"South West France" a Dieulivol Travel Page by ranger49

A long planned family reunion holiday in Greece for three scattered siblings was cancelled when one of the party became ill. But a rapid recovery followed major surgery and the "patient" decided to make rearrangements . Which is how we -six people -ended up in a beautiful farmhouse with separate cottage and swimming pool in south west France - not the Dordogne but in Acquitaine. The house was surrounded by vines on two sides, by an orchard of plum trees on another and a huge fig tree stood outside the back door.

This was one of the best locations possible for a family holiday -the peace and quiet of the countryside by night and the famil.iar, companionable noises of tractors in adjoining fields by days. The plum orchards were harvested as we arrived but many clung to the trees waiting for someone to collect them; others had fallen to the ground just waiting to be picked up. The most fruitful of fig trees - just a couple of steps awaya from the back door - provided luscious fruits. We discovered a new breakfast dish compote -fig and plum compote for 6 every day for two weeks.

The grape harvest started during the last few days of our stay . By that time we had already discovered the local winemaker, 10 minutes walk away up the road. The fields on one side of his oland produced Cote du Duras; those on the other side of the road Cotes de Bordeaux - such is the precision in the attribution of AOC wines.

Well supplied with fruit and wine, all our other shopping needs were well catered for in the nearby villages of St. Ferme and Dieulivol,and the towns on Duras and Montsegur.