Hautefort Chateau

Today, we went to a gorgeous chateau.  The guidebooks call it the best in the area.  We can see why.  These are pictures of the chateau, the fabulous formal gardens around the chateau and the town at the foot of the wall.

Even though it was a very touristy place, we ate lunch (alas, only two courses) at a restaurant in the old part of town.

The chateau and the gardens were very sparsely visited today.  We were able to take many, many pictures and never have to wait for people to move.  In the height of summer, the place would be teeming with shutterbugs.

This evening, we are enjoying the warm weather, which we have not had so far on our trip.  It was warm enough to go without a jacket this afternoon. 

From our patio we can see the splendid pinks and blues and purples of early evening as the sun begins its descent for the evening, or, as the French say, it goes to bed.  We are on a hill (of course, this is Perigord) and we can see for miles around.  The church bells rang about 45 minutes ago and we could hear them from three different villages.  Now the cows down the hill a bit are mooing as they are no doubt being led in for the evening. 

It's a quiet evening here.  There is a gentle wind rustling the leaves and the sun is nearly down now.