Thursday 10.21.2010


Down in Duras


It is a day of rest for us. We recovered from our diplomatic mission of last night and have a late breakfast with trusty Tom, the white boxer, doing his best to play the role of the downtrodden half-starved victim of abuse who could be saved if only he had a touch of our croissant with perhaps a spread of cheese on top. We don't fall for it and he suddenly recovers on his own and wanders off. We haven't taken a quiet day since early in our week at Arles so we think this is the time and place to do it.

There is some frost on the ground this morning but the sun is shining so we think we should at least be outside. Alison suggests the town and chateau at Duras, about a 45-minute drive up the road to the northeast. She days there is nice restaurant across from the chateau which puts an easy tour and lunch onto our agenda. There are a few old farmers out in a field near our B&B who are hustling to pick their grapes this morning after the frost last night which proves to be a great "French" sight with the old codgers throwing grapes into old baskets that that they then throw into their old trucks. They're probably younger than us but we choose to not keep score.

It's almost noon when we reach Duras which means the chateau will be closed until two which means we have some time to kill. It is an untouristy little village with not much to see. Of course all of the shops are closed at this time of day so we just enjoy the sunshine and a nice walk. There are a couple restaurants across from the chateau and we aren't positive which Alison was referring to, but neither seems particularly interesting to us. We find a good looking little Italian place up one of the streets and there seems to be a nice gathering of locals inside. Mary surprises John when she chooses the pizza and John has discovered the wonders of having an omelet for lunch stuffed once again with ham, cheese and mushrooms. Our service is pretty good as well and Mary gets half of her pizza packed up to take with us.

We hit the Chateau right at two. It really is pretty interesting poking around in all the worker rooms on the lower levels with the big log-fired cooking areas, bakeries and shops. There is the "secrets" room where one of us can stand in one corner to whisper something and the other in the opposite corner can hear it perfectly. We've seen these before, but this one really works. The upper floors are all about the Lords and Ladies of centuries past, wars won and lost, revolution and restoration and finally the recovery of the building for elderly American tourists and young French school children. There are great 360 degree views from the top of the tower of the farms and villages for many miles around. We even find a "Ghost Room" where you can sit in a circle in the dark so the ghosts that light up can scare the heck out of you with their eerie tale (all in French so we weren’t too scared). Apparently the lineage of the former residents stretches over a thousand years down to the current King of Monaco. There you go.

We stop at the supermarket in La Reole on our way back and pick up a salad and some cheese to go with Mary's leftover pizza for dinner in tonight. We are taking a break lounging around the great room in the house when a young couple from Singapore show up who introduce themselves to us and ask to be shown to their room. John tries to entertain them for a bit while Mary gathers up Scoobie, Fudge and Tom and tells them to go find their mother. They lead her out in the garden where Alison is hacking away claiming not to have any more guests--oops. It gets sorted out after a while (Alison forgot to write it down but now finds their email) and Mary and John and the dogs now entertain Audrey and Will (on their honeymoon) while Alison quickly cleans a room. It is all so stressful that Alison quickly pours Mary and John a glass of red wine and pretty soon the pitcher comes out. Oh Oh!


Aundrey and Will head to La Reole for dinner (Alison doesn't cook on Thursdays), Claude (Gordon) returns from his day's work with pizzas for the family, Johnny has returned to London for his next shift, Alison heats up the leftover pumpkin soup to go with J&M's pizza and salad and they lay claim to the big table in the great room while Alison, Claude and the kids and dogs go to the private digs to eat their pizzas and watch "Master Chef France" and all is right in the world of LaTuilerie B&B. Could this be a show on BBC or what?

We're in bed reading at 10:00 tonight so a much softer landing than the night before.

Today's weather: Sunny and cool. Low 32, high 58.