http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Aquitaine/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Europe , France , Aquitaine en-us Sun, 03 Jan 2010 04:23:46 +0000 Sun, 03 Jan 2010 04:23:46 +0000 Good morrow to you readers it's nice to see that you're back again.We woke to our first frost the morning of the 12th at the Total truck stop near Peregreaux and it was a beautiful blue sky overhead. The windscreen was covered in ice and it was quite chilly. If that wasn't cool enough there were two white nondescript trucks being guarded in the opposite car park by about 30 Gendarmerie who I t http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Aquitaine/Bordeaux/blog-462622.html A MUST for anyone who likes wavesA long weekend in Biaritz is really more than enough to discover and enjoy this very charming coastal town giving onto the Atlantic. My advice would be to check the weather forecast before going there. Because like all beach towns giving onto an open ocean when the wind blows...It ain't a joke The atmosphere is vibrant and young eventhough there is a lot of http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Aquitaine/Biarritz/blog-455774.html On Tuesday we landed near a tin shed in the south of France also known as the Bergerac airportMum and dad's friend from college Lynne picked us up and then drove us to their huge farmouse where we would stay for three nights. When we arrived we were met by her children Zenya Devlyn and Sebastyn. They showed us around the house I slept in the loft which was cool as well as their many barns and http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Aquitaine/Bordeaux/blog-449859.html Celleci cst la vie pour moi et pour mon amie LaurelEveryday I keep reminding us that we are really here Now firmly ensconced in Sarlat after a few hectic days in a very rainy Paris. Laurel was able to return to our perfect little Hotel Chopin in a superbly designed arcade that she had enjoyed on a previous visit. I was most amused by all the cafe chairs lined up behind wet plastic to view t http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Aquitaine/blog-445022.html I vekene eg gjekk p sprkskule budde eg hj ein vertsfamilie. Det var finfint det og alt det der alt i alt ikkje s grenselaust interessant. Likevel vil eg berette ei lita hending som fekk meg til trekkje p smilebanda. Eg hadde eige rom og fine greier. P rommet var det eg trengde seng pult stol og skap. D familien hadde ein katt som tok og framleis tar seg til rette hadde far i huse http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Aquitaine/Bordeaux/blog-441450.html Kvardagen har endeleg senka seg over livet til Johannessen. Etter to mnadar med feire og ein mnad der ting nesten er kome i gang er det godt endeleg verkelge vre i gong. Eg har sltt rot noks nyaktig 30 min i fr universitetet og trivst med det. Etter ha leita lenge og vel budd p sofaen og litt rundt om kring var det glimrande finne stad bu. Eg hadde hatt det som premiss at eg ville http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Aquitaine/Bordeaux/blog-441449.html Blogday 16 Thursday 1 October BiarritzA decent night's sleep....sort of. The truck traffic still woke me while it was still dark and I think that I've figured out what's going on. There's a Museum of the Sea on the headland opposite the hotel and they're excavating an enormous cavity there presumably some sort of fish tank. It turned out to be another lazy day mainly because the weather was not http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Aquitaine/Biarritz/blog-441287.html Blogday 14 Tuesday 29th September en route to BiarritzUp quite early as a long drive was facing us. Helpfully the Chev was parked very close to the hotel so loading the baggage didnrsquot take too long. Then out of Nimes with a brief diversion to top up the fuel and so avoid the iniquitous prices at the autoroute fuel stops and we were heading west towards Toulouse. The traffic was quite h http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Aquitaine/Biarritz/blog-441177.html Success We managed to go cycling. We ended up hiring the bikes through an English company who are based in the Dordogne. This proved to be very useful as they could obviously speak English. We looked like proper cyclists as we had panniers and a map in a special holder. We ended up cycling about 30km and although it was all on the road it was so quiet that we barely saw any cars.We tried to limi http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Aquitaine/Dordogne/blog-440202.html Blogday 9 Thursday 24th September Rocamadour Padirac and FigeacAn early start to the day. A quick breakfast in the room packed the baggage into the Chev checked out of the hotel and headed out of Sarlat for the last time planning to end up in Figeac by way of two well known tourist destinations. First of all we went to Rocamadour a popular pilgrimage destination since