Europe,  France,  TDM,  Travel Journal

Rocamadour, Foie Gras & the Quercy Train – Road Trip in France #19

We are in the Dordogne Valley, which we didn’t know at all. The planning of the itinerary in the area was very difficult because everything is too pretty and deserves our attention. We will spend two nights near Terrassons Lavilledieu, in order to radiate in the surroundings. Seeing the signs indicating Rocamadour, JB suggests that I go there the next day. It was smaller and it’s very beautiful, he tells me.

Note: this blog article is part of the “Road Trip in France” made in August 2020. To read the previous parts, click here : #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9, #10, #11, #12, #13, #14, #15, #16, #17 and #18

Part 1: Travel Diary
Part 2: Practical Tips

Part 1: Travel Diary

Rocamadour

image source: www.vallee-dordogne.com

This isn’t the most “peace and love” visit around here because everyone has the good idea to come here. It is one of the “most beautiful villages of France” in the area (but there are so many), but Rocamadour is the most known for its exceptional location, dominated by a castle on the cliffside. It is a nice stop on the way to Compostela, the Saint-Sauveur basilica and the Saint-Amadour crypt are classified as World Heritage by UNESCO and the miraculous chapel is home to a Black Madonna. We have seen many of the faithful climbing its 216 steps on foot, singing.

Here is the view of Rocamadour, from the private parking of a restaurant (we squatted it for 10 seconds while taking a picture).

We make the mistake, like everyone else, of indicating Rocamadour on google maps, which obliges us to park either at the P5 parking lot (paying), or at the bottom of the valley on the side of the small road (free). We understood later that it was better to park at P2, Parking du château, paying (there are a lot of places because people don’t know it), then go down slowly towards the village. To go back up, you can simply take two elevators (4,2€). Now you know!

Well, after struggling to find a place and almost having an accident while getting out of a small unlit tunnel and in the middle of a bend (people are crazy!), we are happy not to scratch the car this time (another village with narrow roads and bends cost us 300€ in scratches). There are many stairs to bring us back to the village (so don’t follow Google Maps which don’t list these stairs).

The village is NOIR DE MONDE. The restaurants have almost all the same menu: duck, foie gras, Rocamadour goat cheese. The souvenir stores are full of souvenirs are also very lively. It seems that the Covid has never existed around here.

From here, the view is already very satisfactory. The surroundings are very green, normal, it is the Regional Natural Park of the Causses du Quercy.

We hurry to find the elevator taking us up to the top (261 steps to go up, when the elevator exists, don’t abuse it either, I told you I was a sports disabled person). There are 2 elevators to take (rather an elevator, a funicular) for 4,2€ one way. We only take the one way.

We can see the castle among the trees, it looks like a fairy tale castle!

Very narrow stairs allow us to go around the castle (we cannot visit the interior which is occupied by monks). I’m a bit dizzy, but everything seems very solid 😀

We have a panoramic view of the village from below…

….the surroundings, the park…

We can even watch our car, parked in the valley 😀 hihihi

We follow a zig-zag path to go down to the sanctuary, to admire the Black Madonna in a small chapel called the miraculous chappel. The miracles must still be happening because I have seen thank-you plaques everywhere.

We hesitate to have lunch in the village, but, frightened by the crowds, we prefer to eat on the go… if possible with foie gras from the region.

La Ferme de Virginie (Gaec la Mejoul)

It is then that we go to the Farm of Virginia, producer of duck foie gras for several generations. It is her husband who receives us, and he is so nice, explaining the manufacturing process, how to feed the ducks, how and when to force-feed them… that he forgets to make us the article to sell his merchandise.

But hisn’t at all marketing oriented speech makes us want to buy his products even more.

In the past, people still knew how to make their own foie gras, they sold the ducks whole, with the foie gras highlighted, without any transformation. Now, people don’t even know how to cook duck anymore, so they started offering ready-made dishes – in cans, and of course homemade foie gras. Their whole duck foie gras is magnificent, you can see the shape of the liver perfectly well, and they tell us that the leftovers, not pretty, are thrown away, instead of being recycled into “foie gras blocks”.

