Day 14: The Continuing Voyage

The flight home was pretty good, but I was completely jet-lagged and almost incoherent by the time I got back, so I tried to type a few notes to remind me about how things went.  Here goes:

The plane ride went well.  This time my seat was further up, in the section where there are 3 seats together.  I was at the window, an Indian lady was in the middle, and an American lady was in the aisle.  We lucked out, though.  Apparently the Indian lady was traveling with her family, but they weren't able to get seats together.  Just before takeoff, the seat next to her husband was empty, so she moved.  So there was a free middle seat next to me.  Hallelujah!  I hate being crammed into those tiny seats.

Food was another awesome adventure.  First they gave us drinks and mini-breadsticks in a bag (kind of like pretzels).  Then they handed out the dinner menu.  Seriously.  There's a little folding card that shows the menu.  Here's what they offered:
Main course was Chicken with lemon sauce, bulgur wheat, and vegetables OR Florentine 4-cheese tortellini, goat cheese, and tomato.  The rest of the meal was tomatoes and zucchini, Camembert cheese, cherry tomatoes, bread, and chocolate mousse.  And, of course, your choice of alcohol, gratis.  The biggest excitement was when they ran out of chicken, right as they got to me.  I have low blood sugar, so I need protein. And I'm not that fond of cheese.  I think the flight attendant recognized the look of panic on my face, when I asked if the other side of the plane had chicken.  She checked there and then up front, and finally found one.

After dinner, you had the choice of coffee or tea.  Or brandy or cognac.  I love foreign airlines!  Later on they brought by ice cream bars.  They looked kind of like mini-Magnum bars on a stick.

The final meal was another snack/supper.  There was what appeared to be a square piece of pizza, folded over, like a hot pocket.  It came with some good stuff, but I can't remember what that was.  I want to say there was some kind of salady dish, like cucumbers.  Or maybe some fruit.

I watched another 3 movies along the way:  Saving Mr. Banks, The Millers, and something else.  As we were landing, my row-mate struck up a conversation.  Turns out she's a semi-retired history professor at a college in Georgia.  So we had a good talk.

Once we arrived in Atlanta, mom and I set off for Chick-fil-a and then to her gate.  I swear, that woman has the worst luck with gates!  I usually have decent luck.  My gates are generally in the middle of the terminal, and okay, sometimes they're right next to the gate I've just arrived at.  Not mom.  She has a bad knee.  And literally every gate on her trip, was at the complete opposite end of the terminal.  Which meant that once we were traveling together, every gate on my trip was at the complete opposite end of the terminal.  And some of these terminals are freaking big!  I was glad to leave, just so I could go back to my normal gate-luck!

I was feeling a big "laggy" by the time we got to Atlanta.  I tried to sleep on the plane home, and mostly succeeded.  I woke up just enough to get a drink and some cookies.  By the time we landed, I really felt like crap.  My brain was totally fuzzy.  The plane landed around 6 pm and then I hiked up front to the baggage claim.  This is a small airport, so there's only 2 baggage claims.  And there was only 1 other plane that had landed about the same time we did.  It took over 30 minutes before my plane's luggage started going around the claim.  Luckily, my suitcase was one of the first, so I was outta there!

Thus concludes our story.

Day 14: The Voyage Home

The day started off dreary and rainy.  Mom and I went down to eat breakfast, if it was included in the price of the hotel. Which wasn't likely.  We went to the restaurant area, and a lady told us it was 11 euros and asked our room number.  We asked if there was a free breakfast, and she led us down the hall to another room, with food in it.  Turns out, it still cost 11 euros.  But the restaurant area was for tour groups, and the room down the hall was for everyone else.

We caught the 7:20 shuttle to the airport, because we weren't sure where it dropped you off.  The shuttle was a full size bus.  It dropped us off at the Terminal 2 bus drop off, where you caught an elevator down to the terminal, then walked a long ways to wherever you were going.  We finally found an information desk and were told to go to Terminal 2E.

We trek down to 2E on some moving walkways and escalators.  Once there, we see Air France at #3, so we go there.  He tells us to go to #4.  We go to the line at #4.  She tells us to use the check in kiosk next to #4.  We stand in line and do that.  I check in, but mom has an error.  We go back to the #4 line, and get separated.  She tells mom to get in line behind her, but she tells me to go to #3 to finish checking in with my luggage.  

I get down to #3 and I get to stand in line for the auto-luggage check in.  Except my boarding pass, that printed from the Air France kiosk, does not have one of those fuzzy bar codes on it.  I call an agent and she goes to a desk and prints me a new one, with the bar code.  I continue on,  but my luggage has an error.  Apparently, it's too big.  Not too heavy, too big.  So I have to go to a desk and finish checking in that way.

Finally, I'm done.  I hit the toilets, customs, and security, and I'm through to the gates!  Still no mom.  She had said something about duty-free wine, so I keep walking towards our gate until I find a wine shop.  That's where I'm sitting right now.  If I don't see her soon, I'll continue on to our gate.

Edit: While I was waiting, mom was in huge lines. She didn't show up until 9:30! Almost an hour after me.

Day 13: More Driving

We got up and had our Ibis breakfast, then headed out. I will say that getting out of the parking lot was much easier than getting in. Mom walked behind the car and helped direct me.

So we got on the road, heading towards the airport.  I'm going to cut my writings a little short, and just say that eventually, we got to our hotel.  We've discovered that the French don't navigate by roads, they navigate by towns.  So when you're in a town, looking for a particular road, you need to know where that road goes.  For instance, if you're in Little Rock, and you want to go west to Russellville, you look for the road to Fort Smith.  You don't look for a big sign saying I-40 West.

Once we figured out how to navigate, things got easier.  We still ended up going around and around the town of Meaux, looking for a cafe and a bathroom.  Eventually we gave up and mom remembered a Lidl was nearby, so we drove there.  Lidl is like an Aldi.

Next door to the Lidl was a restaurant!  It's Leon de Bruxelles.  It was weird.  It's a Belgian chain of mussel restaurants.  Almost everything on the menu was mussel related.  We had the lunch special, which was the "starter buffet," a hot dish, and a dessert.  The starter buffet was small and interesting.  There was lettuce, tomato, hard boiled egg, shredded carrots, pasta salad with krab, couscous with salad dressing in it, pickles, boiled shrimp, salami or something like it, escargot, and some kind of salad that looked like mini pieces of corn.

For out main dish, I had the fish and chips, and mom had the bacon omelet.  Which, of course, came with fries.  Dessert was creme brulee for me and ice cream for mom.  And all that was 11 euros and 20 cents!  The bread was also delicious.  It was chewy on the outside, but not hard, and soft on the inside.

So we survived our driving and headed towards our hotel, which is at the airport.  The traffic got really bad at some points and was really stressing me out.  There were a couple of hairy roundabouts.  We finally made the hotel and dropped off our luggage.  Now the adventure was returning the rental car.

The agency had told us to head into the airport and follow the signs.  So we did.  And there were no signs.  We circled and finally I pulled out the paperwork.  It said Terminal 2D.  So we headed there.  I followed the signs and ended up circling through a bus terminal, then finally got the correct road.  Once we got near 2D, there were signs for the rental car.  We had to circle 2D though, to get to our road, because we couldn't access it from our side.  

So we finally get to the rental return.  It says park the car, and there was a hut with computers in it.  But no people.  It said it was open from 7am-9pm, but it was locked up tight.  The sign said go into the terminal, so we followed another guy returning his car and walked to the terminal.  We got there and handed in the key, and they were like, okay, bye.  So we left and took a taxi back to the hotel.

