Beynac Reboot

 If At First You Don't Succeed...

If you read the last post you'll remember our episode of Obstinate Optimism in attempting to summit, by car, the mount upon which Beynac Castle resides and the quasi-tragic outcome of our attempt.  Well, cinching up our sneakers, we set off the next morning to scale the heights on foot.  Basically here is how you have to ascend.  Begin with a moderately steep, cobbled street rising about 300 vertical ft. from the road at the base.  Turn left and then up several "flights" of rock semi-steps of uneven levels for about another 200 vertical feet.  Turn right to a very narrow, slippery stretch of randomly strewn rocks for another 100-200 feet arriving at a smattering of tourist shops, ice cream shops and coffee shops lining yet another inclined cobblestone street.  There are no handrails anywhere because those are for sissies.  Turning one last uphill corner you see the entrance to the castle.  And directly across from the entrance you see.... the parking lot. Yes, you COULD drive to the very top of this cursed hill. If you knew how... which we didn't.  Oh, well. 

Worth The Effort... Well, pretty much

We have seen our share of castles but this one is something special.  The pictures will show how impressive the outside is in terms of sheer size and height.  You can see Beynac from miles in any direction.  It is positioned directly above the Dordogne River and its arch rival, Castlenaud, sits slightly down river on the opposite side, Beynac was English while Castlenaud was French.  Oh, how they hated each other.  I mean you have to hate each other to stage a Hundred Year War.  A serious grudge.  We will not be covering Castlenaud in depth because it has been turned into a tawdry tourist attraction (think "dress up like an ancient knight") and besides that we simple could not climb up another damn mountain to see another damn castle.  Back to Beynac.  The defenses devised as the castle was built were intricate and many.  I felt is was a bit over the top because all those knights ladened with all that armor surely would have died just trying to scale the heights to reach the drawbridge but the English are known for being fastidious.  While the entire tour of the Castle was interesting, the best part was seeing where Richard the Lionhearted laid his head to sleep after a long day of fighting, guzzling ale and wenching.  The kitchen was also nifty.  Michael will provide exhaustive photos so you will never feel the compulsion to have to ascend to the Castle to personally experience it.

Shooting from below, it is impossible to get the full impact of the Beynac Castle...

although in these photos you can see the birds...

are actually flying below the castle.

This photo from Chateau Marqueysac gives one a much better perspective.

The parking lot was on the other side, where you see the car.

A portion of the cobblestone path we hiked up to the Castle.

I am not sure if I would be comfortable standing in a wooden structure hanging off the wall with a very significant drop to solid ground.

A side view of a section of the castle.

The Chapel altar in the Castle...

as opposed to the Church located on the Castle grounds.

A view of the Dordogne river & countryside from the top of the Castle.

Here are two of the tapestries adorning the walls of the Castle.

You can see that these stairs have had some wear over the years.

This was the bed & bedroom of Richard the Lionhearted in Beynac Castle.

Two views of the Castle kitchen.

Another view of the Dordogne River & countryside from the Castle.

And Now An Amazing Story - The Story of Josephine Baker

I will give you the short form -- which actually isn't that short.  For more in-depth information you can watch The Josephine Baker Story which is, I think currently, on Netflix.  After Beynac, for a change of pace, we visited Chateau Milandes -- the home of Josephine Baker for many years.  The Chateau itself is beautiful.  It is so easy to pick out the chateaus or manses that were built by women.  Less angular, more cozy, generally on a smaller scale.  Chateau Milandes was ordered constructed by the wife of the nobleman who commanded Castlenaud because she was sick and tired of being in a cold, drafty, immense fortress.  I mean, who could blame her.  Years and years pass and the chateau is passed along or appropriated by various folk who let it decline. There were the Religious Wars which pitted Catholics against Protestants and the inhabitant of Milandes always seemed to be on the wrong side and ended up being murdered in various ways.  There was a lot of turnover.

