France as she used to be

[bazfaz]

The little od-fashioned resstaurant in our new village. We haven't eaten there yet but it has a nostalgic look to it.

[Deleted]

Yes, when I was a little boy, that is indeed what a village establishment looked like. The old fashioned 'tabac' cone is a real museum piece.

[auntieannie]

I so hope the food will be up to your expectations, Baz!

[Deleted]

Oh, I wouldn't expect miracles from a place like that. I hope I'm wrong.

[bixaorellana]

My gosh, that looks like a painting! I hope the food is as least homey and good enough for the occasional meal out. It's nice to become a patron of a local establishment.

What is the signficance of a cone in relation to tabac?

[Deleted]

The cone is just the symbol of a tobacconist. But the modern versions are quite different. More commonly, you'll see something like this.

[bazfaz]

Cone = tabac .... I hope Kerouac can explain.

I first went to the Dordogne in 1961, when I (and my first wife) walked from La Bourboule near the source as far as Beynac. We had a small backpack each and walked between 15 and 20 kms a day. We would arrive in a village and nearly always find a cheap hotel or a restaurant or a cae with a room for us.

Where we are proposing to live is just across the border from the department of the Dordogne. We walked along that river so probably passed about 20 kms from where the new house is. Little restaurants in the villages looked just like this. As Kerouac says, don't expect gourmet cooking. These were the places that many local men ate every day so the food was what they would have expected to eat at home. Up in the mountains where the Dordogne river started the food was unexciting, thin soups, noodles and lettuce with pork chop. But once we walked down and passed Beaulieu it became much better.

In those days foreigners were rare in most country areas in France. People walking were treated with suspicion. Twice we were detained by gendarmes while they checked our passports against lists of dangerous characters. There were times when we were turned away at hotels so I learnt a trick. We would go into a tiny village hotel in the afternoon and ask for a drink. Then we would ask what there was to eat for dinner. Oh, that sounds good, we would enthuse. Then we would ask for a room. It never failed.

[traveler63]

I love the picture it does truly look like a painting. Great story !!!!

[lagatta]

Have you tried the restaurant yet?

The one in a village I spent quite a bit of time in (friends lived there) wasn't good at all - some people ate there because they were travelling through or just because it was the only place to eat right there, but it was mostly used as a place for drinking coffee, beer, wine etc.

But some of those places, while rarely "gastronomic", can be quite good indeed. It is certainly pretty.

I do like the story of how rural France (and many rural societies) were closed-in and suspicious of outsiders. There is much not to be nostalgic for when thinking of the old days.

[bazfaz]

Lagatta, 4 weeks tonight will be the first night in our new home. I'll make something for us to eat while we suss out what the restaurant is like. I am sure it is nothing wonderful. But the atmosphere can make up for that.

[auntieannie]

No, not gastronomique... but maybe some hearty specialty?

[Deleted]

If they can make a good bourguignon or a cassoulet or some roast duck, I'm sure that it will be fine.

[happytraveller]

Looks lovely ! Sometimes those small places do serve great food.