We napped a little before supper, which was when the hotel restaurant opened at 7pm.  Another expensive meal, but I kind of like the options.  They have a starter buffet, a hot dish, and a dessert.  You can choose any individually, or get 2 of them for a price, or all 3 for a price.  The hot dish was a buffet.  There were noodles, beef stroganoff, cod in butter sauce, and something we couldn't identify.  The starter buffet was a bunch of different salads.  The desserts were creme brulee, cheese cake, and a bunch of other stuff.  I had some kind of chocolate cake with whipped cream and cherries.

Update

I'm having some email issues, so if I haven't replied to you, that's why.  Google seems to think my hotel is fishy.

Day 12: Ibis

We follow the Ibis sign and pull in front, in the 15 minute parking.  I go in to see if they have a room.  About 20 minutes later, we've got a room, breakfast in the morning, and parking.  Mom's knee and leg are acting up, so I get to roll a cart down to the car, load up the luggage, then roll it back up the ramp to the hotel.  Then I get to park the car.

Oh...my...god...I go around the block, and parking is under the hotel.  I ring a buzzer and they let me in.  Bear in mind, we're in a land where many of the roads are small.  It's not unusual for some roads to be little more than 1 lane.  With no marking or warnings or anything.  So when I see a sign saying "Be careful, the road is narrow" I start to panic.  I'm in an Opel Astra, which is not a large car.  But it is a bit long.  I'm turning through this one-lane, two-way, little, narrow underground parking garage, using my mirrors to make sure I don't hit the walls.  Then I get to a straight section, and I have to turn into a parking spot between 2 concrete pillars.

I get as far to the right as I can, then start to turn. I have to stop and back up and turn and go forward and then turn the other way and go through a ton of contortions to get the car between the 2 pillars. And that was with no cars on either side of me.  I'm really praying that when we leave tomorrow, there are still no cars next to me.  Because I'm not sure I can get back out of the parking spot.

The parking is 1 flight of spiral stairs down, so I go up, and get mom and roll the cart to the elevator.  All the elevators in France are small.  The last Ibis elevator held about 4 people.  This elevator sinks when you enter it.  I thought it was just the luggage, but no, even when it was just me, it sinks. 

We get to the room, and are very happy!  We got a triple: a double bed and a twin bed.  I had asked for 2 beds, and I think they were out of twins, because she took a while finding us a room.  So we're happy having extra room.  In the twin room, the beds are right next to each other, because they fit in the space where a regular bed goes, which is between 2 built-in night stands.

So now I get to roll the cart back down.  As I'm leaving, mom says, "Get some ice too."  So I go into the bar to get some ice.  The bar is not a bar.  It's a big fancy looking bar/restaurant, decorated in brass and mirrors, and I immediately feel a little underdressed  After the long day and stress of parking, I almost bailed on getting the ice.  But I managed to  walk past a bunch of people and get to the bar and get some ice.  The lady gave me 2 ice cream glasses full of ice.  She carried them to the restaurant door, because I hadn't realized I needed a hand to get out the door.  I got upstairs and mom started laughing at the glasses, and we both had to take photos.  So you'll see them later.

So we're finally ensconced in our hotel room, watching NCIS in German.  I'm by the window, which overlooks the front of the hotel, on a roundabout.  Not bad.

Day 12: Driving Montargis

So we come into town.  The road starts to split, and I don't know which way to go.  Mom is driving and we just sort of take one of the roads.  I finally see on the map, that we need road XYZ to get into town.  I tell mom, and the road splits in two.  We head toward XYZ, but the other road says it actually goes into town!  This has happened all the time in France.  You're on road D111, which on the map goes through Town1 and then connects to D222.  But then before you get to Town1 the D222 road pops up out of nowhere and you don't go through Town1 at all.  If you do, you've missed the road and have to turn around and go back. It's like the maps are just a suggestion in France.

So we miss our road and keep driving.  Our road went right, so we figure a left turn will take us toward the other road.  And it does.  So we're in the town.  Looking for a hotel.  Thus begins our odyssey.

We had seen a sign for the Best Western on the big highway, so we knew there was one somewhere.  We were hoping for that, or an Ibis, our Paris hotel.  We're on this roundabout somewhere and all of a sudden a Best Western sign shows up!  Huzzah!  It shows 2 roundabouts and a right turn.  We follow the directions.  We end up heading towards the center of town.  And near a Domino's, there's a Best Western sign with a right arrow.  We miss it.  So we have to drive down, turn around through a parking lot, get back here, and get the road.  The road is a little tiny 2 way road through a bunch of houses.  No hotel.  We drive.  And drive.  Then we give up and eventually wind our way back to a roundabout, and back to the Dominos.  I took a photo of the sign.  It does exist.  We drive down the road again.  No hotel.  We see a kid walking by and ask directions.  He doesn't know the Best Western, but he knows Ibis!  He says go back where we were and keep going right.

We wind around and get back to where we were.  Again.  We go right.  More center of town stuff.  It's a big place, and we're enjoying the sights.  We go past a huge cemetery and church on a hill.  Then we see a Best Western sign!  So we follow it.  It says go right.  We do.  No more signs.  We keep going, and keep going, and nothing.  So we go back.  On the way back, I see another Best Western sign, pointing left.  But we miss it, so we have to continue on, then turn around by our previous Best Western sign.  We head back to where I saw the new sign.  You can't see it from our direction, which is why we missed the turn.  It looks like the sign for our side is covered up by some random banners.

So we make our turn.  Now we're going through some tall apartments, and everyone on the street is Arab or black.  And more kebab restaurants.  We keep driving and looking.  And the streets get smaller and have more apartments.  So we turn and try to find a way back.  Again.  By this point we were both laughing hysterically.  I was making jokes about how the Best Western signs were a ruse for criminals looking to rob tourists.

We get back, and head back into town, passing the cemetary and church on the hill.  This time we ignore everything Best Western and just continue on into the center of town.  And there it is!  An Ibis!  After only an hour!

Day 12: Driving France part deux

Overall it was a pretty good day. We left Sarlat about 10 am and headed north towards Hautefort.  We had decided to take a different way back. We made it to Limoges, the porcelain place, then headed north on the autoroute, until we hit one heading east.  We headed towards Montlucon. 

It was about 1 pm by then, so we decided to stop for lunch in the first little town, which was La Souterraine.  We drove all over and could not find a cafe or bathroom!  So we got back on the interstate and continued heading east.  

We were passing a few "rest stop" areas, so we decided to pull over at the next one.  Don't ask me how, but we managed to pick the worst one.  I am not kidding!  It was full of graffiti.  There were 2 Arab toilets and a lidless toilet in the women's room.  The sink didn't work.  Outside the bathroom was another sink, which did work.  The walls didn't meet the ceiling, which meant the weather got in.

We continued on, and the next "rest stop" was a BP gas station.  Gas, food, coffee, clean restrooms, play ground, picnic grounds, etc.  I tried to take a picture of it.  It was amazing!  Especially compared to the last one.  

We continued on.  Gueret was a neat city.  Most of the places we passed were.  Many of them had old churches and stuff.  We got off the autoroute at Montlucon.  That only cost us 7.40 euros!  After Montlucon we headed north towards Bourges.  We took a regular road, instead of the autoroute. 

There were a lot of trees on the side of the road.  By trees, I mean, like, orchards or something.  The trees were close together and tied to stakes, like a really big vineyard.  And there was a sort of netting that could be spread over them.  We think they may have been fruit trees.  We saw something red on a few trees, but couldn't make it out.  Hopefully my picture came out.

We made it past Bourges and took another small road towards Montargis.  Somewhere around Henrichemont we had to stop for a few minutes.  The police were stopping everyone, and then they let us pass.  Then an ambulance flew by us, heading that way.  We're guessing there was a bad accident down one of the roads.

