Get ready to step into storybook heaven...
The kids had a week off of school so we took full advantage and drove 10 hours to the south of France (not to be confused with Southern France .... [seriously, why do we say South of France?!]). We realized 10 minutes into the drive that we had failed to download any and all movies onto devices. Cue: mom-panic scale 10. But guess what? We survived. Noah even sat and looked out the window for several hours (right after he slept for like three hours). WHAT? Turns out kids can survive sans screens. Who knew? Sienna colored non-stop. I don't even know my children anymore.
Anyway, would you please look at this place?!?!???!!!
Ogle, drool, heart-eye-emoji and all that. It. Was. Magnificent!
Here's the back story. I've followed Stephmodo's blog forever. Several years ago they renovated this cottage in Beynac and I loved following every step as covered on her blog. I dreamed of visiting someday but I knew it was probably out of the question. Then we moved to a little place called Luxembourg and the idea to visit this magical place shot right to the top of my Europe travel bucket list. I booked a week there as soon as we got settled. The rest is history.
Here she is! Just to the right of this cobblestone path is Chateau de Beynac. Tourists wandered this path up and down while we were there.
Front door nirvana right here.
The keys. The keys!!! So rad. And a tad finicky. We eventually got faster at locking and opening but nearing the end of our stay Adam said, "Okay, we get it, you have castle keys! I just want to get in!"
Kitchen. With fridge and freezer bigger than my Luxembourg kitchen! #totesjels
Would you believe it wasn't cold enough to use the wood burning stove? That was kind of sad but mostly amazing. I mean, November! It's November! And it's cold in Luxembourg! I guess this is the magic of The South of France.
We spent a lot of time here, just hanging out. I brought a bag of stuff for the kids to do as I knew it would be off-season and we'd be having the relaxing, home-based vacation instead of a go-go-go vacation. They didn't mind a bit. They loved the place. It's also bigger than our small apartment, so that felt luxurious.
The cottage is three floors, here's the second floor.
Great vintage poster of various food industries of France.
Third floor attic room. The beams! The beams!
The tub is the real reason I came, let's be honest. A distinct part of the castle roof is right outside those windows.
How does a person process this kind of wonder?
The backyard garden area. Adam and I had several lunches out here of the meat and cheese and fruit plate variety. He died and went to heaven a few times. Had to be resuscitated.
Exploring outside the house involved runs and walks for me and bike rides for Adam. When the kids came, we did a castle, some gardens and about four outdoor markets. We did what we could; like I said, this was the off-season, so there were lots of things closed. I would have liked to canoe down the river, tour some caves, and see inside of the castle next door (it closed right when we got there), but it was not to be.
Noah always struggles with site-seeing. This is him the moment we stepped out the door when we were headed to tour a castle. Poor dude didn't even want to start.
Thankfully he rallied and the castle (Chateau de Castlenaud) was amazing.
The little village below with the red roofs was one of my favorite parts.
See? Happy boy!
So many terrifying drop-offs. We gripped the children a few times in hopes that we would all make it home alive.
Everybody thought this was hilarious.
And back at our own Chateau de Beynac. I had to tell myself over and over that if you've seen one castle, you've seen them all. Sniff, sniff.
This was one very windy afternoon when we went to Marqueyssac Gardens. We picnicked and walked around but we didn't last long. The wind nearly blew us away.
They basically keep the geese outside and grazing half their lives, then the other half they are kept inside and force fed three times per day. Here's the farmer feeding them. He feeds them every day at 7 am, 12 noon, and 7 pm with corn. That device goes all the way down their throats to help pack it down tightly. Then the farmer also butchers them and cooks them and cans the fois gras in his facility.
I'd bought this fois gras several days earlier from the market, and we also bought some from these farmers. I was told to eat it cold with good bread and good wine. It tastes like meat butter. It was good but I'm not dying to have it again. Glad I tried it once!
And that will be our segue into the food portion of this post.
Yogurt in glass or ceramic (the blue ones) jars is pretty much the most fabulous thing evuh. They sell this stuff in Luxembourg, too. Booyah.
This region of The South of France (is that capital T bothering you yet?) is known for fois gras, walnuts, and one other food I can't remember right now...
We tried walnuts in several different ways...this tart being one. It was like pecan pie but better.
Adam ordered sausage with walnuts. So good! What?
Vanilla beans! They terrify and intimidate me and I must learn how to use them.
The one thing I want to go back and buy more of is these chocolate covered marshmallow wands. I will dream of them always.
Meringues the size of a child's head!
We took coq au vin (chicken in a winey stew) and cassoulet (duck and mystery sausage in a white bean stew) home from the markets and heated them up for dinner. So delicious! And I feel like I got a nice peek into French cuisine in the comfort of our cottage without being stressed out about spending a fortune at a restaurant with restless kids who won't eat whatever's on the menu.
Isn't cheese the only food that stinks to high heaven but tastes exactly like heaven? I mean, what other food can do that? #amazing
It is a relief when this guy figures out how to be happy, I tell you! Chocolate cookies always help.
Beynac, we'll be back. #ifonlyinmydreams
