http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Limousin/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Europe , France , Limousin en-us Sun, 12 Oct 2008 15:32:12 BST Sun, 12 Oct 2008 15:32:12 BST We are now at a site near Montignac in the Vezere valley. Still in the PerigordDordogne region.We arrived Thursdsay 25th of September. I have to think hard what day it is now. Each day follows a gentle routine and flows by so quickly . I canrsquot believe how easy it is to fill the day. I thought I would be bored but there does not seem to be that much time when I canrsquot find something t http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/France/Limousin/Brive-la-Gaillarde/blog-330460.html The search for the Holy Grail of showers It is now a month since we began our sabbatical. France has provided everything that we expected of it. Honfleur Trouville and Deauville were superb old fashioned seaside towns. Carnac and its standing stones were a joyand the Perigord or Dordogne area is rural and simply beautiful.The Dordogne area has everything required to keep me interested and http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/France/Limousin/Brive-la-Gaillarde/blog-329359.html We have had funny old week here in Argentat. We have definitely chilled out and become more accustomed to the French routine of life. The sun has shone all week which always helps. We continue to meet new people camping alongside us. Dutch German and even one Czech chap and his son. Swapping travel stories and sharing a drink has become an enjoyable part of our life. It's getting cold at nig http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/France/Limousin/Brive-la-Gaillarde/blog-327130.html 19th SeptemberWe have arrived in the Dordogne at last 2 wet days ago. I have always wanted to explore this region. The journey here was tiring. We moved on from Carnac and spent two nights near La Rochelle on a very quiet site in the Marais du Poitevin Regional Park. I think we have overdosed on the travelling driving over the last couple of days. It has made us tense and snappy. One or t http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/France/Limousin/Brive-la-Gaillarde/blog-325318.html 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 dayWe just kind of relaxed in the morning and I took some pictures of the house we are staying in even messed up as w http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/France/Limousin/Creuse/Crocq/blog-306109.html We left Franois and MarieFrance'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 fa http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/France/Limousin/Creuse/Crocq/blog-305705.html Today is our 27th anniversary and we celebrated it in a lowkey 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 pa http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/France/Limousin/Creuse/Crocq/blog-304488.html Today I woke up early and went took a walk to the boulangerie picerie and patisserie. We needed some bread I bought a baguette and 2 pains aux raisins...mmmmmmmmMMMMMMMMMMMMM some staples mainly cheese and a pt de pomme de terre for dinner on JeanFranois'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 http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/France/Limousin/Creuse/Crocq/blog-304077.html It was our last day in Bordeaux and our last day with our amazing and wonderful hosts JeanFranois 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 s http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/France/Limousin/Creuse/Crocq/blog-303724.html 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 Guret today to get the rental car checked because it had a pesky message telling me le niveau de l'huile http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/France/Limousin/Creuse/Crocq/blog-301964.html 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 chate http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/France/Limousin/Creuse/Crocq/blog-301321.html Just a quick entry to say I'll write all about Limoges tomorrow after Mom is safely on her way home and I am back in Crocq. Nice here in Limoges. The hotel is quite funky. It's got an amazing collection of old gramophones and phonographs. I'll get a couple of pictures to show. It's also wellsituated....just around the corner from the Office du Tourisme and lots of shopping We hope to get to a po http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/France/Limousin/Limoges/blog-300868.html From Tours to Brantome northern part of the Perigord region we will pass through Limoges which has a beautiful porcelain museum www.museeadriendubouche.fr .In Brantome we will stay at Maison Fleurie BB www.maisonfleurie.net .The owner is Carol Robinson one of the many British expats living in this part of France. Brantome's rivermeadow location earns it the regional title 'the Ven http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/France/Limousin/blog-300867.html 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 http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/France/Limousin/Creuse/Crocq/blog-299772.html We left Crocq this morning at around 930 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 BellgardeenMarche. We were going to go there anyway and when we arrived we found they had a Sunday http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/France/Limousin/Creuse/Crocq/blog-299307.html Today I woke up and walked up to the boulangerie to buy their special pain feuillet JeanFranois 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 calle http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/France/Limousin/Creuse/Crocq/blog-298867.html I woke up today to thunder and lightning and pouring rain Luckily it was 7 am LOL Strange to hear and see that first thing in the morning. Usually in Calgary we don't get thunder and lightning until 5 in the afternoon on a hot day We had planned to go to Felletin for their Friday morning market and to check out the tapestry exhibits there and then head back over to Aubusson to see the tapestry http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/France/Limousin/Creuse/Crocq/blog-298518.html Today we had the pleasure of watching the Tour de France pass through Crocq directly