We made it to Gien around 4:30, and went through.  It's on the river.  There was a huge old building up on a hill, so we decided to go back and find it.  We drove around and finally got up to the hill.  It was the Church of Joan of Arc and some kind of Chateau.  They also had a toilet!  It was a square building outside the church.  You go in and push a button to say it's in use.  You use the toilet, then there's a sink area.  You hold your hands out and it squirts soap.  Then you move over 6 inches and it turns on the water for you.  Another foot and there's an air dryer.  When you leave, it flushes and disinfects everything.  I'd heard of these, but this is the first I've seen.  And yes, I took pictures.  Do you really have to ask, at this point?

We had driven along the river before finding the church, so we drove back and looked for food.  It was only 5 pm, and most places don't open until 6.  We passed a kebab place with an open door, so we parked by the river and went in.  It's run by a Turkish guy.  Most of the kebab places we saw everywhere were Turkish.  We got a kebab plate, which was basically a shwarma without bread. We had meat, lettuce and tomato in tzaziki sauce, and fries.  With a side of bread slices.  Not bad.

After Gien, we continued on to Montargis, hoping to stop there for the night.

Day 11: Sarlat Market

Wednesday was the fruit market, but it was pouring rain so we didn't go.  We'd waited all week for the main market on Saturday, and it delivered!  

The day started out cool and breezy, a little overcast, but no rain.  We were told the market closed at noon, but by the time we got everyone ready to go, it was almost 11.  We finally set off walking to the market.

The center part of Sarlat is the medieval part of Sarlat.  There are small windy streets, some one-way, some stone, and a lot of it is just off limits to cars.  There were people everywhere! Quite a few were speaking English. 

The front part of the market, from where Chips lives, is more clothing and just stuff for sale.  Everything from bras, underwear, shoes, socks, hats, table cloths, towels, decorations, and every manner of tchotchke you could think of.
 
Farther back, you get more into fruits, vegetables, foie gras, sausages, olives, meats, and fish.  There were two booths selling paella, and several olive vendors.  I couldn't count the number of foie gras vendors.  We're pretty much in the middle of Foie Gras Central, so you can't spit without hitting one.

I found a few presents for people, who are reading this blog, so I can't say what they are.  But they're cool!  I'll try to remember to put photos up after I give away the presents.  I also found a summer hat for me.  I've been looking at home so I thought I might as well look abroad too.  It's like a small straw fedora with a brown ribbon around it.

We thought about eating at a cafe in town, but we didn't find one we liked.  Eventually we ended up with half a rotisserie chicken and a pile of fried potatoes.  One of the specialties here is sliced potatoes fried in goose fat.  The rotisserie chicken was really good, and almost falling apart.  And it didn't have that weird flavor that the ones at Sam's have.

After lunch, mom and I went for a drive.  We saw a few chateaus on the hillside, but sometimes couldn't find how to get there.  We went to Domme, which was up in the hills, and we went somewhere else in the hills near Carlux. 

On our way back, we drove to the other side of Sarlat to get gas.  On our way back to Chips' place, we took a wrong turn around a barrier and drove down our normal road in Sarlat.  Which was still full of vendors packing up from the market!  There were one or two other cars coming the other direction, but I think they may have been allowed to do so.  Luckily we made it down the road and around another barrier, and made it home.

Smoked Salmon Salad

At Chez Cathy et Paulo.

Enchaud Perigord

This was at the Irish place on the river.

Day 10: Du Cote de Chez Cathy et Paulo

We ate at this little restaurant beside the church in Cadouin.  At first we thought it was a pizzeria, but they offered a menu and a lunch special so we stopped in.  I ordered some tea, because it was rainy and getting chilly.  About 50 degrees, I think.  We ordered the big lunch special, because it came with salad and dessert.  And it was 13 euros.

Most of the places we've eaten, when you get a salad with the lunch special, it's a regular salad.  This place offered you a choice of one of their menu salads.  Mom got smoked salmon and I got chevre.  My salad came with toast, with melted goat cheese on it.  It was yummy.  Apparently mom's was too, by the way she scarfed down the salmon.

The main course was fish with rice.  I have no idea about the fish.  It was white.  There was a big white filet hunk, smothered in a tomato sauce with bell peppers.  It reminded me a bit of a creole sauce.  The rice was a yellow rice, one of my favorites.  And there was a little crescent-shaped puffy pastry thing on it.  It was really good!

For dessert, we had options.  Most places just bring you the dessert of the day.  Mom and I both had a little apple pie kind of thing, with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top.  It was individual "pies" with a crumb topping, warm.

This was really a lovely place.  It was as good as our time at The Black Duck.  We sat there for over an hour and enjoyed our meal and used the wifi.  Later, a British couple sat next to us and we talked to them for a bit.  The people who ran the place didn't speak much English, but were good at communicating, and very friendly.  This is another place I highly recommend.

Edit: I think our fish was cabillaud, which appears to be cod.

Day 10 (Friday)

We had a pretty good day.  It started out cool, but a little overcast.  We headed west towards Bergerac.  The further west we got, the cooler it got, and the wetter.  We passed some pretty towns, some with markets, and got to Bergerac before lunch.  It was sprinkling by then.  We headed towards Monbazillac, which is a chateau and vineyard.  It's south of town, and there were a ton of chateaus and vineyards there.  We stopped at the reception center, but they had already stopped selling tickets, in anticipation of closing for lunch.  It was raining and mom and I weren't sure we wanted to view another chateau anyway, so we left.

 

I saw a sign for a town I'd seen a sign for along the way, so we went back that way, instead of backtracking.  It was Issigeac.  It was a pretty drive, but we kept running into small towns that had the main road under construction and we'd have to figure out how to go around them.  We passed Issigeac and headed towards Cadouin.  There's an abbey there, but we managed to miss it.  I think it's up in the hills.  Instead we stopped near the church in town, because there were restaurants and we were hungry.

After lunch we continued back towards Sarlat.  We got home earlier than usual, about 2:30 or 3:00.  Since it was raining, we figured we'd read or something.

Day 9 (Thursday)

Today we decided to head for Hautefort.  It looked really cool in the brochure I had.  We drove up there and got in before lunch.  The place is huge!  It's another place where there are roped off areas to look at, but you can go through a bunch of rooms.  It's also self-guided, which I prefer.  That way you can wander around how you like. 

We watched a video about the chateau, which had English subtitles.  Then we started exploring.  There was a lot to see and some great views!  I've got a ton of photos of this place too.  There were also some gardens, and a park, but we didn't go in there.  Nearby was an almshouse and some kind of medical museum, but we really weren't sure how to get there.  

The chateau closed for lunch while we were there, so we finished up and left.  We headed back towards Montignac, for lunch.  You may remember that town from earlier in the week.  I drove down these little streets while we looked for cafes.  I saw a few on the river so I pulled into a one-way, took the first parking spot I could find, and we walked down the street towards the food.

We ended up in an Irish place called Flannagan's, although no Irishmen were in sight.  It was a beautiful day, so we sat outside on the terrace, near the restaurant.  There was another terrace that was actually on the river, but it was really windy, so we didn't go there.  They had the table cloths clipped to the tables.

Instead of the special, we got a regular entree.  We both had the Enchaud Perigord.  It was listed as roast pork with salad and fries.  It was okay.  But we didn't realize that here, roast pork looks more like ham.  If that doesn't make sense, you'll understand when you see the pictures.  But we had a nice lunch on the river, with wifi.