So, Josephine Baker visits Milandes with a friend who owns it and she falls in love with it.  The owner sells it to her and she lives there for many years.  But I am getting ahead of myself.  Josephine Baker was a black woman born in 1906 into extreme poverty in Saint Louis, Missouri.  At 8 years old, until she was 10, she left school to help support her family.  By her mid teens she was dancing in revues and by the early 20s she was in New York where she spent several years dancing and in various revues.  She left New York for Paris in the mid 20s and took the town by storm.  Many black actors, writers and performers found France much less prejudiced and they were not subjected to the rigid segregation that plagued the States.  Baker performed in many dance halls and revues with the most famous being the Follies Bergere.  She stunned audiences when she appeared on stage wearing a G String with bananas hanging from it in profusion.  She was also part of the Revue Negre in which she introduced the Danse Sauvage -- once again a big hit.  Many of her outfits are on view at the Chateau.

The 20s become the 30s and we all know that the 30s did not end well.  Josephine, who by then is an international sensation, becomes involved with both the Red Cross and the French Resistance as Europe is engulfed in war.  She arranges a series of tours across Africa and Europe and she is accompanied by a top resistance officer who is posing as her agent (or something like that).  At each stop, while entertaining an audience, they are gathering intelligence for use by the Allies.  After the war, Josephine was awarded several of the highest military honors awarded by the French.

The war ends and Josephine really concentrates on fixing up Chateau Milandes while continuing to perform until 1956.  In 1950 she begins to adopt children from all around the world to try to demonstrate the power of brotherhood.  She calls them her "Rainbow Tribe" and they all come to live at Chateau Milandes. Perhaps this is where Angelina Jolie got the idea?  She insists the adopted children be integrated with the local children and ensures that all her children, and the town children, get the very best educations.  She is a terrible financial manager however and by the end of the 50s she needs to re-enter show business to support the Chateau, the children and herself.  During the 60s Josephine also made several tours in the U.S. and participated in Civil Rights Marches and Demonstrations.  She was a busy, if financially inept, girl.

And she never mastered that financial thing.  Ultimately she couldn't meet here obligations and the Chateau was foreclosed upon.  Josephine barricaded herself in the house and refused to leave.  One day, when she had to leave to get groceries they locked the house so she could not return.  The next morning she was found asleep leaning against the kitchen door.  Enter Princess Grace of Monaco.  They were buddies and Princess Grace was not going to put up with this so she whisked Josephine away and provided her with lodging and succor in Monaco.  Her children were grown, well educated and are now scattered around the world.  Josephine died in Paris in 1975.  This place and the story of Josephine Baker was one of the best days of our trip.  Rarely have we been on a trip that encompassed such a variety of historical events, personalities and geological oddities.  But more on all of those later.

Unfortunately no photographs were allowed in the Chateau. However the garden and the wild avian show made up for the lack of photos in the Chateau.

Once again the clipped, sculpted hedges reminiscent of the other French gardens was in evidence here as well.

The Chateau even had its own Church on the property.

The rounded towers was one of the most prominent features of the Chateua...

acting as bookends on either end of the Chateau.

Before touring the lower garden, we stopped to admire the raptors in the aviary.

This owl was in very much of a Zen mode.

Looking back toward the Chateau from the lower garden.

These stairstep pools led down one hill of the garden...

and up the other side of the hill...

This infinity pool was between the stairstep pools.

Looking to the back of the garden from the infinity reflecting pool.

The avian raptor show was a highlight of the visit to the Chateau, with a bald eagle...

these pictures of a great horned owl in flight...

and finally this cute pygmy owl resting on the rail. Looking at the talons, one can understand why the handlers wear very thick leather gloves.

One More Thing

I've got to squeeze one more thing into this blog or we'll end up with a zillion blog posts just from this trip.  Market Day is Wednesday in Sarlat.  Actually Saturday is the BIG market but we thought Wednesday was about all we could handle.  Sarlat is a beautiful town on any day but on Market Day it is truly vibrant. We spent the morning strolling the market buying more things than we ever should have and settled down for lunch in a Square away from the cacophony of the market.  While sipping wine, we listened to a cellist who had set up in the middle of the Square.  After a few minutes he was joined by a violinist.  A while later by a guitarist.  The music was marvelous but the ambiance of the square completed the picture.  Michael has pictures which try to capture those moments in time.  But still photos can't capture a toddler "dancing" to the music before making herself comfortable in the nest of the cellist's instrument case.  So, until next time my friends.

Market Day in Sarlat is a crowded affair with many vendors selling their wares.