past JeanFranois's house. The main road into through and out of Crocq was repaved especially for the tour to pass through. Nice black smooth asphalt. They also decorated the street with blue and yellow crepe paper of bicycles that they attached to the village walls. We got up and watched the town slowly fill http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/France/Limousin/Creuse/Crocq/blog-298037.html Today we met up with the Crocq butcher's beautiful daughter Laura and spent about 4 hours wandering around Aubusson. The weather was wonderful a bit hot for me but it's typical for a Calgarian to complain about too hot weather sunny and hot and very blue skies. Aubusson is a town famous for tapestries. It is in the confluence of 5 valleys. For 6 centuries it has been famous for tapestries t http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/France/Limousin/Creuse/Crocq/blog-297602.html Today marked the day when JeanFranois and Colette left us to continue their vacation. We will see how we do They left us at the post office and we walked back through Crocq to the house. But first we stopped at the picerie to buy a few essentials Mom wanted some champagne lol and the boucherie et charcuterie to buy a bit of meat for the next couple of days. It was raining and cold on http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/France/Limousin/Creuse/Crocq/blog-297102.html Today was a rather busy day. We saw many sights and ate a lot of food LOL Well of course we started with breakfast I'll have the usual At about 10 am we started our day trip to Guret where JeanFranois has a house he'd like to sell and so he had a rendezvous with an agent. Guret is about 1 hour away and has about 14000 people. But before we got there we had to stop in a town called http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/France/Limousin/Creuse/Crocq/blog-296672.html Today we woke up to rain. But did that stop us HA We had breakfast and then went up to the chapel in the village to watch the procession of the Virgin Mary and the relics of St. Eloi. They process up the hill of the town to the church. The little chapel was surrounded by fresh roses and the inside was full of fresh blossoms. France is a very Catholic country and they show their faith to all. Aft http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/France/Limousin/Creuse/Crocq/blog-296169.html Today was a travel day in that we left Bordeaux to drive to Crocq pronounced Cro. I forgot to mention yesterday that I had the pleasure of meeting Colette's daughter Marine and her 2 grandsons Mathis and Oscar. JF and Oscar baked a special type of cake from the Creuse region called le Creusois. It's a delicious cake made with hazelnuts After breakfast JeanFranois and I went to the train http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/France/Limousin/Creuse/Crocq/blog-295948.html I leave for France for 5 weeks tomorrow. I am always filled with mixed emotions when I go traveling especially when it requires a plane trip. I LOVE LOVE LOVE to travel and flying is my preferred way to go but I am not a comfortable flier. My trip starts in Calgary and I fly 4 hours to Montreal and then another 6.5 hours to Paris from there. It's difficult for me to relax so there will be no sle http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/France/Limousin/blog-292991.html First off a public announcement. I regret to inform you that the 2008 Sponge Bath tour is being cut short due to creative differences April ate too much Biscotti and became beligerent. I would like to give a big shout out to Paula Aprils mom for helping to sort out loose ends as british airways decided that there wasnt any conceivable reason to have their offices open on weekends. I mean n http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/France/Limousin/Limoges/blog-288374.html Cycling last day to CheneraillesnbspEurope raquonbspFrance raquonbspLimousin By Smith MckewJuly 8th 2007Puy Haut to CheneraillesKate Smith Betty MckewSome Doggy Love By the end of the week the weather got chilly so we pulled on a few extra layers and rode out of Puy Haut a little sad that this would be our last rural adventure by bicycle. So we took it very easy average speed 14.2km http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/France/Limousin/blog-181140.html Cycling Villevaleix to Puy Haut and onto BoussacnbspEurope raquonbspFrance raquonbspLimousin By Smith MckewJuly 7th 2007Villevaleix to Puy HautPuy Haut To BoussacKate Smith Betty MckewBetty riding through forestKate cycling to Suspension BridgeThe highlights were the Suspension Bridge and being chased by a pack of 3 dogs the most vocal being a labradore and the amazing ancient boulder http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/France/Limousin/blog-179062.html Cycling Moulin Teteix and VillevaleixnbspEurope raquonbspFrance raquonbspLimousin By Smith MckewJuly 7th 2007Kate Smith Betty MckewBetty cyclingKate cyclingThe Cow whispererAnother facinating day of riding to Villevaleix. We stayed at a Farm that is slowly being refurbished. It was quite extensive and with their own fowl pen that must have been the size of 2 tennis courts. They made th http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/France/Limousin/blog-178288.html We have been so busy day to day and especially while cycling for 7 days once we got to our destination and finally relaxed then got ready to eat dinner we were so absolutely 'buggered' writing about it all was the last thing on our minds. But now I have ome moments I will reminisce for you. The area or 'Department' we rode through was called La Creuse named after the river Creuse which flo http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/France/Limousin/blog-177657.html If you need confirmation as to what train will get you where you want to go don't have any illusion that you are safe asking a conductor. After asking one I confidently settled down for the journey. I was on my way to Toulouse at least that is what I thought. No doubt I made good joke fodder that night for the conductor and his drinking buds. He gave me the nod in the opposite direction somewh http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/France/Limousin/Brive-la-Gaillarde/blog-97041.html