Afterwards we headed to the Chateau de Losse.  This place had a guided tour, which had just started.  They also had an English translation.  What I didn't like, was that there was no photography allowed.  Most places have up a sign showing a camera with a line through it.  But when you ask, they say it means "no flash."  So I assumed the same here, but then the guide told me it was forbidden.  There were a bunch of English speakers, and some Germans, but the guide only gave her spiel in French.

This place was okay.  It had the rooms you go through and some areas roped off.  But since I couldn't take pictures, and the guide was long-winded, it was kind of annoying.  Once we got outside  there were some garden areas and a few small towers to explore.  There was also a great view of the river.  But after Hautefort, it wasn't as fun.  We ran into some Australians who had been around Domme, and said it was good

We went home a different way and took some pictures along the way.  This part of the country had more cliffs and we came upon some spectacular cliff dwellings!  They were also used during the Middle Ages.  Frank - you get to walk up there and explore them.  We should come back and do that!  There were a few more similar places, including an actual house built into the cliffs.  And, we didn't see them, but there's some kind of cro-magnon village.  This is the part of the country with the cave paintings (which we also didn't see).

Day 8 (Wednesday)

It rained last night.  The temperature dropped, so Chips turned on the heat  By morning it was dry, but still overcast and windy.  We slept late, so it was close to lunch before we set out on the road to Cahors, but we never made it.  We got part of the way and then turned around and headed back towards Sarlat.  We passed some really nice towns.  Gourdon was especially nice.  We also saw a grotto you could visit, but it looked like a lot of walking, so we passed on it.

I'd been wanting to see the Chateau Puymartin, so we drove there.  It was closed for lunch!  So we backtracked to Chateau Commarque.  This was a ruined chateau.  We ran into some Brits there and asked them about it, because you couldn't see it from the parking lot.  The guy said his wife thought it was worth visiting, but he would have passed.  You have to hike a long trail to get there, and then it's ruins, which may also require good shoes.  We passed. 

On the way to Commarque, I saw a sign for some Cabanes, the same ones I'd seen near Puymartin.  So we took the road to the Cabanes, cabins on a hill, and continued past and came out near Puymartin.

Chateau Puymartin was great!  We got there just after they opened for the afternoon.  It was funny, because they thought we were German.  Our car has a big D on it, for Germany, and we've been joking all week that whenever we cause a problem or drive slow, the French are probably saying "Those damn German tourists!" 

This chateau has a guided tour, and they had an English translation available to look at.  The lady giving the tour was very nice.  I also got the student discount with my UA ID.  We started the tour, and the place is beautiful.  This is one of those that's more like a museum, with some roped off areas to look at, and some areas that you walk through.  Since there were several English speakers, at the end of her French spiel, the tour guide would say a few words in English too. 

This site is supposed to be haunted.  The lord came home and found his lady in bed with her lover, so he killed the lover and kept her captive in a small tower for 15 years.  She was fed through a trap door in the ceiling. We got to visit the tower, and I took pics.  I was leaning against the wall while the guide explained that after she died, her body was walled up in the tower, where the ochre colored stone is.  I looked back, and there I was, leaning against the ochre stone! 

We walked and walked!  You had to go up about 20 stone steps in the main courtyard.  Then there were 93 steps up the stone spiral staircase, to the top of the tower.  I know this because my English translation said so.  Mom and I were both worried about our knees by the time we finished.  This was really a great place to visit though.  I took a ton of photos, which I'll post on my website once I get home. 

Afterwards, we headed back and passed by some gardens and chateaus, but decided not to stop.  We had done enough for the day.

Hautefort

Mom at Chateau Hautefort.

Day 7: The Black Duck

We had lunch at the Black Duck, a pub and restaurant.  It's probably been the best overall dining experience I've had so far.  We were on our way to Salignac, but this place advertised wifi and so we turned around and went there.  It's a few km outside of Carcalet, or something like that. When we pulled up, it was full of lorries, so we figured it had to be good.  The guy spoke English there, when he saw us.  He said they get a bunch of English tourists in the summer, so he has to know it. Chips later told us that the owner is British. 

There was a bar when you first walk in, then some steps down to the restaurant area, with a TV in the corner.  We got one of those tables in the corner, where one side is like a booth, which is where the dog liked to sleep, so she came over and napped under the booth seat near mom.

The food was 13 euros for the lunch plate, so we got that.  There was already a bottle of chilled tap water on the table. 

Our first course was soup.  It was a kind pea-ish looking soup, with onion, and some meat in it.  It also had lots of bread torn up and soaking in it.  It was good.

The second course was pasta salad.  It was really long macaroni noodles, I mean, about 2 inches long, in a little whitish sauce.  There were also bits of egg, hot dog, tiny pickle, fake crab, and something else we couldn't figure out.  Maybe it was egg yolk.  It was quite good.

The third course was our main course.  It was described as pork ribs, but it was a pork chop, well done and dark on the outside, like there was a skin.  Maybe it was floured?  It was accompanied by fresh mashed potatoes and a light brown gravy.  Light in color and flavor.  Also quite good.

The fourth course was a cheese dish, which we politely declined.

The fifth course was described as a cherry cake.  It was in a low, round dish, like you might keep a washing scrubby in at your sink.  It tasted like there was a small cake there, and cherries were baked on top and the juices allowed to run through the cake and make it wet.  Also quite good.

Finally, we were offered coffee.  Again, politely declined.  I'd like to remind you at this point that this whole thing cost 13 euros each, and there was free wifi and a dog.  What more could you ask for!!!  We thoroughly enjoyed the ambiance and stayed for over an hour.  They even had a toilet with a seat, and soap, and a hand towel.  Definitely our best dining experience!

Day 7 (Tuesday)

Today was really fun.  We ran around a lot but didn't really stop anywhere.  We just kept driving around the little towns and chateaus.  We drove to Montignac and took pictures of the chateau.  There was simply too much climbing involved for us to want to do that again, after yesterday.  We drove around the Nut Museum too.  At some point we drove through a beautiful village with an old church, but everything is on a hill.  I can really feel my quads after all the climbing yesterday!

Then we headed back and found a sign for a chateau, so we followed it.  We had a great scenic drive, over a one-lane stone bridge, but the chateau didn't open until 2pm.  We followed another sign, another scenic drive - including a Scenic View official stop - but this chateau turned out to be a hotel.  Frank - it's in the middle of nowhere and very scenic.  Might be fun to stay there.  I think it said 3 stars.

We kept driving these little roads.  Several times we were almost run over by tractors.  We went towards another chateau in Salignac, but got distracted by the gardens.  Les Jardins du Manoir d'Eyrignac are gorgeous.  We didn't go in, because it cost 12.50 euros, although the parking was free.  There's over 10 hectares of sculpted gardens and 200 hectares of private woods.  There's 2.5 km and 4.5 km walking trails.  We decided not to walk, so I bought postcards instead.

We kept driving, but heading back towards Salignac.  We decided to hit the chateau there, but it was under construction!  At that point it was getting towards late afternoon, so we headed back to Sarlat.  We took Chips shopping at the new big Leclerc supermarket and then had supper.

Supper was ham, mushroom, and olive pizza.  The olives still had pits!  We also had a great salad with some dressing that was really good. Almost like a creamy Italian, but lighter and not Italian.  Which probably maked no sense. But it was really good.

Day 6 (Monday)

Mom and I had a big day planned for today.  We went to Chateau Beynac.  They had a parking meter where you could buy time, and I got 90 minutes for 2 euros.  The chateau itsef was 8 euros.  The toilets were very open.  I took a photo.  But the chateau was great!  I've got a lot of pics I'll post later.  It's an old chateau set above a river.  You have to drive up some really small winding roads, which seems to be the norm in this area.  The chateau grounds were paved with rocks.  Not nice paving stones, like inside, but sometimes randomly shaped rocks and stones.  It was rather difficult to walk on.  The view was amazing, though!  I climbed all the way to the top ramparts, but mom stayed downstairs because of her knee.  Afterwards, my knee wasn't so good.  Outside the chateau was a church, which I started to walk to, but the entire way was downhill on those darn rocks, so I gave up and turned around.

