Mid-summer pleasures in Périgord

One thing Dan & I have come to realize is the very special attitude that the French have toward work, as though it were some kind of infectious disease that one has to handle with infinite precaution: never pick up a call during the weekend, strictly observe the daily schedule (9 to 12; a two-hour lunch, then 2 to 5:30 with a prompt departure), always propose the most convenient solution for the worker - not what is best for the owner - do not break the rules of what is considered standard procedure. And so on…  In that vein, almost all our skilled workmen have deferred their contracts until September because of the sacrosanct August holidays - with the exception of our roofing man who has commenced the job, a great start for the month of August.

Stéphane and a sidekick arrived on a drizzly day and replaced five old rusty ‘fenêtres de toit’ with three waterproof, streamlined velux skylights. In a matter of hours the two cut new openings in the roof and closed existing ones as though they were handling a piece of cloth. Then they sliced two beams that had prevented us opening the lucarne, or dormer, windows. It was fascinating to watch them erecting a basic scaffolding of a row of ladders, scrambling up the steep roof, and resting on just one foot with admirable balance atop the tiny wooden slats that provide support for the terracotta tiles - a building technique that neither Dan nor I are in the least familiar. Their work is synchronized like a dance; the one on the ground throws skyward a pile of good tiles that the other on the roof catches in mid-air to replace the broken ones. The lovely old roof is like an aged tapestry in the process of being mended. Angles with masonry edges are being relined with shiny new sheets of zinc for waterproof reasons. One rotten houteau, the characteristic Périgourdin vent for the attic, shaped like an upturned French nose, had to be reconstructed.

One mid summer treat for us are the weekly markets that brim with fresh produce from this plentiful region. Cheese from Corrèze, foie gras from local farms, vegetables and fruits from the garden, crusty breads and colorful olives, herbs and hams. We haunt the Wednesday market in nearby Montignac for the beauty of the town and the location of the stalls along the river Vézère.

Mushrooms are now in season, what with a lot of recent rainy weather followed by sunny afternoons that have caused the early emergence of yummy looking things on the forest floor. But what is safe to pick and how to cook them? We asked an expert, Daniel Lacombe, a mycologist, to clarify our haziness about the local species. During a walk through our woods he spotted the deadly Amanita phalloides and other indigestive specimens. But we were lucky enough to find several edible ones including an Orange vraie, the ‘Amanite des Césars’ that was especially appreciated by the Roman emperors and the popes - to the point that Clement VII forbade their picking to keep them all for himself. (Badly did he regret it, however, as he was murdered with a plate of poisonous mushrooms.)

The Festival du Périgord Noir is now in full swing with this year’s musical events celebrating Liszt and Purcell. The concerts are housed in different locations. The opening night featured a Périgourdin picnic in the white garden of Eyrignac followed by a concert in front of the manor house. The Italian pianist Giovanni Bellucci played romantic music while two actors read excerpts from the correspondence between Franz Liszt and his mistress Marie d’Agoult. The finale, with an exceptional display of baroque fireworks, was a noisy surprise for most. We have also traveled to several Romanesque churches in the area, such as Saint Amand de Coly, Saint Léon sur Vézère, and Auriac du Périgord, for yet more wonderful music.