We finally got away from Crocq around noon today after cleaning up a bit and making sure everything was packed and shut down as need be. It was a decent drive...not too much traffic and about 300 or so kilometers from Crocq to Saumur which is on the Loire River. Again, we passed through some beautiful country and saw some cool things. About 25 km before Saumur we stopped at the first of the chateaux de la Loire that we plan to visit. This chateau was Chinon and it was here that Joan of Arc first met the future King Charles to tell him to fight the English. He was in disguise and she picked him out of the crowd after never having seen him before and this was proof that she was sent by God ... read more

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

Woke up this morning after a nice sleep and headed downstairs for breakfast. As usual, I had cheese, bread, juice and coffee. Marie-France, François, Mattis and I walked down into Saillans (about 1 km frokm Le Fort...walking through a vineyard and across the train tracks!) to go to the Sunday market. Ken decided to stay back and have a shower and relax. It was a lovely walk but even at 10:30 am it was very hot. The market was beautiful and MUCH bigger than the last time I was in Saillans. Apparently, there are many Dutch people who visit the region in July and August. Also, there is a LOT of camping along the Drome River as well as a lot of river activities such as rafting, kayaking, canoeing, etc. The river also has some lovely ... read more

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

Today I woke up rather early (7 am due to not being used to sharing a bed lately....let alone a very small bed!) and had my breakfast. Ken slept until about 11 when I got him up so we could spend a bit of time exploring Bordeaux together. He ate his breakfast and then we hit the road....walking and tramming - mostly walking! We took the tram down to the Quai and got of and walked around Centre Ville. It was a beautiful, hot day and we must have walked 5 or so kilometres. We went into the cathedral and, as always, were amazed at the craftsmanship of the building and accoutrements. The stained glass is just stunning! We walked all around and saw many different places. At about 2 pm we stopped at a restaurant ... read more