the Middle Ages http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Aquitaine/Dordogne/blog-439831.html Blogday 7 Tuesday 22nd September still in SarlatDisaster in the Dordogne A really bad start to the day. I was driving the Chev out of the car park behind our hotel intending to turn right and despite a warning from Jane I misjudged the width of the archway linking the car park to the road. Result one scratched Chev. So after committing Hari Kari three times the two encores being to ma http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Aquitaine/Dordogne/blog-439208.html The Lot The DordogneLeaving LanguedocRoussillon means taking on the freeway towards Bordeaux into the Lot and Dordogne regions. That means duck goat's cheese Cantal gesiers foie gras etc etc etc We have given up fighting the food and wine regime. We eat. We eat well. We eat 3 courses. We start the day with breakfast and it just gets better. This part of the journey is no different. http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Aquitaine/Lascaux/blog-438860.html Blogday 5 Sunday 20th SeptemberLa Rochelle to Sarlat in the Dordogne via much of Burgundy by reason of getting lost a few times. This on account of my Michelin Road Atlas being somewhat out of date like 8 years and not showing recently constructed autoroutes. This is what happens when a boy from Cardiganshire goes on holiday for the information of those readers who come from beyond the Wels http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Aquitaine/Dordogne/blog-438379.html Blogday 3 Friday 18th SeptemberSo much for the early start to the day. Having stayed up late last night to complete the blogs for the first two days I slept until almost 11am. And this despite a full and rumbling tummy from the moules frites of the previous night perhaps the moules had an anaesthetic quality in place of a taste of anything.Having got up I wandered around outside the hotel look http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Aquitaine/blog-438000.html Just spent two great days exploring the area. It really is pretty here and round every corner there seems to yet another pretty village or town filled with lovely houses. I have lost count of the number of times we have said ldquoThere is a nice house I'd like that onerdquoYesterday we went to Domme and then La Roque Gageac. Domme is a village right on the top of a hill so we had great views http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Aquitaine/Dordogne/blog-437682.html 9709Today we were off to more small towns in the Dordogne to infiltrate some more castles. Most of the castles we have seen have been more elegantly decorated homes with good security than a true castle for protecting a village. Castlenaud promised to be that fortress we were looking for. It was a true fighting machine and was built in the early 12th century. The castle was sized many times http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Aquitaine/Dordogne/blog-437410.html 9609It was early this morning but Andrew couldnrsquot resist a ride in the Dordogne hills. We headed off to see the cave of prehistoric man today.The first cave we arrived at was the Lascaux Cave in Montignac France. This is the home to some of the oldest cave paintings of over 17000 years old. The original caves where damaged by letting people in and the carbon dioxide see Global Warm http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Aquitaine/Dordogne/blog-437402.html Tried to go cycling today but failed It would appear that cycle shops have defined opening times and when it reaches an arbitrary date in September then they all shut. We went into a camp site that had a huge signs saying hire bikes here. We could see the bikes but they said we couldn't hire them. We asked where we could hire them but we just got told that the ldquola saison est fini FINI ld http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Aquitaine/Dordogne/blog-437087.html Today we headed off in the other direction and into the region known as The Lot. We have driven the road from Les Espioles to Baynac everyday so far so we felt it was time for a changeOur first destination was Rocamadour which is a town that is built into the cliffs. It looks like it is just stuck onto the side of the cliff. At the top there is a chteau below that there is a series of chapels a http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Aquitaine/Dordogne/blog-436824.html September 5 2009 Salat Dordogne River FranceWe walked down this morning to Sarlat as today was the big market day. Once we hit the village we were amazed by all of the vendors and booths that had appeared overnight. They must have started brining people in at 2 am. The food was amazing. Butchers were there with fresh meats and sausages and fresh fish. Huge wheels of cheese which we tr http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Aquitaine/Dordogne/blog-436814.html