As Deirdre mentioned, a highlight & delight was encountering this cello player in a quiet square away from the hustle, bustle & noise of Market Day.

 

We were also entertained by the young girl who decided to rest in the cello case...

and contemplate all those Euros which had accumulated.

Two women showed up with their instruments, and first the violinist joined in with the cellist...

and finally the guitarist joined in as well.

We'll be heading out to discover some of the amazing geologic treasures of the Dordogne in the next blog so hang in there.

A Deep Dive in the Dordogne

 First, A Little Background

The Dordogne is both an area and a river.  France is highly confusing in that there are regions, departments, communes and several other divisions I forget.  So  the Dordogne is in the region of Nouvelle Aquitaine, the area Dordogne is a department (#24) and the department is divided into 4 sub departments eventually ending up in communes.  However, if that is not complicated enough, people (but not the government) refer to the area as either Dordogne or the Perigord depending on their mood or time of day. Yes, of course, the Perigord is itself divided into four sections (White, Black, Purple and Green) associated with each area's particular virtue.  The Black area for its truffles and forests, Purple for its wine, Green for its rolling meadows and White for the chalk and white stone unique to the area.  The  Dordogne River is one of the prettiest I have ever seen (photos will follow at some point) and runs willy-nilly through all four areas (I'm pretty sure).  OK.  Enough geography.  On to the stuff you actually read our blog for --scenic beauty and our miscalculations and near disasters while traveling.

First the Beauty Part

After settling in, we headed to Eyrignac Gardens.  As noted, Dordogne was in full blown spring and I anticipated the gardens being awash with flowering plants of infinite variety. No.  Well, some flowers.  But, at least in this part of France, gardeners are heavily into topiary.  This requires huge amounts of precision clipping for many months of the year.  Most choose to do it by hand -- which means a LOT of hands are employed doing this.  In the case of these gardens it takes 20,000 hours annually to keep things tidy.  After almost two weeks of pretty heavy duty moving around it was a relaxing break to just amble through the gardens with no plan or direction.  And then, it was time to get back into the action.

The view of the gardens from the terrace where we ate lunch. The gardens cover 10 hectares (24 acres).

The Alée des Charmes is 100 meters long and consists of hornbeams & yews between the hornbeams.  The hornbeams must be pruned by hand every month between May & September. The yews only require pruning twice a year.

The main detail of the garden is the topiary, but there are also broad lawns.

This is the terrace where we enjoyed a delicious lunch while looking over the gardens.

The Pavilion of Rest, which dates from Louis XV, as seen though the arch of greenery.

The large pond was called the "mirror" and was originally used as a fish hatchery.

As can be seen from this photo & the following photos, topiary is one of the outstanding features of this garden and not flowers.

Another feature of the gardens were the sculptures. If you look closely you will see the sculpture is largely made of old keys.

A guest cottage with a slate roof. The slate on the roofs could weigh as much as 700 kilograms per square meter.

There were a few flowers in the garden, but they were not as prominent as the sculpted hedges.

A view of the Alée des Charmes from the opposite end.

Two view of the manor house, which dates from the 17th century...

and is known as Artaban Manor. An ancestor wrote a monologue entitled "Fier comme Artaban", which can be translated in English as "Proud as a Peacock".

This photo of a photo gives the best perspective view of most of the gardens and a portion of the manor house.

More sculptures in the gardens, all made from old keys.

A side view of the manor house with Deirdre exiting the pedestrian gate.

A Case of Obstinate Optimism

We have finally given ourselves a diagnosis for what causes us to repeatedly get ourselves into unfortunate, and occasionally terrifying travel situations. Yes, the ailment is Obstinate Optimism.  A condition typified by fastening onto a belief which you or authorities have proposed and, even after sensing that it is sheer lunacy, you are incapable of changing direction because you are sure "it will all work out".  Our latest flair up of the condition occurred in Beynac.

Beynac is an amazing castle set high (very, very steeply high) above the Dordogne River.  We set out to visit it but had little interest in scaling its heights via several (at least) hundred steps.  Reading an article I excitedly told Michael: "Listen to this.  If we just go past the last parking lot and follow the signs to the Castle, the road will take us all the way to the top.  Hurrah!"  So, we did that.  And yes, there was a road after the parking lot.  And yes, it did have signs to the castle.  But it was a little road. (OK, here we start to display the telltale symptoms.)  "Well, I don't know.  This doesn't look right," one says. "But look, there are cars in garages, it will be be OK."  

