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June 9: Around Castelnaud La Chapelle

Today we ventured to Cénac‑et‑Saint‑Julien which is described as a rural commune with dispersed housing, meaning it has a relaxed, village feel rather than a dense town centre. It has a population of around 1200 and comprises a main village street with small shops, bakery, pharmacy and cafés.It’s not a big tourist hotspot itself—but that’s part of its charm.

Thursdays is market day, and the displays of fruit, veg, cheese and fish was wonderful to see.

Of course, we had our usual coffee ……

In the afternoon, we visited Jardins d’Eyrignac which is one of the most famous and refined gardens in the Dordogne. The estate has been owned by the same family for about 500 years.  The original gardens were created in the 18th century  inspired by Italian styles. It was later changed to an English park, then restored in the 20th century to its former design.

The defining feature is its incredible plant sculptures. There are over 300 carefully shaped forms made from boxwood, yew, hornbeam and cypress. They are trimmed entirely by hand using shears, maintaining traditional techniques, and designed as geometric patterns, “rooms”, arches and long avenues.

It’s widely regarded as one of the best examples of topiary gardens in France. 

For dinner, we went to a sensational restaurant in Montignac called RoBo (Lesley, thanks for recommendation). It has an Australian connection as its chef is Australian and trained in Australia.

Why is it called RoBo? Well it’s named after a dog called Robot, and Robot’s claim to fame is that on September 12, 1940, Robot was being taken for a walk through the forest and suddenly he disappeared underground. His owner entered the hole to find Robot and inadvertently stumbled across Lascaux, one of the most significant prehistoric finds. Here’s statue of Robot….

The 9 course dinner was absolutely amazing, not just in presentation but also in taste.

9 courses later, we were pretty happy and very full