Wrapping up the Dordogne.... Chateau de Losse, Chateau des Milandes, La Rapiere & Creperie Lou Dotze

Gentle Friends today's Post will wrap up the first part of my trip in the Dordogne and Perigord Noir Regions......  I have two final Chateaux and the last couple of visits to Sarlat........

The first lovely place is called........Chateau de Losse.......

 .... built by Jean II, Marquess of Losse in 1576/7, he built a Renaissance hall within an already exisiting stronghold -  he actually enlarged and updated a much smaller fortified keep.  The house is built on a bluff above the Vezere river and is enclosed by curtain walls and a deep dry moat - it has large gardens on both sides.......  the only access into the Chateau is over the moat and through a fortified gatehouse (the largest of its kind in France)  Over the doorway Jean had engraved....

...which translated......

"Man does as he may

Fortune (Fate) as she will"

... looking into the moat...

 ... the gardens on the outside of the curtain walls..

 ....  looking down the Vezere, a very slow moving river... from the garden terrace...

.... to see the Chateau you had to take the tour, and once again no inside photo's.... so I did a search and I found these on line... this is the Great Salon, on the 1st Floor (2nd) with another great Pise floor, very unusual in such a large room on an upper floor....

..... another photo from the net, this is the great dinning room directly under the Salon, notice the thick rib vaulting holding up that really heavy floor above.....

 .....  this is the river side terrace of the Chateau, the three windows from the tower are the (upper) Salon and (lower) dinning rooms, so when the windows are opened you would get a super breeze....

... another photo I found on line showing the terrace and extensive gardens surrounding the Chateau..

 .....  inside the courtyard looking at the dove coat and gatehouse...

 ... the front of the Chateau .....

 ... part of the gardens....

 

 .....  I went down into the moat and took these snaps....

 ....  I really liked the shadows on the walls and tower....

 .... and so I moved a bit to get the gatehouse in the picture also.....  on to the next Chateau..

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  We next visited our last castle.... Chateau des Milandes, built in the 1489 by Francois de Caumont, owner of Castelnaud.  He had Milandes built for his young wife, who found Castelnaud cold and unwelcoming.  It is a very fine example of Renaissance architecture, with attractive stonework and some super period features.

The Chateau fell into a ruin during the French Revolution and sat quiet through the 19th century eventually being rented by its most famous resident Josephine Baker in 1940 - who bought and then restored the Chateau in 1947.

... the front of the Chateau, with the lovely gardens....

..... the terrace looking down towards the lower garden....

.... on the lower terrace near the "Birds of Prey" show area......

...... near the aviary in the lower gardens..

... I climbed over the low wall and got so the sun was behind the chateau to get this picture, just behind me was a steep drop down towards the valley.  The chateau sits up on a bluff with a great view.....

Falconry was an integral part of life in the Middle-Ages and at Milandes from April through October there are daily shows with the birds of prey..... when we arrived a show was in progress so we caught the last half, and it was fascinating!

... one of the handlers with one of the owls...

..... they flew over the audience and landed very near some of them....

..... there were some that were very big....

...... after the show the birds went into cages.... and I was amazed at how close you can get to them....

.....  it was really great to see a Bald Eagle so close....

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...... for lunch we headed back to Sarlat, and ate at this Michelin starred restaurant...

... the place mats were these maps of the historic sites in the area...... you can see how many things there are to see and do.....

.....  my lunch was this wonderful country pate filled with ..... foie gras..... I was totally loving this meal....

..... that included another regional treat, nut cake made with walnuts.  This is the chocolate version.... tres delicious!!!!!

...... one of my friends loves creme brulee and this one was the best of the trip!!!

... after lunch we walked around the town a bit more..... and....

... stopped in to a "mini-market" of local and regional treats.  It is house in what was once a church named Saint Mary's.....

...... going through my pictures I found one of my room, I was in the restored attic.....

..... for dinner we went here...... and found out that the owner/chef had been trained in Brittany and the gallettes (crepes) he makes are make with the traditional blu noir (buckwheat).  I really fell in love with them last year when we were visiting there and so ordered a "galette Complet"

...... ham, cheese and an egg...... a delicious dinner to wrap things up!!

..... I'm really not a shopper while  on vacation.  I travel to see things and have experiences - and standing around shoping is not on the "list."  However I do pick little things here and there... and these are the things I picked up while in the Dordogne region.....  I got the honey candy at the Market in Sarlat, the three bags (yes, 3 -  these sugared walnuts are that good) I picked up in a grocery store, I picked up two kinds of foie gras also a couple of magnets for the fridge and a couple of bars of patchouli soap - and when I saw this sign I knew it had to come home with me!!! There you go not too much...

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That about does it for the Dordogne....... next up is Paris, so do stop in for the next travel post!!!

Take care,

edgar