Judith Schrut sets off on an adults-only adventure exploring the food, drink and other pleasures of Dordogne, France.
Writer Henry Miller famously said, “it must have been a paradise for thousands of years …the Dordogne will live on just as dreams live on and nourish the souls of men.”
My last visit to France’s Dordogne region was exactly 30 years ago and nothing like paradise. It was, instead, a long, harrowing trek from London in a cramped campervan with two grumpy toddlers at the height of summer’s tourist season.
Not keen on being strapped in a hot speeding vehicle for hours at a time, staying in overcrowded campsites and subsisting on cold frites, Tod A used every opportunity to show off her expertise in potty training and parental manipulation. Every 20 minutes or so she would howl from the back of the van, “I need a poo!” My husband would then swerve into the nearest ditch and slam on the brakes. Pots and pans, towels and toddlers flew from front to back of the van, followed by a race to reach the rear chemical toilet in time…at which point Tod A would declare, “Don’t need it any more.”
This time, my visit to the Dordogne was strictly for grown ups. I was invited by the gracious folk at the region’s tourist office on a press trip to sample the delights of the Dordogne: its gardens, gastronomy and gabares, the best of its Beaux Villages, the most charming of its chateaux and the loveliest of its liquid pleasures. Paradise had arrived at last!
Stay tuned for plenty more posts on my adults-only miniseries down rivers, up castles and sur les tables of Dordogne’s yummiest food and drink hotspots.
Judith travelled to Dordogne as a guest of Dordogne Valley Travel and Brive Dordogne Valley Airport.
