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Published: March 9th 2011
Fifteen days vacation stretched before me, a landscape of promising excitement. Not a seconde was to be wasted sitting around the house, so we immediately set off to explore. First stop, Bordeaux where we were to shop till we drop. Charlote and I rode in style on the metro and , despite my efforts to blend in with the locals, I managed two unmistakably touristy moves. First, when the metro took off I made a grab for the handhold secondes too late and went hurtling backwards through one entire metro car. Seconde, I accepted a pamphlet from a young woman searching for money to feed her and her young daughter. As it turns out, there are many women with hungry daughters, who spend their time milling about metros with a stack of feed me pamphlets in hand... who would have known? (Answer: everybody else on the metro). When we arrived in Bordeaux, France's architectural beauty, once again, did not fail to leave me slack jawed and and wide eyed. However, these particular buildings triggered a whole knew sense of reckless excitement. The excitement felt by any 15 year old girl when presented with row upon row of chic french boutiques.
Streets of Bordeaux
Where you can go jacketless in FebuaryA few hours later, with bright eyes and glossy shopping dangling from our arms, Charlotte and I backtracked towards the metro to meet Thibault and Ocean. With them, we took several metros teeming with people around Bordeaux , and I enjoyed the company of three eager( if not too knowledgable) guides.
After a days recovery from our shopping excursion, we set off to see a number of nearby attractions. The two hour car ride to the first site passed,literally, in the blink of and eye, due to the fact that I was snoring in the back seat the majority of the trip. Upon arrival ,I climbed groggily out of the car and was met by a brisk breeze that whistled through my hair and jacket. Fortunately, I would soon be taking advantage of the same shelter once use by prehistoric cave men, and descend into La Grotte de Lascaux II. The cave was decorated by a number of ancient paintings that seemed altogether too amazing to have been done by cavemen. Conclusion of the morning:The next time someone calls you a Neanderthal take it as a compliment.
Our next stop was La Roque Saint- Christophe. This
Town near Perigord
good things do come in small packages...this town was stunning site was of medieval origin, and I felt like even more of a hobbit than usual as I explored it's many chambers which had been carved carefully into the side of a rocky cliff.
The last site of the day was Gouffre de Poumeysaac, which I had been told was a grotto. Grottos, I had always imagined to be dark, musty affairs where, if you listened carefully enough, you might hear a soft "My Precioouuus" echo through the cave. It was this slightly pessimistic stereotype that was obliterated from my imagination after I visited Poumeysaac.
We entered the grotto in complete inky darkness, and suddenly, from deep within the cave, a deep mysterious instrumental track began to play. Next came short bursts of light that danced dramatically around the cave. I caught a glimpse of shimmering pink here and a flash of impossibly clear water there then, in the very bowels of the cave, what I was sure was treasure....False alarm. It was pottery undergoing a unique process of petrification...too bad. Once the dazzling show of lights and music had come to an end, we were given time to poke around. The cavern was a cluster
Castle on the way to Perigord
The castle was beautiful, although I wouldn't want to go swimming in the water. of stalagmites and stalactites that looked as if they had all been handcrafted out of soft pink wax and glazed with a layer of fine crystal; the effect of all of them together was stunning.
My day of tourism had come to an end, and had definitely shown me some of our planet's and our civilization's most magnificent exhibitions. Next week Spain!
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Grandma
non-member comment
March 6
I'm so happy that you have a new posting. The French part of your vacation sounds amazing (I wondered, when we were iChatting, if it was the caves at Lascaux that you had seen. You might remember learning about them in Gr. 7 Socials.) Keep up the good work - can't wait to read about Spain! love, Grandma