We reach a crest and can no longer ascend.  Rather than turn around or back down, we descend via an even smaller route.  Mistake #2.  We now encounter a hair pin turn of such an acute angle that nothing but perhaps a Smart Car could negotiate it.  "I think we can make it." (Mistake/ Delusion #3).  At the hairpin is a stone wall on which are perched many people resting after their arduous climb halfway to the Castle. Michael performs multiple maneuvers to clear the turn with no success.  Two young Frenchmen jump from the wall to provide guidance.  Each attempt is greeted by groans or sharp intakes of breath by the observers on the wall.  

The reverse gear doesn't hold and Michael hits the wall (but not THAT hard).  "Sacre Bleu!  Mon Dieu! the crowd emotes.  At times the car is on three wheels -- once two.  Finally, our guides manage to direct Michael to get the car backed up to where we can turn around and retrace our steps up the tiny road to the somewhat less tiny road.  The hill is so steep I must exit the car to lighten the load (ahem!). After three attempts, and much burning rubber, Michael gets the car to the crest of the hill.  Cheers erupt from the onlookers.  I hug our two French saviors (who said the French are difficult?) and then confront and conquer the hill on foot.  We decide we will not do Beynac that day.  "Well, that wasn't as bad as it could have been," one says.  It appears we have not yet dealt with our issue.  

The Gardens of Marqueysac

What we needed, we decided, was a low stress, low energy activity to recuperate from our morning trauma so we headed to another amazing garden.  However, like virtually every other thing in Dordogne the gardens were set on a significant hill and kept climbing relentlessly.  This somewhat diminished their relaxing quality. After ascending the first formidable path to the entry and chateau and having completed a tasty lunch (French food even at tourist sites is pretty terrific - no burgers or dogs here!) we girded ourselves for a lengthy hike uphill to the belvedere.  

A couple of rooms of Marqueysac Manor were available for viewing --- the living room and...

the dining room.

This details the creation of the Michelin Man by a former resident of the Manor who initiated "the first ever international mass distribution advertising campaign". 

Examples of early posters used in advertising featuring the Michelin Man.

Michael led the way and, after a short distance, he turned to me and said: Oh-h-h...Deirdre, you are NOT going to like this..." I stepped back and said, "It's a snake isn't it.  I know it's a snake (phobia #2).  Is it an Asp?"  The snake (4 and 1/2 slithery feet long) was doing its best to get away but there was dense topiary on both sides sitting above a 3" high edging of granite which he/she couldn't negotiate very well.  Finally, the serpent found an opening and left us.  

The snake.

While somewhat agitated and fearful I was not actually terrified because I had (as always) fully researched all venomous and/or disgusting creatures we might encounter in the locale we were visiting.  The only venomous snake was the Asp which is short (like a foot and a half) but a little aggressive.  They are fairly prevalent in Europe and, in some rural areas, locals are known to keep anti-venom in their fridges.  But enough of that.  After coping with my second upset of the day we continued on and finally reached the Belvedere and an astounding view over the countryside and the Dordogne River.  Enough for one day.

A view of the rear of the Manor house as we begin our ascent through the garden.

As we ascended the view of the towns...

and the countryside became more spectacular.

This is a view of Beynac Castle from Marqueysac Garden.

This cloche cabane in the garden was created by piling stones up without using any mortar.

A view of the interior dome. The word cloche in French translates to bell in English.

This lone tree perched on the edge of the cliff stood out as we continued our ascent.

We were still not to the highest belvedere yet as this photo shows people above us.

The view of the town and the countryside...

as well as the gabarres (tourist boats) became even smaller as we finally reached the highest belvedere.
The gabarres are flat bottomed and were originally designed to transport goods along the shallow Dordogne River.

As we finally made our descent from the heights of the Marqueysac garden we spotted this peacock pair shown below.

So, that's it for this post.  Next up:  A Renewed Assault on Beynac Castle and a marvelous Chateau with a marvelous story.  Have fun and stay cool our friends North of the Border.