After Beynac we were going to stop for lunch.  We stopped at a nearby market for drinks, but the restaurant next door was closed on Mondays.  We were going to Castelnaud next, so we headed that way.  We saw a foie gras store and stopped in there.  We got some foie gras samples, and mom had a wine sample. The lady waiting on us was English, and the husband of the owner was chef at a restaurant in town. The English lady said the best thing to do was just drive and get lost, and see what you find.

We went into Castelnaud and drove the winding roads to the chateau.  Parking was 3 euros.  This was another place with no toilet seats and only a sink.  Le sigh.  We walked towards the chateau and found the restaurant where the foie gras' lady's husband works.  We ordered hamburgers, because that was easy and relatively cheap.  The burgers were huge!  Neither of us could finish them.  After that we headed towards the chateau.  The walkways were all blacktop but it was very hilly.  We had gone down, and now had to go up a really steep bit to get to the chateau.  Mom and I both decided that maybe we should just take photos from outside.  So we went back to the car.  Just getting there was a steep walk.  A lot of the hills are like the ones near our house.  Which are pretty steep!

We'd seen some signs at the roundabouts (there's a ton in France!) and we headed back to follow them.  One was to a garden, but when we followed the sign we ended up at someone's house.  We found another chateau sign and followed it.  The road led along the river and by a private chateau and a church.  Eventually we got to the chateau we were looking for. 

This chateau was the one that had belonged to Josephine Baker.  Parking was free but the entrance was 9.20 euros.  The chateau was really neat.  You got to go through 3 floors, with costumes and furniture set out, like a museum.  It was pretty well done, mom and I both liked it.  Unfortunately, you couldn't take pictures.  There's a bar and restaurant on site, and the first bathroom we saw with toilet seats, soap, and a hand dryer!  We arrived just in time for the bird show.  They had some hawks, a number of owls, and a bald eagle!  I took some photos.  The show was in French, so I could only undertand bits and pieces.  At one point they took out a ferret and brought it around so everyone could see it was real.  Then they let it run in the yard, and let the hawk lose.  I was a little concerned, because I love ferrets.  But the guy had said something about ferrets being domesticated animals, and when he released the hawk, it ignored the ferret.  Then they sent out a mechanical rabbit and it pounced on that. 

We went back to Sarlat after that.  We stopped off for some bottled water at the Casino, and headed home.  We had leftover korma for supper and then starting planning the rest of the week.  One thing I haven't mentioned is dessert.  There's a local specialty that we've been having all week.  It's a thin crust, with chopped up walnuts, almost like a very thin pecan pie.  But on top is a dark chocolate.  It's very good, but very rich, too.

Day 5 (Sunday)

Not much to tell about today.  We went to the grocery.  There are two main ones in town, Carrefour and Casino.  We took Chips shopping at the big Carrefour and then went home for lunch.  Afterwards, we hung around and napped.  We had chicken korma for supper and tried to plan out our next day.

Paris

Free wine at Moroccan restaurant.

Day 5

Not much to tell about today.  I'm currently in a pub called the Black Duck, but my writeup is on my laptop. I think we're near Carculet?  It's near Salignac.

Day 4: Driving Sarlat

Thus begans the next part of our saga.  Chips had given us directions to her house, but we couldn't find it.  We stopped in the middle of Sarlat, to tell here where we were, which is when she realized we had come in from the opposite direction than she had thought.  So she gave us new directions.  We tried to follow those, but they didn't work either.  So we're looping around the middle of town, several times.  This time we ask a man in one of those flourescent vests, and he says our road is ahead on the right.  But we can't find it. 

We keep looping and I'm turning random directions, hoping to find a landmark we can use.  We pass a hospital and a cemetery.  I finally pulled over and turned on my phone to try and google her house, but I couldn't get any telephone service! 

We had passed a sign for an Ibis, the hotel we stayed at in Paris, so we go there.  Mom went inside to pee and ask directions, while I tried to connect to wifi.  But the wifi was different and needed a password.  But we lucked out!  There was a local woman working at the hotel who knew exactly what we were looking for, and gave us a town map and directions. 

So we follow the map and end up getting really close to our destination.  It turns out the man we asked was correct.  Our road was up ahead on the right.  But you had to turn onto another road which became the road we needed.  The one Chips had given us the name of.  So we finally get around the corner from her place and she comes out and we've arrived!  Huzzah!  Then it's time for drinks and later, supper.

Day 4: Driving France

So we finally made it out of Paris.  I cannot tell you the joy we felt at that moment.  Paris did not seem to want to let us leave.  Now we're on the A10, heading to Orleans.  We figure we'll stop there for lunch, because it's getting on to that time.  Then we pass through a toll booth.  This is the first one, where you get a ticket, which is when we realize this is a toll road.  Luckily, Orleans is one of the first towns on the road. 

We're driving along, all happy, and get to Orleans.  We exit.  There's the toll booth, and I insert our ticket.  And I'm not sure about the price.  I put on my hazard lights so nobody pulls up behind us, and then I finally find a speaker phone.  I call the people and ask if they speak English.  She said yes, but didn't understand me when I asked the price, so I ask again in French.  Ten euros and 70 cents!  Mom and I are freaking out.  We insert some bills and coins and pay the toll, then bitch about it all the way into town. 

Orleans is pretty.  It's on a river, and we headed into the center of town to find some food.  We found a cafe and tabac shop, but the parking lot was full because it was next to a flea market.  So I turned around and decided to drive up the one-way side street by the cafe.  There's a parking spot!  So I got to parallel park, on the left.  Thank goodness for automatics!

We had the plate lunch, which was a stewed/roasted chicken, with English peas, and yummy bread. It was really good.  And I had the creme caramel for dessert.  The bathroom was interesting.  You walk in, and on the left, against the front wall, is a sink, and hand dryer.  Facing it were 2 doors: a hamam (Arab toilet) and a toilet with no seat.  Straight ahead, there were urinals against the wall of the toilets, with a small tile half-wall covering the urinal area.  So you could stand and pee, and if you leaned in close, the person coming in the door wouldn't see your junk.  There was a guy washing his hands when I went in, and one washing his hands when I went out.  I guess I should be happy about that!

Then it was off again.  This time we took a small road to the next big town, so we could see more.  And it was worth it!  We went through picturesque town after picturesque town, until we got to Vierzon.  I had fallen asleep by then, and we got on the interstate again to make up some time.

There was no toll at this point, but another ticket booth showed up later, and mom and I both grimaced.  We kept going, and hit Limoges.  We had to exit the toll area here but luckily it was only 2 euoros.  Then we took the road south to Souilac, and headed west to Sarlat.  This road was beautiful!  Small and windy through hills and small mountains.  And foie gras stores everywhere!

Day 4: Driving Paris

Day 4 was pretty neat. We checked out and walked down to the taxi stand, only to find no taxi in sight.  So we stood there, trying to figure out what to do, and a taxi turns the corner and starts towards us.  Yay!  He took us to the car rental place, in the Air France building. He also wished us luck with driving.

The car rental went well.  We ended up getting an automatic, for free.  He also said it had a GPS, for free, but it turned out not to have a GPS.  It had a GPS booklet and the car had German markings, and the manuals were in German.  It's an Astra Opel wagon, Frank - and it rocks!

