We were up and out for a walk early on April 5. Across the river from the hotel, there were two châteaux. On the left, Châeau de Castelnaud dates from the 12th-16th century. One the right is Château Fayrac which dates from the 15th century and is currently owned by an American who has undertaken extensive repairs and lives there only a few months a year.

The August 1980 issue of the National Geographic had a picture of the Beynac Château from along the Dordogne River. I tried to find the place from which the picture was taken on our morning walk. This was as close as I could get. Other shots I did on that walk actually show that the trees have grown in the area where the Geographic's photographer stood.

During the rest of our morning walk we enjoyed hearing the birds singing their spring songs. The cliff below the Beynac Château serves as the home to many rooks. You can see one flying just above the right side of the castle.

We toured the Château later in the moring and it deserves its own page .

After our climb up to the château we were pretty hungry, so we stopped for a cheese sandwich. Cheyenne, the owner's dog, had learned he could get food from the patrons by looking cute. He had mastered cute, and it worked on Jan!

After lunch we took a river cruise on a reproduction of a 19th century flat bottomed river boat called a “gabarre”. We had seen them that morning and our feet needed some time off after our two long morning walks.

The cruise was very relaxing and it was easy to see why Beynac was such an impressive fortress when approached by boat(as travelers in the Middle Ages would have done.)

The fairytale-like Château Fayrac (right) seen from the gabarre.

We returned just in time to clean up and go to the grand opening party for the hotel. Down in the restaurant the Champagne bottles were open and the glasses ready. Jan got together with the new managers Christoph and Sarissa and Christoph's mother to toast the success of their hotel. Next the mayor and his wife arrived. They shared a toast with Christoph. Guests continued to arrive throughout the afternoon to congratulate the new management. Many brought flowers and all brought good cheer.

Sarissa and her nephew (above). Friends of Christoph's family gather to enjoy the sun, food and drink. They were interested in us since we were the only Americans at the party. We had a long conversation discussing everything one could imagine. It was a great party, even though I spilled Jan's Champagne! Dinner that night had a main course of rouget (a fresh water fish local to that area) and a white Bergerac Sec.