Sunday’s hike wasn’t the most photogenic, as we mainly were walking through the woods, first on small roads, then on trails. We started in the parking lot of one of the local castles, Castelnaud, and our hike took us west and north.
Castelnaud is high on a hill overlooking the Dordogne. We didn’t go in, though – we’re saving that for another day – nor did we go over and look at the view. We must be getting jaded!
In a two-hour hike, we only encountered four people, one of whom was taking the easy way up the hill:
The forest trail took us down and down, over rough trail with a lot of wet leaves. We were both thinking the walk back was going to be … delightful. As we got near the Dordogne River, we found a small hamlet on the hillside with gorgeous views across the river valley.
We’ve seen a large number of houses around here with built-in nesting boxes like the three near the roof peak on the house below. I don’t really see the appeal of having birds nesting right above your front door – the potential for “accidents” seems high.
We were lucky – the hike back up was on a nice gentle slope. If we’d gone the other way around the loop, it would have been much more difficult.
And if you like the look of this neighborhood – this four-bedroom house is for sale for a mere €217000!
Our French Adventure 
That’s a pretty steep price for the house in the last picture. I bet you could get a better deal on the fixer-upper in photo #4. Doesn’t house renovation run in J’s blood?
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