So we get the car paid for.  Then I have to walk 2 long blocks down the road, to get to the car park, which is underground.  I had an elevator code to take me down to the 5th floor underground.  Then, I had to unlock the car to find it, because the guy couldn't figure out where it was parked.

I finally get the car, get the seat adjusted, and head back to the main office to pick up mom.  The wagon held both our large suitcases, side by side.  So we've got our Paris map, and a route out of town, and off we go!

We couldn't figure out how to lock the car doors.  In the US, some doors lock automatically after you start, but these didn't.  And there was no lock button.  Eventually, we realized the lock and unlock buttons were above the radio.  And when we stopped for a break, I accidentally hit the little pull-up locky thing on the door with my elbow, and all the doors locked.  I think the car is smarter than us.

So we're driving out of Paris.  At first, it's okay.  I'm trying to follow the car in front of me, because sometimes lanes are just a suggestion and sometimes there are no lines for lanes.  We're trying to read street names, so we stay on the correct boulevard.  Then we get to a turn, and I go straight instead of right.  Which takes us over the river, heading back towards our hotel.  I'm thinking, that's okay, it's on the edge of Paris.  We'll hit the periphery road and head back towards our route.

So we get towards the periphery road, and I'm trying to follow the signs.  But the signs are so close to where you exit that I miss the periphery and head out east towards Port Bercy.  Then I have to exit the "interstate," turn around, head back towards our periphery interstate, and catch it.  Which is packed with cars and not moving very fast.

So now we're on the periphery interstate, heading southwest towards our exit.  We see signs saying A10, which is our interstate.  But it says A6 (A10) so we think we have to get on A6 to get to our A10.  Then mom tells me that A10 is the wrong road and goes to Bordeaux, not Limoges where we're going.  And I try to explain it is the right road, that Bordeaux is the end of the line, and we do need that road.  And while we're arguing we drive right past our exit.  Crap!

So now we're heading west.  I decide to take the next big exit, which turns out to be the Orly Airport.  So we end up looping around the airport, and then heading back east, hoping to catch our exit.  We see a big sign for our exit.  It's over the left-hand lanes, with 2 arrows pointing at those left-hand lanes.  And then, suddenly, the exit is on the right, exiting right now.  So I cut across traffic like a maniac, or a Parisienne, and manage to catch the exit.  Phew!  That was only 1 hour getting out of Paris.

Day 3 Roundup

Sorry about the delay.  Day 4 was mainly driving and then I didn't have wifi, so I couldn't post anything.

Day 3 was pretty good.  We got up and had breakfast.  We didn't get going until closer to lunch time.  Mom's knee was acting up so we took a taxi to our bus stop, which irritated the taxi driver, because it was relatively close.  We had lunch at the Turkish place, which was kind of a disappointment.  I had Shish Taouk (or the Turkish relative) and it was kind of plain.  We've had Greek, Turkish, and Lebanese, and we both agree that the Lebanese is the best.  More spice and flavor.  At least the hommus was okay, and they brought us unlimited, slightly burnt bread.

After lunch, a bus pulled up, so mom hightailed it back to the hotel.  I took the Green Line to the Musee d'Orsay.  It's got the largest collection of Impressionist art in the world, and those are my favorite, so I had to go!  Mom almost came but decided not to.

The museum was pretty good.  I had bought my ticket online, so I got to go in a separate entrance, with it's own security.  I had to open the main pocket on my purse and walk through one of those regular security scanners.  There were signs saying to watch for pickpockets. 

The museum was very open and light and really packed.  Also a bit warm.  You walk in on kind of the 1st floor (for Europe) and then there were stairs to the 0th floor for the main floor.  I couldn't find a ramp anywhere.  I even saw a dad with a stroller going down the stairs!

So I went down the stairs and then walked up a ramp to get to floor 1 on the other side.  They had some post-impressionist stuff that I looked at in a side gallery.  Then I had to walk down a flight of stairs to get to the bathroom.  Mom said the one at the Turkish place was really bad, so I waited for d'Orsay.

So I come back up the stairs, and luckily there was a set of escalators to get you to the 5th floor where the impressionists are housed.  It was great!  Crowded, warm, etc. but still the impressionists.  I spent a little time there and then decided it was time to go home. 

I went to the opposite side of the museum, to find the down escalator, but it wasn't there.  There was an "elevator."  It was a door in the wall, and it had a handicapped sign and said push button for handicapped help.  I looked around more and finally found a down escalator at the other side of this end of the musuem.  And it only took me to about floor 2.5.  Seriously.  I walked down a flight of stairs, then there was a long-ass double flight that I had to walk down.  My knee was twinging badly by the time I got down.

I finally made it out of the musuem at 3:15.  I now had the choice of taking a taxi home, or taking the bus home for free.  Which would also allow me to buy gyros for supper.  Of course, I decided on the bus.  I took the Green Line, so I could make the loop back to Notre Dame.  I sat in the very back, by myself, and listened to the music and tourist info. 

Next thing I know, a lady from Seattle and her group sit next to me.  We talked off and on, and I started to nap off and on.  Half her group got off at the Eiffel Tower, and the rest got off later.  So I was finally alone again.  I even thought of a present for my brother-in-law.

The traffic was horrendous - Friday afternoon - but I finally got back to Notre Dame.  I booked it to a tourist stall and got the present, then booked down the alley to a gyro stand.  Our gyro stand was run by Indians, but it was also 5 euros.  We got chicken gyros, with fries piled inside.  I booked it around the corner and saw my Blue bus.  It was getting ready to leave, but someone else ran up before me, so it stopped and I made it. 

More traffic, more traffic, more traffic.  I finally reach my stop near the stadium.  I'm walking pretty fast, since I'm by myself. I stopped in at the market to get cokes and candy for us, then headed to the hotel.  I walk in, and mom is sitting in the lobby.  She'd been out wandering the village shops and looking for me.  It was 6:30.  So it took me over 3 hours to get home.  Blargh!

Update

More soon. Having wifi problems.

Guess who?

Where's Waldo?

Day 2: Home again, home again

We started walking towards Notre Dame, and I flagged down a taxi.  We've been having good luck on that front.  This guy didn't speak much English, but I knew enough French to get us home.  We had originally thought we'd walk back from Bercy Stadium.  The taxi took us there, then around the side, and dropped us at the hotel with the same name over there.  Which saved us some walking.  Mom's knee was getting sore and my ankles hurt. 

So we get out and at least it was shorter back to our hotel.  We had almost taken the taxi all the way to our hotel, and maybe we should have.  We made it to the market, and got some drinks, and eventually made it home.  We were pretty wiped out.  By this point, it's about 9pm.  We got some ice from the hotel restaurant (no ice machines here) and got to our room and got comfy.  I promptly passed out and woke up a little after midnight.  Mom woke up then too.

So I was sitting here typing up today's events, when we hear a loud squeaking noise.  We're on the 2nd floor (in the US numbering system) and our window opens.  Below our window is a roof overhanging the sidewalk, so you don't get rained on.  Also, our window has a chain lock on it.  Apparently the people next door were opening their window and it was really squeaky.

I continue typing, and there's a knock on our door.  I answer, and no one is there.  We assumed it was the people next door getting the rooms mixed up.  Bear in mind, it's now about 2am.  There's more squeaking, so I look out our window.  I'm very surprised to see a man outside the window next door, smoking a cigarette.  On top of the curved metal roof.  He seemed surprised to see me too.  I closed our window until he was done, because we were starting to smell the smoke.  And so ends our Day 2 adventures!

Day 2: The Blue Line?

