police force, Gadenne, 35, has produced a series of free, short, animated video clips advising holidaymakers how to avoid being robbed and ripped off. The Safety Scouts Advice series covers most of the scams that tourists face when they arrive in Paris.

You are sitting on a sunny cafe terrace enjoying a drink when someone slaps a petition on the table and asks you to sign it. You smile politely and shake your head and they disappear … along with your phone or purse. Or a complete stranger come up and hugs you while rifling through your pockets, or insists you accept a “gold” ring they have supposedly picked up from the floor. Or maybe the taxi has taken you way out of your way en route from the airport to your hotel and is demanding an extortionate fare.

WATCH VIDEOS HERE

The videos, most of them less than a minute long, are produced by Gadenne with the help of English-speaking friends, and have been translated or subtitled into other languages, including Chinese, Korean and Romanian. They were originally made for visitors to Paris, hence the Eiffel tower in the landscape, but have since branched out to common crimes in other capitals.

“When I was a police officer, I dealt with literally thousands of victims of aggressions and crimes like this,” Gadenne told the Guardian. “I have seen how these scams can totally ruin a holiday. I’ve had a family with little children in tears in front of me crying because they have been robbed and aggressed. Some tourists are completely traumatised. Nobody can be indifferent to this when they see how it affects the victims.

Most of the scenarios presented in Safety Scouts Advice seem clever but obvious, but Garenne says tourists often need a little “crime vaccine” before travelling. “Most scams are surprisingly simple and relatively easy to avoid,” he says. “It’s not about making people paranoid, but giving them a little short, simple inoculation of potentially useful information that can be stored away in the back of their mind but brought out if they are confronted with one of these scams.”

Credit/Source:  The Guardian

French Riviera Travel Savings

To help tourists diversify their holidays, and experience as much of the French Riviera as possible, the Comité Régional  du Tourisme Riviera Côte d’Azur has launched a new pass called the Côte d’Azur Card: a prepaid electronic passport that provides access to over 110 activities in the region- from the coast to the mountains – museums, nature parks, water sports activities, excursions, and tours. There’s something for everyone and every interest, so check it out!

Priced at €39 for a three-day adult pass, the Côte d’Azur Card is also a great value. According to the Côte d’Azur Tourism Office, an adult pass has the cash value of nearly €1,000, and a child pass corresponds to a cash value of nearly €560. The card can be purchased online or at local tourist offices.

Source/credit:  France Today

A 1680 -1780 Costume “Bal des Favorites”

Le Bal:

Held in the Hotel de France (l’ancien hôtel de Jean Baptiste Colbert, Marquis de Saint Pouange et de Villacerf) in their “Galerie des Glaces” reception room, the period costume ball began with each person/couple’s entrance into the ballroom being announced by an “aboyeur,” then walking under an archway of swords into the room.

The music playing was period music by Lully for the evening’s festivities, accompanied by a dance instructor giving verbal instructions on how to do the various period dances, including the farandole. We even did the line dance “Madison” (equivalent to the Electric Slide) to period music, but with more graceful foot movements, of course.  There were period dance demonstrations and a sword fight presentation to entertain the 100 or so attendees (age range was 20’s to 70’s).

It truly felt like a Cinderella moment, as I was transported back in time and history – via dress, manners, dance, and etiquette – I didn’t want the evening to ever end.  Starting at midnight, the music changed to modern (Prince, Marvin Gaye, Robin Thicke), and it was fun, but somewhat strange, to dance in costume to rock/techno beats – and of course, Cinderella had to eventually leave the ball.

The following day, about 28 of the attendees (all in costume) visited the Conciergerie, then walked by the Louvre pyramid on our way to have lunch. Walking through Paris in costume was also a wonderful experience, as passersby and drivers looked and commented. This time, I felt like a star being ‘chased’ by paparazzi, as 15-20 photo takers at a time clicked away when we posed as a group every 5 minutes. Everywhere we went, people had a big smile as we approached, some commenting and/or asking questions, and of course, also posing with us for photos.

(3 dance videos & 1 sword fight video)

(Costume photo gallery to follow in a separate post)

Riviera earns its reputation as a global destination

Provence & Côte d’Azur: Tourism in the Riviera represents one per cent of all global tourism

It has been yet another excellent year for tourism on the Côte d’Azur with upwards of 11 million visitors to its shores. Putting a global spin on the figures is the fact that the region has claimed one per cent of all international tourism worldwide and almost 10 per cent of France’s total number of visitors.

Foreigners made up half of the vacationing population, with Italians (19 per cent), the British and Irish (18 per cent), Americans (eight per cent), Scandinavians (seven per cent) and Russians (six per cent) dominating hotels and holiday establishments.

Over half of all tourists travelled to the Riviera by car and 27 per cent arrived in its airports. This latter statistic has cemented the Nice Côte d’Azur Airport’s status as France’s second airline travel hub and Europe’s third business aviation point of call.

Proving that it has earned its place among favourite international destinations, almost three quarters of visitors had already stayed in the Riviera before and more than nine out of 10 said that they were “very satisfied” with their holiday in the south of France.

Spending by tourists topped the five billion euro mark in 2013. Over 60 per cent of all spending was done by foreigners – the equivalent of 90 euros per day – while business clients demonstrated their spending power with an average daily outgoing of 163 euros.

In 2013, tourism provided an estimated 75,000 jobs, of which just 17.5 per cent were seasonal positions. The industry is the region’s leading sector and represents 16 per cent of total employment.

Source/Credit: Elsa Carpenter for The Riviera Times Online

Nice is nice & Dublin is doublin’ nice!

In leaving the Indian summer temperatures in Nice for Dublin, I was expecting to land in cold, very rainy weather – not so, as it was abnormally warm with only two days of intermittent drizzle – maybe it was the exemplary “luck of the Irish” at hand!

I was attending my first travel bloggers conference, Travel Bloggers Exchange (TBEX), and didn’t really know what to expect – other than morning and afternoon workshops and, of course, evenings featuring tasting the famously, iconic Guinness and Irish Whiskey!

I was stunned by the beauty of the city, the friendliness of everyone I met, and the professional and organized conference: everything ran as smooth as silk, with transitions affected like a ballet: keynote speeches, workshops, hospitality and up-to-date technology & information.  The evening events were equally top notch and  a great venue for meeting people and networking, not to mention enjoying the variety of entertainment and music.

May the road rise to meet you, as well, in Dublin!

TBEX photos:

coffee break

Lunch buffet

Wine stock

Apple & cinnamon crunch

Candy

more candy

conference lobby

Doubletree Hotel signature cookie

Hotel B Bar

Keeping up to date

Dublin photos:

Georgian Townhouses

Tour bus

Christ Church Cathedral

Sean O’Casey foot bridge

Street crossing reminder

Pub lunch invitation

Temple Bar pub

Guinness sign

Window shopping

Mosaic

Horsedrawn carriage

Charming publicity