One of our guests gave me a present of a deliciously creamy bar of donkey milk soap…..gorgeous! It smells all cosy & comforting almost like a bar of posh baby soap and it really does leave your skin feeling lovely & soft. Cleopatra obviously knew her stuff.

A cosy & comforting bar of posh baby soap!

You can get all sorts of donkey milk soap at Sarlat market –  rose, lavender,  tea tree, citrus…I’ve promised myself some more next time we’re there.

Sarlat has all manner of markets….Saturday food market, all day market, Summer night market, organic market, covered market….all well worth a visit and a must-do for all our guests.

Sarlat is a stunning medieval town, steeped in history and has the most listed buildings per km than the rest of Europe. The old town is a charming labyrinth of cobbled streets and winding alleys with little shops and quaint atmospheric restaurants tucked away in the most unexpected corners.

Sarlat

We came across Sarlat completely by chance before we bought Les Crouquets and fell in love with its charm as soon as we saw it.

True, in the Summer it gets very busy and perhaps there are a few too many tourist traps lurking alongside the other wonderful stuff but maybe that’s what keeps it alive and bustling. Certainly to come to the Dordogne and not visit Sarlat would be a real pity.

Les Crouquets is just 25 mins drive away from Sarlat and many of our guests go there several times during their holiday.

Definitely one for the “must do” list!

Strangely enough, the French don’t seem to go in much for Rabbie Burns, so at Les Crouquets we’re having oor ain wee Burns Nicht celebration wi a bag o’ haggis crisps an’ a wee dram!

A wee dram an' a bag o' haggis crisps!

In spite of having many of their own colourful & interesting things to eat, the mention of the humble haggis never fails to bring a weird grimace to the faces of our French friends…..lots of preconceived ideas here, methinks, as most of them end up asking us what it actually is!

True it isn’t a particulary attractive looking dish but what it lacks in aesthetics it more than makes up for in rich spicy flavour. The lack of opportunity to buy a haggis in our little corner of the Dordogne means I don’t have my own photo to show the uninitiated what this delicious mix of oatmeal & offal  looks like  but trust me, it’s good!

macsweens haggis

I suppose I could have been a bit more organised and got a couple from Macsweens – based in Edinburgh & haggis maker extraordinaire , they are renowned for having the best haggis ( haggises/ haggi or whatever the correct plural of haggis is!) around!

Then we could have invited some French friends over for haggis, neeps & tatties & gone the whole hog with kilt, dagger and a heartfelt recital of To A Haggis. Personally I prefer Tam O’Shanter … one of his greatest works if you ask me…

Rabbie Burns poems & ballads

…if you haven’t read it, you should. It’s extremely witty with very clever, thought provoking and descriptive use of language, if a bit of a challenge to the non Scots tongue!

Tam O'Shanter

But, I digress… maybe just as well we didn’t invite our friends.

Better to have the French think we Scots are a mad lot than to let them see us speaking to a dish of steamin’ entrails & remove all doubt!!