October 21, 2010 We wake up to a thin layer of ice covering the ground—boy, is it cold. But thankfully our room stays nice and warm. The dining room is inviting with a big fire. Another great farm breakfast except the croissants are day-old. That is a disappointment after such delicious croissants the day before.… Continue reading Dordogne III
Category: France
Dordogne II
October 20, 2010 We slept 9 hours and awoke fully rested. We had a fantastic farm breakfast: delicious freshly-baked croissants, fromage blanc with jam, farm-made grape juice, cheese (a choice of several aged cheeses), dry-smoked ham, pate and the wonderful coffee with warm cow’s milk. Now we are fortified for the day! Our first stop is the… Continue reading Dordogne II
Dordogne I
October 19, 2010 It’s my 58th birthday!! And we are off to the Dordogne region of France to visit the prehistoric caves. We have educated ourselves to some extent. Our friends, Bob and Brenda Berry, gave H a great book on hypotheses of the origin of the caves’ “decorations” and we read several more books on… Continue reading Dordogne I
Languedoc I
October 18, 2010 The high-velocity winds have hit our area of France. So things have cooled off considerably and we must hand onto our hats when we leave the apartment. I am glad that a purchased a beautiful scarf in Barcelona. I wear it like a French woman and it keeps me very warm. We… Continue reading Languedoc I
Barcelona to Girona
October 16, 2010 I am very happy with my silicon earplugs! They truly block out about 80% of the noise. I sleep very well in spite of the revelry that lasts until 2am. But everyone else suffers. H says that the earplugs hurt so he doesn’t use them. And the Hartleys don’t find them as… Continue reading Barcelona to Girona
Off to Barcelona
October 12, 2010 We are off to Barcelona today! The Hartleys are bleary-eyed because they just got the news that Stephan’s son has a particularly aggressive form of melanoma last night. His surgery will be in a month so they won’t know until then how extensively it has spread. We tell them to go the… Continue reading Off to Barcelona
Montpellier
October 7, 2010 After a jet-lagged restless night the four of us set off for near-by Montpellier. We have visited this dynamic city several times and love it more each time we come. The city has been a commercial hub for over 1,000 years for traders from all parts of the known world. Its university… Continue reading Montpellier
At the Hartleys
6 October 2010 We dived back into French culture today after a 2 year hiatus when we went grocery shopping at the street market in a near-by town with Catherine. That meant asking for help in French; exploring food items that we would never see in California (the fall mushrooms are incredible); trying to figure… Continue reading At the Hartleys
In France
October 5, 2010 Our flight was a dream compared to what we would have experienced in “economy.” Our food was the same “just OK” meal in economy but the premium included “digestives” after dinner”: I got Liqueur de Poire Willams, a pear liqueur that was very good and H got cognac. Even though we had… Continue reading In France
Off to France
October 4, 2010 We regretfully left our sweet babies, including our new arrival, Lucky, and we are now in LAX waiting for our flight to leave. Since our economy tickets only allowed us one piece of checked baggage, we were surprised to see so many people with well more than one bag. The couple ahead… Continue reading Off to France