AMIR SHARIFF: Photography

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#016: Southern France

A chance for few days away in southern France with our good friends, their little one and some amazing food? We signed up 😊. Exploring some towns, taking in the views of rolling countryside, visiting farmers markets and eating too much duck confit and cheese. Not in any particular order.

We flew into the little airport of Bergerac, the arrivals hall was a very basic outdoor hanger, nothing fancy at all about it. A sufficient and efficient terminal. We got our rental car and off we went, to our little château (read: small basic farmhouse) in the area of Larzac.

The region of Dordogne is a department in Southern France. Dotted around the river Dordogne are small towns that we drove to, at least one a day, to visit. From the little château where we were, it was about a 30-minute drive each way. We didn’t get to see all the towns, but the ones we did are all captured below in my photographs. However, I did miss photographing one or two places as I was either busy eating or we just drove past and didn’t stop. There were many cute little towns hugging the river Dordogne that were ideal for stops and picnics. Lots of river kayakers following the river currents.

It was the tail end of summer and luckily the farmers markets were still in full swing. Every day there was a town nearby hosting the farmers market. A few fresh produce sellers were also just following the markets around, so you see similar stalls selling the same products. But every little town had its own flair and bits of medieval history displayed in its architecture. It was fun to visit the towns when the markets were on, trying their food and just enjoying the wonderful weather we had during out stay. It was a little crowded getting in and out of some of the town, due to the markets, but I could imagine how these towns would be swamped with local and foreign tourists at the height of summer.

I found out as we were wandering around the area, that this is also the land of duck confit. Almost everywhere we went, every restaurant served it. Or you could find other variations of duck being served. I personally ended up eating enough duck confit to last me a few years… Yes, there is such a thing as too much duck confit, to me at least. And foie gras, I did try it there, but I am not a fan. But the cheese though... The Cheese! So much yummy delicious cheese. The cheese, I could not stop eating on the trip. We even took some back, we took a lot back, I think we under estimated how much we were taking back. We ended up with a lot of cheese in the suitcase. :P

I could definitely have stayed on for a few more days, our friends stayed on longer. There are many more areas to see down there in that part of France. I see now, the beauty and attraction of southern France, that I’ve only ever heard of or read about before. I guess I would just need to visit this area again sometime in the future. Fingers crossed.

Below are my travel inspired photos of the region. Names of the towns are listed under each photo.

All photos taken with the Fujifilm X100S.

Cheers.