The Indian restaurant was right by the bus stop.  But the bus had to stop further down because of other buses, so we had to pass a Turkish restaurant. And mom said, "We should eat here tomorrow."  It was about 6:30 by now and we were hungry again.  And for some reason, the French seem to eat a lot of food.  Our dinner was 3 courses.  First we had samosas.  We each got 2 with a salad on the side.  The samosas were amazing - some of the best I've had.  Fluffy curried potatoes with green peas, yum!  I realize this may read like a food blog, but deal with it :) 

Our next dish was curry  Naan came separate but we both got some.  I had lamb curry, and mom had chicken.  And it was also amazing.  Seriously, this was some of the best Indian food I've had in decades.  We stuffed ourselves, and finished off the naan dipping it in our curry sauce.

Our final dish was dessert.  The menu said sorbet, but the waiter said they had ice cream, so we ended up with 2 scoops of vanilla, because they had run out of chocolate.  Two scoops each.  The ice cream was decent, but not as good as Braum's.  Overall, this was an incredible meal!

So we finish eating, and are waiting for our bus.  It finally arrives, around 7:40, but the driver wouldn't let us on.  I was under the impression that service ended at 8:30.  I even remember hearing it on the audio track.  But apparently the blue line isn't as busy, so it stops earlier.  He even opened up the brochure to show us he wasn't making it up.  Since there was a small group of people waiting for the bus, not just us, we were all a little upset.

Day 2: The Yellow Line

This was probably the worst part of our day.  The bus was packed and we ended up sitting in different areas.  The wind picked up, and with the bus moving, it was quite chilly.  I had to put my hoodie on and my camera hand was freezing.  We made slow progress, because of the traffic.  I will freely admit that I started to nap.

Mom had an adventure, though.  She was sitting there, and felt something weird in her hair.  She started wiping it, and there was green stuff.  Apparently she'd been hit by a pigeon!

My best time happened in the Arab part of town.   There was a dude in sunglasses with a scruffy beard.  He was wearing camouflage pants and black bikini briefs. I know this because his pants were hanging below his butt. I could see skin and tell it was bikini briefs.  He was drinking out of a large can.   The bus had stopped so that the cars in front could turn right.  There was a crosswalk with pedestrians in it.  Dude walks into the crosswalk and then plants his ass on the hood of the taxi trying to get through.  Then he motions the pedestrians to keep walking.  Meantime the taxi is honking and looking very unhappy.   Dude finally gets up and leaves, and the bus is able to proceed.

We were both glad to get back to our stop so we could change buses.  We waited for our Green bus.  And waited.  Two more Yellow buses came by.  Finally we went hunting for another bathroom.  A nice lady directed us to one in the Metro, but it was closed.  Although we did get to ride an elevator down to the Metro instead of taking the stairs. 

We continued waiting.  Finally a Green bus arrived and took us back to Notre Dame.  Then we walked down to our Indian restaurant.

Day 2: The Green Line

We caught our bus, but this time we went upstairs - the buses are all doubledeckers and open on top.  I had read the tiny arrows on the map wrong, so the Eiffel Tower was further along than I thought.  We had saw some cool sights, and eventually made it to the tower!  The bus actually circles the tower and then stops almost where it had first reached the tower.  But no one realized that, so when the driver stopped in traffic several people opened the back door and got off, and he started yelling at them.

We finally got to the stop and got off.  I was immediately accosted by a young woman asking me if I spoke English.  I automatically said yes, so she asked me to sign her petition for deaf mutes.  I started to sign, while holding on to my bags, until I realized what the scam was.  Sign here, where are you from, what's your donation?  I said no, and started to walk away.  She tried to follow and guilt me into donating, but I kept walking. 

We needed a bathroom, and decided to go to a cafe and sit and have a snack.  We had seen a few on our drive around the tower, so we read a few menus and found an expensive cafe.  The waiter suggested we have a tart, so we did!  It was a slice of a big tart.  It looked like someone had made a "crust" in one of those round pans with the rippled edges.  Then they put down a thin layer of custard, and put fresh raspberries, strawberries, and kiwi on top.  Cut a slice and then spray whipped cream around it.  It was good!

The bathroom was amusing, though.  Bathrooms in France are really hit or miss.  I remember the last time I was here, the only decent bathroom was at Normandy, which is run by Americans.  The bathroom was a small area with a sink and hand dryer, and 2 doors: one for women, one for men.  Each toilet room was basically toilet-sized.  When I came out, there was a smiling gentleman in a suit waiting for the men's room.  He was by the sink, so we switched spots, so I could use the sink and he could continue to wait.  It just seemed weird.

Rejuvenated, we headed back to the tower and wandered and took a few photos.  We found the public toilets, which were full, and probably why we saw a man peeing in the park, behind a wall.  We didn't feel like going up the tower, so we headed back for our bus stop.  There were some camouflaged guys with machine guns walking around.

We got some good seats up top, and some good pics. Then things went weird.  We went by a sight, and made a u-turn, and our audio recording said "Because of the demonstrations, we will have to change our route."  We noticed several roads were blocked off.  One of the bridges was closed and had a huge amount of police officers on it.  We finally made it to our next stop, and changed buses, so we could just ride the next route.

Day 2: Notre Dame

We started towards Notre Dame, and saw a souvenir shop to look at.  And I spied an alley nearby that also had shops.  After the shop we headed down the alley, which was full of shops and food!  There must have been 5 gyro shops!  And mom said "We should eat there for lunch."  We wandered and touristed.  I bought myself some t-shirts, got you a present Frank!  And I bought a Paris bag to carry all my crap in. 

We wandered around in a triangle-shaped area of alleyways, and came upon a Moroccan place.  They weren't quite open, so we wandered more and decided to wait for them to open.  They had kafta, which mom loves.  So we come back and get a seat.  They brought us some glasses of complimentary wine, and we ordered.

I got the chicken couscous and mom got the meatball couscous, which was kafta-like.  And we watched the restaurant cat wander around and play with inanimate objects.  Then our food arrived.  There was a honking big bowl of fine grain couscous, and a huge soup tureen of, well, a soup.  It had carrots, beans, turnips, and zuchini, and a beautiful orange broth.  There were side condiments of chick peas, golden raisins, and some hot spice paste.  They brought out a plate with a whole chicken breast and wing for me, and 3 big meatballs for mom.  We didn't have plates, we had bowls, so we scooped up couscous and dug in.  It was delicious!  And the spice was really hot.  We just had to use a little bit.

After stuffing ourselves, and leaving probably half the couscous, we traveled on.  Our next stop was Notre Dame itself.  It's free, because it's actually a church and still in use.  It was beautiful!  There was another section called the Treasury, that you could pay to see, but we didn't.  After leaving Notre Dame, we went through a giant tent out front that was hosting the Bread Festival.  It was people baking and selling bread and it smelled great.  We were starting to look for a toilet at this point, but decided to catch our next bus and get to the Eiffel Tower.

Day 2: The Blue Line

We're on the east side of Bercy Gardens.  On the west side is Bercy Stadium.  Our bus stop is on the west side of Bercy Stadium.  Sounds simple, right?  We started walking, and found a market and came upon the garden.  We walked alongside at first, in a cobblestoned alley.  Not nice tight cobblestones, but stones with lots of space around them.  We found an entrance to the garden, where there were sidewalks, and decided to walk there.  It had an unlocked gate with a sign saying No Dogs. 

The garden was nice.  It had a grove of orange trees, a vineyard area, and pretty flowers.  And people walking dogs.  We exited to the west, and there was a big open area with a carousel, skate park, and tons of dogs!  To the south was a giant - and I do mean giant - staircase.  Think 50 feet across and several stories high. 