The ducks are fed and force-fed with corn. Our farmers also plant corn to feed the ducks. Now they produce only the amount needed for force-feeding. Previously they used to produce more to sell the surplus corn but with the current rates it is no longer profitable. Instead they have planted walnut trees. Again, the price of raw walnuts has fallen, it is no longer interesting. So they offer processed nuts: with caramel and chocolate, in partnership with a pastry cook, and it’s too good!

Well, the feeding part isn’t the most fun part. The ducks eat normally, then a few months before the feeding period, the open bar disappears, they are hungry, so, when they throw themselves on the food, their throats open little by little and during the feeding, they will not have pain (we talk about a few months of preparation for a few days of feeding).

Their ducks are killed on the farm, not at the slaughterhouse because they are killed later than other farmers’ ducks. And they only kill only ducks whose liver is fat enough, something the slaughterhouse cannot afford, you have to make an appointment in advance and the duck will be killed no matter what. So, with only 3 people working on the farm, they cannot increase their production any more (we are talking about 2000 ducks). They are so successful that they only sell directly (to people like us who come to the farm) or at the markets. They don’t even have enough product to distribute to supermarkets or luxury grocery stores.

I also tested their “stuffed duck neck”, which contains 15% foie gras (the rest is duck meat) and it’s too good!
For the whole duck foie gras, it’s so good that it’s hard to believe that all this smoothness, this characteristic taste just comes from the liver!
JB, who is against foie gras in summer (he considers it a dish to be reserved for the end of year festivities), must also change his mind.

Glass jars can be stored like standard cans. Moreover, we were able to bring some with us (in the airplane baggage hold) to Rome without any problem.

I highly recommend you to drop by and see them, because otherwise there is no other way to buy their foie gras if you aren’t in the area. Just for that alone, I want to spend my retirement in the area! It’s one of the only places where I can eat foie gras all year round 😀

Note: you cannot visit the area where the ducks are, because since the avian flu, the measures are much stricter.

Tourist Railway of the Haut Quercy

In fact, the program of the day (at the base), was to take a real steam train for its walk in the park of the Haut Quercy. But we hung out so much in Rocamadour and chatted with the farmer, that we arrived only at 14h30 for the departure of 15h. Obviously, with an incredible number of tourists, we missed the last places for 3pm by a few seconds because we took too much time to find a parking space (it was enough to go to the P2).

We are offered the next train at 5 pm, but the heat is demotivating me. I prefer to just watch the train leave, we’ll have other opportunities.

We look at the train from afar but the smoke is so strong that we can smell it 50 meters away. In the comments on Google Maps, some people claim to have suffocated when the train went through a tunnel, and the smoke enveloped the train (the cars are open).

This train is proposed by an association, enthusiasts and lovers of steam trains. If you are interested, come 45 minutes minimum before departure. The tariff in 2020 is 11€/adult.

Terrasson-Lavilledieu

This village isn’t awarded, nor mentioned in the guides, but I find that its tourist office worked really well, bravo! As soon as one crosses the village, there are signs everywhere and flags well placed here and there, so that one wonders if one is crossing an important tourist village.

We dine at the restaurant Les Agapes. Without surprise, we opt for duck. It’s delicious even if the portions are a bit small for my taste (even for me, you realize!)

Restaurant Les Agapes

The city center is very picturesque, there are free parking spaces everywhere (this is important) and lots of views.

We are lucky to see the sunset, with a view of a gabarre, moored right next to an old bridge. It’s so pretty! The departure by gabarre here must be quiet, very few tourists choose to go along the Dordogne river from this place, because it doesn’t pass in front of the known castles.

To visit here : Les Jardins de l’Imaginaire (you will see signs everywhere to promote these gardens), which we unfortunately did not have time to explore.

We return to our guests. The room is small but very well arranged and the hosts are super nice. JB loves the swimming pool at the bottom of the garden.

Our next article, it’s this way

Part 2: Practical Tips

Useful links

Budget

  • Our Airbnb : 66€ per night, breakfast included
  • Foie gras: count between 16€ and 23€
  • Restaurant : 25€/person approx
  • Tourist Railway of the Haut Quercy : 11€/person

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