My last visit to Sarlat goes back to early 1999 when I visited my very good friend Martine and her husband Jean Louis with my two sons Thomas and Paul. I returned there early in 2015 with my dear cousin Laurence and caught up with my dear friends during the weekend of the Sarlat Festival of the Truffle. Needless to say we had an unforgettable weekend.
Sarlat La Caneda is in the region called the Perigord Noir in the South West of
France. Often called just Sarlat, the
town boasts some of the region’s best-preserved medieval
architecture. Well-known markets sell a
smorgasbord of duck and goose-based products.
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| Royal Emblem at a Sarlat House |
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| Sarlat Building |
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| Sarlat Building |
Sarlat is a medieval town
that developed around a large Benedictine abbey. Because modern history has largely passed it
by, Sarlat has remained preserved and one of the town’s most representative of
14th century France. It owes its current
status on France's Tentative List for future nomination as a UNESCO World
Heritage site to the enthusiasm of writer, resistance fighter and politician Andre Malraux. As Minister of
Culture (1960–1969), he restored the town and many other sites of historic
significance throughout France. The
centre of the old town consists of impeccably restored stone buildings.
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| Period House with Specialty Shop on the Ground Floor |
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| Sarlat Apartment Windows |
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Sarlat Street
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| Clothes Drying |
Said to have been inhabited since Gallo-Roman times, Sarlat became a prosperous city at the end of the 8th Century . The town suffered from the Norman invasions and then from the Hundred Years War owing to its position as a frontier region between the kings of France and England.
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| A Location Fit for Romeo and Juliette |
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| Covered Passageway in Sarlat |
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House in Sarlat
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In medieval times Sarlat grew bigger and richer and became an important market town. Many of the fabulous houses in Sarlat were built during this time to house the rich merchants. The Italian Renaissance ideas were to influence one of Sarlat's famous residents; Etienne de La Boetie (born in 1530) who became a famous humanist and philosopher. The house of his birth still stands opposite the cathedral. Today Sarlat’s wonderful architecture and medieval style buildings and stone roofs have made a backdrop for a score of many top motion pictures since 1968. Only Nice and Paris have had more location films shot than Sarlat.
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The Home of French Philosopher La Boetie
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Sarlat was
a prosperous town throughout the 16th, 17thI and 18th centuries, but
it fell into lethargy for nearly 150 years, to wake up again only some thirty
years ago when road transport supplanted river and railroad as means of
communication. Today, in addition to its unique Medieval look, Sarlat is famous for the foods that are produced locally and in the region.
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| Chocolate Treats |
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| Foie Gras and Local Bergerac Wines |
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| Foie Gras and Truffle Products |
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| Foie Gras and Local Wines |
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| Galette des Rois Display |
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Hand-Made Chocolates
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Sarlat also hosts an annual truffle festival when food stalls fill the streets and where Sarlat’s top chefs prepare and demonstrate all types of foie gras and truffle-based delicacies. To say that we loved the Festival and the foods on offer would be an understatement. It was simply Heavenly. The food, the wines, the music, the people, the atmosphere, the perfect weather all contributed to a perfect weekend and an unforgettable experience.
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| The Whole Black Truffle I bought at the Festival |
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| The Marbling Look of a Cut Truffle |
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| Foie Gras Tasty Bits for Degustation |
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| Smallgoods Stand |
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| Whole Cured Hams and Saucissons |
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