We tried to walk west, but the stadium had construction barriers up.  We saw a dirt path with joggers to the south, so we followed it.  It wound uphill a bit, then ended at a stair way and steep ramp, with a confused guy in a suit.  We went up the ramp.  And up.  We finally found ourselves at the top of the garden in another "garden" area with sculptures.  And there was no way to go west. 

We started east.  Which is where we realized we were at the top of the huge stair, and the confused suit was just reaching the top.  He was joined by 2 more suits, also confused.  Frankly, so were we.  We could see the road on the south side of the stadium, but we couldn't get to it.  There was a giant pedestrian bridge over the river, and a sign about the French library.  Another bus stop was there, so we headed over.

The bridge was springy, because it was made of long, thin pieces of wood.  As we started over, the suits found an elevator, but it was out of order.  They kept walking.  Apparently the bridge was set up so that you walked on the sides, and then a center spot opened up that led to the street.  They went that way.

We continued on and crossed the Seine.  Then we had the choice of taking a large center section up high to the top of the library steps (the library was surrounded by more giant stairs) or coming out on the street by the river.  We took the street route, found a cross walk, and our bus stop was right there!  Then we just had to wait almost 30 minutes for a bus.

We finally caught our bus, and we were off!  We found the stadium stop and saw some sights, but we were mainly wanting to get near Notre Dame, so we could see it and catch the next bus we needed.  We finally got there, stepped of the bus, and voila - there's an Indian restaurant.  Mom said "We should eat lunch here."

Day 2: Getting started

Now, I know some of you are asking, Where the hell is Lauren's post for Thursday?  Well, Lauren is one tired puppy!  We got up early and went to breakfast about 7:45.  Our bus didn't start until 9:30, so we didn't want to be too early. We got home after 9pm.

We paid in advance for breakfast, which was a buffett.  There was a lot of bread, croissants, cereals, cheese, yogurts, fruit, and thin slices of a really good ham.  They had a few juices and a machine that dispensed several coffees, hot chocolate, and hot water, so I had tea.  We made croissandwiches  :)

It was really cool this morning, so I wore blue jeans and my hoodie.  Then our adventure began . . . .

Tuna nicoise salad

Huge salad!

Bercy Village

Our hotel is in the 12th arrondisement, in an area called Bercy Village.  Trip Advisor says it's mainly a business hotel, which is fine with me.  It has a restaurant and free wifi.  The area nearby has cafes and shops, and more hotels.  Overall, it has a nice feel.  The main part is getting used to the schedule.  Restaurants don't open until noon, and generally stay open later at night.  If you want a Coke (with sugar! no HFCS) it's about 4 euros.  We managed to find a meal that included drinks, for lunch.  Then we passed out at the hotel for way too long, and had supper at the hotel. 

Lunch was a grilled chicken breast, with french fries and a coke, for about 13 euros.  That really was about the cheapest we could find!  The server asked us which meat, then asked if we wanted green beans, salad, or fries.  We said fries.  Then she asked what sauce: Bearnaise, pepper, or barbeque.  We thought she meant for the fries, but that was for the chicken.  We finally got that figured out.

On our trip back we found a little shop selling Thai and Vietnamese dishes!  We bought some drinks then headed back.  A Tabac store had phone cards and candy bars: dark Mars, lion bars, and bounty bars.  Huzzah.

Dinner was pretty good.  We got a meal combo, which was a tuna nicoise salad and burger-steak with salad and green beans.  They really seem to love green beans, because that was an option at lunch.  And they were good!  Fresh, not canned.  Also, that nicoise salad was huge!  That was an entire meal.  I've got photos of dinner that I'll post.  Frank - you'll love the salad.  Real lettuce, tuna, sardines, olives, tomatoes that tasted like tomatoes! 

After dinner (at 10pm) we strolled around, scoping out the area.  Then we headed back so I could blog and we both needed a shower after the hot plane ride.  More tomorrow!

Paris!

We finally got to Paris!  I started to pass out as we got close, and almost missed the landing.  As we got to the north coast, I could see cliffs.  There was a huge cloud bank over France, and we were apprching it.  There was a river winding through the hills, and the outermost clouds were filling in the river valley.  It was beautiful!

We arrived and then had to walk a long ways and take a tram to get to customs.  The line was long but moved really fast.  They basically took a quick look at my passport and stamped it and that was it.  Then we had to find our luggage.  Mine was already there, but mom's took a long time.  We were really worried that her suitcase hadn't made it on the plane!

Her suitcase finally showed up, and then we left.  As we entered the main part of the airport, we had to run a gauntlet of people holding signs with names on them.  Amazingly, only one was using an iPad.  And apparently mom and I were both thinking that we wished our names were on there!

We found our way to the Roissy bus, which goes from the airport to downtown Paris for about 10 euros.  That was interesting!  We got on and started walking down the aisle, and the bus started moving!  A nice man got up and stowed our suitcases for us, while we tried to find a seat.  The trip was about an hour, through often narrow streets, with the driver shouting curses at other drivers and kissing other cars.  We thought there was going to be a wreck a number of times.

We got dropped off at the Opera, which is a beautiful building.  I was hoping to find a taxi stand, so we started walking down the street, and a taxi pulled up.  I waved at him, and his passenger was exiting, so we got in.  Our route took us by the Louvre, and then along the Seine, passing gorgeous buildings on either side.  That was about 14 euros.

We got to our hotel about 10:30, but luckily, our room was ready.  We were ready for it, too.

The Plane: part 2

The food was pretty good.  They gave us a menu before they brought out the food.  My choices were: Chicken fricassee with cream sauce, mashed potatoes, and carrots or Penne pasta with salmon and creamed leeks.  Both of those came with Quinoa salad with corn and black beans, Cheese wedge (Brie), Fruit compote, Coconut cake, Bread, and a small water. 

I took the chicken, because I grew up watching the movie Airplane.  The bread was amazing!  They brought by seconds towards the end of supper.  My menu also included a choice of drinks: Coke products, Schweppes tonic, apple/orange/tomato juice, mineral water, Heineken, red or white wine, and champagne.  Free.  After the meal you had coffee, cappuccino, hot tea, or hot chocolate.  I had the hot tea, of course.

Later on they brought by more hot tea, and a snack: an ice cream bar.

For breakfast they served a fruit medley, orange juice, bread (not as good), a blueberry muffin, and yogurt.  The yogurt was real yogurt, and a little "tingly."  I hope that makes sense.

The Plane: part 1

The seats sucked.  The good news is that I was so far back in the plane that I went from the area where it was 3 seats on each side, to just 2 on each side. The seats were not that comfortable  I kept having to move my butt around.

The lady sitting next to me was a French teacher from Jackson!  I introduced her to mom in case they want to try travelling together at some point. She also had some leg problems and would get up and walk around a lot, which gave me more space to stretch out.

I watched 3 movies:  Wolverine, Hunger Games 2, and Monuments Men.  Gotta love free movies!

Made the plane.

Well, mom barely made it.  She was late getting to Atlanta, because her plane was late getting to Monroe.  From Atlanta.  They start boarding the plane, and I finally get a text from mom, saying she's landed.  Then she has to take the tram to our terminal, get some money changed, and walk all the way to the end of the terminal to board the plane.  I waited, and she finally made it for the final boarding call of everyone who was left.

And we're off!

I got out of XNA okay. My flight was overbooked by 4 people, and Delta went from 300 to 600 Delta $ for someone to wait. Eventually I think a few people didn't show up, so we were alright.

I had to hunt down a Chick-fil-a in Atlanta because my blood sugar was dropping, especially in the hot airport. Finally got that done, got ripped off changing Euros, and now I'm waiting for mom to arrive. She should get here around the time we start boarding.  Whew!