Meandering With Murphy

On Saturday, April 20 we were headed out to two small villages near by. The first was Cadillac. Cadillac was founded in 1280 by a man representing England. In the 17th century, a man named Antoine Laument decided to hop a ship to North America and masquerade as an aristocrat. He took the name Laumet de la Mothe Cadillac or the Lord of Cadillac. He was an explorer, trapper and trader of alcohol and furs. He became the commander of Fort de Buade which later became the city of Detroit. Eventually he had a car named after him and Elvis immortalize “Pink Cadillacs” forever. Each August the city has a festival, Balades en Cadillac, a French Caddy festival and people come from all over driving their vintage Caddies. We were here too early and did not see one Cadillac, let alone a pink one!

Cadillac is on the river Garonne and it is a fortified city with imposing entrance gates. The dominating structure is the Chateau de Cadillac. Cadillac castle was built in 1599 onwards and is one of the first examples of French-style architecture. This castle reflects the luxurious life of a duke, monumental fireplaces, painted ceilings and tapestries in many of the rooms. It was updated by several owners who restored it over the years but it was abandoned to plunder during the French revolution. The royal apartments have been restored to give a sense of what it must have been like in its glory. The rest has been left bare.

The chateau was acquire by the State and became a women’s prison in 1818 then closed in 1890. It then became a remand, centre for fallen girls, until 1952. I can’t image staying in this place.

There is also a beautiful church, Saint-Blaise founded in 1494. It has a unique ribbed ceiling.

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As if you have not discovered, I love markets. Besides the usual produce, breads, cheeses, etc. it also had a man selling eggs AND live chickens, a truck selling fresh pasta, and a man making caneles. Caneles are a beloved French pastry which is carmelized on the outside and moist inside. History has it they were invented by the nuns of the L’Annonciade monastery in Bordeaux. Egg whites are used to clarify the wine. The leftover egg yolks were given to the nuns. They made a bar shaped fried cake called canelats. The modern recipe dates back to the beginning of the 20th century and in 1985 they were protected as a specialty of Bordeaux by a brotherhood of 88 patissiers! They are delicious.

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Julien suggested we have lunch at L’Abricotier in Saint-Macaire. It was a beautiful spot and a wonderful lunch.

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We then explored Saint-Macarie, another fortified city.

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Megan and Julien were renting out their rooms to nine pilgrims from Belgium. They were walking a portion of the Camino de Santiago Compostela. The church in Auros is one of the stops. (The church in Bazas is also one). They were a delightful group. They had arranged a dinner with Julien. He served a beautiful tomato mozzarella salad, beef ribs, potatoes fried in duck fat and a lemon tarte (and of course wine). Scott even got into the act helping Julien with frying the potatoes. Julien is such a good chef. The food was delicious!