Sylvie's Travels Home

October 6, 2023

Pogo went droning and I started packing. We went for breakfast at 9:15 am then we spent a good hour deciding how to get back to Paris on Sunday. Train? Plane? Automobile? We finally decided on the train from Bordeaux to Charles de Gaulle airport, cancelled our hotel in Paris and booked one at the airport instead. It won’t be the beautiful room with the view of the Eiffel Tower but it will save us from carrying our luggage back and forth.

We said our goodbyes to our hostess and went to the Château de Castlenaud. Built in the 12th century, it offered a magnificent view of the Dordogne Valley. Now privately owned, It was listed as an historical monument in 1966. Between 1974 and 2005, major renovations were undertaken in order to restore it to its former glory. Since then it has welcomed more than 200,000 visitors per year.

With another steep hill to climb, uneven cobblestones and all the treacherous spiral stone staircases, I’m starting to rethink buying a French château…

We wanted to take a scenic ride to our next hotel in St Emilion but we didn’t see anything to write home about. We stopped at a little village called Le Buisson de Cadouin to have a late lunch around 3pm and the only place we found told us that their kitchen was closed. The owner asked if we were from Québec, we said yes, he said that he used to work for Bombardier and actually they could make us a salad. I have no idea what it was called but it was yummy! It had lettuce, radishes, walnuts, green beans, tomatoes, hot potatoes and foie gras.

We arrived in St Emilion at the Château hotel Grand Barrail at 5pm. Our room was supposed to have a view of the vineyard but they made a mistake so they brought us a bottle of champagne to apologize.

After discovering the small but pretty grounds during the sunset, we had a drink on the back terrace before dinner and they brought us amuse-gueules with them.

We went to the gorgeous dining room for dinner and they brought us another bite to enjoy with the bread and olive oil. The rest of the meal was out of this world and I can definitely say that this was the best meal we have ever had! We had chosen the prix fixed with smaller portions to try a bunch of different plates and omg! It was exceptional! We had 2 appetizers: poached oyster with apple tartare and seared tuna with carpaccio of pineapple, cilantro and mango. We had 2 entrees: John Dory filet with lemon and fennel than, our favorite, boeuf filet with the best au jus sauce ever with a foam of mashed potatoes with truffle oil and caramelized onions!, a cheese plate and a dessert. We shared a really nice bottle of red St Emilion’s wine.

I was so full and getting tired so I went back to the room to find cookies on the bed. Pogo came back with more dessert. I guess sweets are on the menu tomorrow.

The last 2 pictures are from Pogo’s drone near Castelnaud castle.