On Sunday we went for a long walk along the small path behind the gîte, winding our way down the hill through avenues of walnut trees to the small hamlet of Saint-Julian.
Like most of the buildings in this area, the houses are built from a honeyed limestone. They are huddled together along the winding road, and at some time in the past this must have been a self-contained community probably with a bakery and other necessities. Now, there are no commercial businesses, and on this Sunday it lay peacefully in the warm sunshine. We continued along the banks of the Dordogne River, 
its water crystal clear and very slow moving. We plan on renting canoes and drifting along the river one day. We crossed a small bridge to Castelnaud where we stopped and had lunch. Angela and I shared a salad and the most enormous omelet! Will had duck followed by an enormous ice cream sundae!
Castelnaud is a splendid castle (shown in the header picture of this blog) at the confluence of the Dordogne and the Céou rivers, between Domme and Beynac (which we plan on also visiting). The village and castle have magnificent views across the surrounding countryside, and to Chateau Beynac standing across the Dordogne River. Castelnaud castle was built in the 12th century and for most of the Middle Ages, the owners of Castelnaud and Chateau Beynac shot arrows at each other. across the river. Then during the Hundred Years War, the castle changed hands seven times between the French and the English, who also shot arrows at each other across the river. The owners of the castle eventually decided to move to the more comfortable Chateau des Milandes (more of this tomorrow) and after the French Revolution the chateau fell to ruin. Its stone was used as a source of building materials in the neighborhood. In 1966 the castle was listed a Historic Building and its renovation began. Today the chateau houses a museum of war and the middle ages with a collection of arms and armaments.
We took the very steep path up to the chateau and after catching our breath strolled around the huddle of medieval buildings enjoying the view and the sights. One curiosity: a line of wooden shoes sabots, above a shop window.
We then headed back to the gîte, this time downhill, and a dinner of good french bread, cheeses, and fruit. We also sampled the wine that Will had bought in the Médoc: very nice.
As we sat on the terrace, a local gentleman opposite who was working in his garden offered us some tomatoes which we gratefully accepted: ratatouille tomorrow!
.... For France 