Blogs from Crocq, Creuse, Limousin, France, Europe
July 29th 2008
Today is our last day in Crocq and we will really miss it! I got up around 8 and walked up to the boulangerie and came back and made coffee and Ken got up around 10. It was a very misty morning as there was a big storm and a lot of rainfall last night. It made for a hot and humid day!We just kind of relaxed in the morning and I took some pictures of the house we are staying in (even messed up as we had it!). At about 1 pm we went out to La Grange aux Marmots for lunch. We left it a little too late as when we arrived the chef told us he was closed. BUT he said he'd make us a lunch anyway as he remembered me from my ... read more
July 28th 2008
We left François and Marie-France's today at around 10 am to drive back to Crocq. They were very disappointed that we only spent 2 days and they made us promise the next time it would be at least a week! Lovely, lovely people! We decided to take the "shortest" route back as opposed to the "fastest" route as I didn't want to travel on the motorways again. The shortest route was certainly NOT the fastest but, boy, was it gorgeous!. We drove through the Ardeche region and the Auvergne region....both stunningly beautiful regions. The roads were small and winding and we went over some very big semi-mountains (being from the Rockies in Canada it's hard to actually call these mountains!) though they were quite high! Some places reminded us of the highlands in Scotland. We passed ... read more
July 25th 2008
Today is our 27th anniversary and we celebrated it in a low-key style. I woke up early and played on my computer for a while and had my breakfast. Ken slept until just after 10 when I had to wake him up so we could get to the Felletin market before it closed down around noon. We had to stop there because I had one more gift to buy and I knew exactly where to get it! Not saying who it is for! I packed up a picnic lunch and we were off. We managed to get to Felletin about 11:45 and had enough time to get the gift and do a bit of looking around. We also bought some divine chevre cheese and some hard salami-like sausage. We got back in the car and drove ... read more
July 24th 2008
Today I woke up early and went took a walk to the boulangerie, épicerie and patisserie. We needed some bread (I bought a baguette and 2 pains aux raisins...mmmmmmmmMMMMMMMMMMMMM!), some staples (mainly cheese!) and a pâté de pomme de terre for dinner (on Jean-François's advice! - I had forgotten about it!). I also dropped into the butcher's to say Hi to Chantal and to get a bit of jambon. After a nice breakfast we decided we'd go to Guéret and see if we could catch the market there today and to have lunch at La Belle Epoque. Mom left me some Euros so that I would take Ken there was we were all so impressed with it the first time we went! Thanks, Mom! We truly enjoyed it!! Ken had moules et frites (mussels and fries) ... read more
From Bordeaux to St-Emilion to Crocq
Published: July 23rd 2008Europe » France » Limousin » Creuse » Crocq
July 23rd 2008
It was our last day in Bordeaux and our last day with our amazing and wonderful hosts, Jean-François and Colette. I have no idea how we will ever be able to repay them for their kindnesses and hospitality! We have been STRONGLY suggesting a trip to Calgary to them so we will see :) Being able to spend time with them has been one of the highlights of our trip (mine and mom's and Ken's) and we are so very blessed to know them! We left Bordeaux around 10:45 am after we made a stop at the Europcar office to add Ken as a driver on the rental car. He brought his GPS monitor and so we had directions almost every step of the way (more about that later!). I drove to St. Emilion and we ... read more
July 19th 2008
Today I just laid low for most of the day. Still feeling a bit under the weather but I think I'm on the mend as I could eat today :) Yesterday I slept from 9 am to 5 pm with my stomach pains waking me up every hour but last night I slept through the night. I liked that! I had to drive into Guéret today to get the rental car checked because it had a pesky message telling me "le niveau de l'huile à réajuster". That lasted for a bit and then it said "niveau de l'huile correct" and then back and forth for the last 2 weeks. So, today I decided I'd better get it looked at before I make the 4 hour drive to Bordeaux tomorrow. Thank heavens for Google maps :) I ... read more
July 18th 2008
Well, I am back in Crocq after 2 very nice and busy days in Limoges. Somehow I caught a cold over here and have not been feeling very energetic but that didn't stop us from checking out Limoges and shopping! On our way to Limoges on Wednesday morning we stopped in a town called Bourganeuf. They had a market happening and, of course, we had to check that out as well as the church and the old chateau. We had a nice lunch of "fondu Creusoise" which is bassically an omelette that you pour delicious melted cheese over. Very good but not something you'd want to eat everyday! We arrived in Limoges at around 2:30. When mom and I first got there we drove around for a bit trying to find our hotel. The way they ... read more
July 14th 2008
Today we woke up to sunshine and blue skies and so we decided to drive east to the next region called le Puy de Dome. This region is known for the many volcanoes in the western part of the region. Puy de Dome itself is an inactive volcano which tourists can visit by 'navette'(shuttle bus) to the top during July in August. Between 2500 and 5000 visitors a day come in the summer and the parking lot at the top has spaces for 150 cars so they use the shuttles. Approaching the area from the west is beautiful. The volcanoes themselves become evident almost as soon as you cross into the region. The panoramas are stunning and continue to be so until you leave the region! Of course, the panoramas are breath-taking in Creuse, too, but ... read more
July 13th 2008
We left Crocq this morning at around 9:30 am heading in the direction of Lupersat, to the north. They have a Sunday market there and we were going to see what it was like. BUT we didn't find Lupersat! I don't know how I missed the sign pointing to Lupersat, but we drove right by it and ended up in Bellgarde-en-Marche. We were going to go there anyway and when we arrived we found they had a Sunday flea market happening in the main street! We walked around and checked out the wares of the vendors but there wasn't really much of interest. So, on we went further to the northwest to Chénérailles. We knew there was a "brocante et antiquities" fair there and we were delighted to see that it had very beautiful and very ... read more
July 12th 2008
Today I woke up and walked up to the boulangerie to buy their special "pain feuilleté" (Jean-François - help!??) which is a cross between a croissant and a baguette and they only make it on the weekends. Mom made sure I went out and got some! It's delicious! After we gobbled that down, we jumped in the car and headed out on our day's adventure. We drove to the south west towards a large lake called Lac Vassivière. It's a lovely lake in the south west corner of the Creuse region and a part of it is also in the adjoining, Haute-Vienne region. The first stop of the day was Felletin to buy gas. The little rental car I have seems to be able to get about 900 km/tank (if you run it dry - when ... read more
