Vive la France 2022

So we spent the night at a cool place outside of Saint-Girons... not that we saw any of it, unfortunately, because Dan and I were both under the weather. We checked in at 5 PM and went to bed. But I took photos because Dan said that we should. These are all of the photos that you're gonna get because Dan was not doing his assigned task. The farm is very old - 17th century maybe? - and rests on a foundation from [I think that he said] the 3rd century. I could be very wrong, so Dan can correct me if I am.  The ceiling of our bedroom I think that our room was once part of a barn. We woke up this morning and Dan w ent back to bed. I was feeling better; Dan was feeling worse, so the host very nicely made an ap pointment for Dan to see a doctor in Saint-Girons.  The doc had the bedside manner of a turtle but seemed competent although not completely glad to see anyone. He diagnosed Dan with a sinus infection ( I could have told him that) and gave him an Rx for an antibiotic. We paid ...

On Tuesday, we drove to Pau, which is where Henry of Navarre, who would become Henry IV of France, was born. We drove back roads and lemme tell you what... The French do not give a shit about your knowing that there are turns ahead for which you need to slow down. They want you to go 50 or 30 kph through towns, but boy howdy, when you are on open road and the limit is 80 or 90 kph, you'd better be paying attention. The Pyrenees road, like all other mountain road, contain switchbacks, precipitous cliffs, small-to-no shoulders, and not a lot of room for two cars at a time. A LOT of the curves had no warning - no signs, but "slow your ass down" notices, no pictures of people lying dead on the side of the road. Those who know me know that I like to drive fast. I LOVE to drive fast. I've never had a wreck that was my fault. However, I didn't even approach the speed limit on any of the curves. They were way too tricky.  Dan made a video - and this was an easy stretch. W...

We left Sarlat after breakfast, headed toward Saint-Jean-de-Luz, almost the last French town before hitting Spain. But first, we drove through kilometer after kilometer of vineyards on our way to Saint-Emilion for lunch.  Not having any reason to go other than the name, we detoured here, hoping for some connection to the author.  Turns out that St. Exupery was the Comte de St. Exupery, but otherwise nothing was there but farms.  Saint-Emilion was a very old, very small town surrounded by vineyards and tasting locations. We had lunch in town. I enjoy trying new things, although I may not enjoy what I try. Such was the case today. My main course was lamprey, cooked in red wine with potatoes and leeks. It is a local favorite, but it was not mine. Vicki noted that I have rarely not eaten what I have ordered, but I couldn’t stomach this. If I had first looked up what it looked like, I might have ordered the chicken.  Ugh. [ I played it safe and ordered a salad with baked ...

Sarlat was much more than expected. It is a cool  place - I'd like to spend a week here. I'd also like to try more of the products of Perigord, especially those of the local distillery. I happened to be at the same restaurant as Vicki for dinner. I had the same trout she had, then I had cassoulet of duck, pork, and beans. Excellent.    And for dessert, I had a pavlova: I may have taken a few more photos of the town than Vicki.