One of the pleasures we are both looking forward to when we are settled in our completed house, will be to welcome our friends and share the beauty of the area with them. And I can't think of a better way of doing this - before sitting down at the end of the day to a glass of Bordeaux and a plate of foie gras - than by introducing them first to the local architecture.
Sounds boring? Smells of dusty books from "European Indigenous Architecture 101"? Nothing of the sort. It just means come ready to put on your hiking shoes, get on a bicycle (we'll have a few) or, more traditionally, as good Frenchmen have done for generations, get in the car and drive slowly down some of those narrow, winding, and generally deserted local roads, for an afternoon's discovery of a few little-known villages that pepper the Périgord Noir - our corner of the woods.
Gaulejac is only one minor hamlet among many towns and villages in the area: varying clusters of houses modest and grand, farms, covered markets, castles and churches, all made up of that lovely honey-coloured limestone. But for this unifying colour and style, no two villages are the same. Each one is worth a visit, and deserves to be seen on its own terms.
But don't take my word for it. Before you make the trip, check out this online primer,
a simple but well-documented blog which I discovered recently about the beauty of local villages.
We'll have dinner on the table when you return ...
