Our hotel in Sarlat is described as "having plenty of medieval character" and that it did. Three couples stayed in the three rooms in this tower, which had been part of the old city wall..

Dinner together in the hotel restaurant that evening began with a walnut flavored aperitif and ended with a walnut flavored ice cream. After dinner Patrick took us on an evening tour of the center of Sarlat. Points of interest were the 16th century home of Entienne de La Boétie and the loggia (balcony) of the Bishop's Palace.

  

The next morning the market opened in the squares and along the streets of Sarlat. This was the main square which had been completely deserted the night before.

There were many stalls with beautiful produce, cheeses, meats, wine, clothing and all sorts of things.

About noon we boarded the bus to ride to the Dordogne River where we would have a picnic and a canoe trip.

For the second evening in Sarlat, we again had dinner together in the hotel restaurant. The menu this time was a salad with roquefort cheese, a main course of duck (confit de canard) and fried potatoes. The dessert was something like a flan with a delicious raspberry sauce.

Some tour members went to a special celebration and concert that evening. That day was the "patromonie" of the town - a kind of celebration of the town's history. All over town were set up platforms with various demonstrations and programs: ballet; poetry, music, etc. As we walked around the corner from the hotel to the street leading to the main square, we could see a glow ahead. The closer we came, the lighter it became; there were literally thousands of votive candles - on every window ledge, over every doorway, along every curb, on every wall - the flickering glow gave everything a magical glow.

  

Photos by Fred May.

The concert at the cathedral was to start at 11:00 p.m., so about 10:30, people began gathering in front of the cathedral. Directly across the street was a medieval building, and about 10:40, a light came on in the window over the door, and a man began reading what appeared to be the history of the town. After about 10 minutes, his light went out, and a light came on in the window above that one, and a woman continued reading for another 10 minutes. When she finished, that light went out and the doors to the cathedral opened. The crowd filed in and at 11:00, the concert started, playing to a standing-room only audience. The performers were five young people - they appeared to be French, but sang the gospel songs in English. The audience was very appreciative and really got into the mood - clapping with some songs, singing with others - and thoroughly enjoying the concert. It appeared that this was a mainly French audience - very few tourists - so for us, it was truly a perfect "back door" and magic moment in time.