Our Chateau Weekend

Might I interrupt my recipe repertoire to describe our pre-honeymoon honeymoon. We didn't have time for a proper honeymoon as the school year started almost immediately and we had to go back to work. So we took a weekend trip in October to the Perigord region where we stayed in a castle.

We arrived in the evening. After exploring the castle a bit, we had dinner in the large dining room. There was soothing Mozart playing as we entered. The dining room was nicely decorated with an old chandelier, long tables and there was a large fireplace at one end. We started with a homemade walnut aperitif which was very good. Walnuts are one of Perigord's specialities. We were the only guests in the castle that night and sat at the large table in front of the fireplace. We felt like a king and queen as dinner was served. Dinner started with a salade landaise which is a green salad with smoked duck breast, gizzards and croutons. The gizzards in this particular salad were deglazed with balsamic vinegar which gave it a caramalised touch, very different from the other salades landaises that we've tried. For the main course, we had magret de canard served with peas, carrots and bacon, and a potato gratin. Duck is another Perigord speciality and this magret the canard was by far the best we'd ever had. It was very succulent and gamey, not like the vacuum-packed duck we buy in supermarkets. Dinner was accompanied by good Bergerac wine. Dessert was tarte tatin with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Mmmm... Need I say more?

After a restful sleep in our beautiful room overlooking the woods, we had a big breakfast with croissants, toast, butter, homemade strawberry and plum jams, honey, orange juice and hot chocolate. We then went for a tour around the castle with the owner, Etienne. The castle was built in the 16th century and was located on top of a hill overlooking a wooded forest. Although it had a fortress-like architecture, it served no military function. The castle had 4 levels. In addition to the dining room and kitchen, there was a large main room on the groundfloor. The two upper floors contained a dozen bedrooms. The cellar and old kitchen were below. There were 4 towers at the corners of the castle. We climbed the towers and walked along the covered walkway all around the castle. There was also a chapel which was built much later, in the 19th century. Imagine all that, just for us that weekend. It was a perfect romantic getaway.