Surprised Again

For LouAnne and Ted everything they see is a surprise as they are not experienced European travellers. However, they read the guide books in preparation and thought they had learned quite a bit about LaRoque-Gageac. Today the four of us went on a walk originating there but what we found was not just the cliffside villages, chateau and tourist attractions mentioned in the books. Thanks to Chris’s walking maps we were fortunate enough to come across a range of agricultural pursuits. Earlier in the day we had visited our local market at Cenac St. Julien, where much of the local produce was on offer. Among such was an interesting chestnut honey, which of course we bought to enhance our morning cereals and toast. On our walk we found chestnuts underfoot for most of the day. However, we also came across walnut orchards and did a bit of gleaning of our own and will perhaps make use of them for a meal later in the week.

The farming here, from LouAnne’s Minnesotan perspective, is relatively marginal, with those keen to maintaining the industry having to work very hard to make a living from the relatively poor quality soil. We came across one quite interesting working farm which included a walnut grove and we believe force-fed goose production. We think now was the time for the geese to be inside eating furiously, as just one goose was out meandering with a collection of hens. No matter what your opinion may be of fois gras, it is the major production industry in this part of France and cannot be ignored. A small herd of beef cattle, too, were in evidence, though definitely not herefords. The current times, though, were reflected in an abandoned farm which showed many signs of past prosperity, but that in recent times it became just too hard.
The forester, Ted, and the forester’s daughter, Judith, let alone the forester’s wife, LouAnne, just could not ignore the relatively small scale forestry operation which we came across. A giant, at least to us, John Deere forwarder with grapple loader was encountered loading cut sections of relatively small oak timbers from a small section of forest. Once again, from the Minnesotan’s perspective, it seemed that the land is being used in a way over countless generations that we Australians and Mid-west Americans can hardly comprehend, maintains the traditions yet struggles with the demands of the modern. It is not easy at all.