I’ve fallen so far behind in my blogging about this trip, I had to look back to see what the last post was about. Unfortunately I got hit with an intestinal bug of some sort that lasted 8 days or so, and put the kibosh on fully enjoying Bordeaux and our visit to the Ile de Ré. The two paragraph summary would be:
Bordeaux: We really love this city. We were fortunate to find a large, modern apartment with a parking space (!) in the nice Chartrons district, within easy walking distance of downtown and a block away from a tram stop. A perfect setup for us, and we took as much advantage of it as we could given the circumstances. The owner of the apartment we rented was charming and welcoming, as were almost all the people we interacted with. If we ever decide to move to France, Bordeaux is at the top of our list of places to live.
The Ile de Ré: On Sunday we left Bordeaux to visit our friends Alain and Isabelle on the Ile de Ré. They were, as always, so warm and welcoming to us, and the visit started a stretch where almost all our conversations have been in French, which Suzie and I really enjoy. They fed us amazingly delicious food, they walked us and drove us around the island, they took us to the market, and they shared some of their friends with us at a dinner party on Tuesday. They assisted me and Suzie in finding a doctor and a laboratory when my problem didn’t seem to be resolving itself (I’ve now had a prise de sang on two continents). Two of the nicest people I’ve ever met. They are planning to be in Northern California later this year, and we are hoping they will stay with us in Kensington so we can reciprocate their remarkable hospitality.
Due to my situation I wasn’t able to take many pictures there, but a few are below, click to see a larger version.
On Wednesday we left the Ile de Ré, and after a long day of driving we arrived in the late afternoon in the small village of Cajarc, on the Lot. Suzie’s father Paul is traveling with us now (we picked him up from the airport in Bordeaux on Saturday), and he has two very old academic friends who have a house in Cajarc, where we are staying. Actually “house” understates matters — it is a 17th Century former convent that occupies an entire city block in the heart of the village. Staying here feels a little like staying in a museum. Here’s a picture of Suzie standing in the hallway outside our (very large) bedroom:
Here’s a view of the back of the main part of the house from the courtyard, followed by a picture of our room taken from the front of the building.
Today we spent the day walking around the village, and in the afternoon Suzie, Paul, and I drove to the neighboring city of Figeac. We walked around the city’s old medieval section, and then visited the interesting Musee Champollion, which celebrates the work of a native of Figeac, Jean-François Champollion, who was key in discovering how to decipher Egyptian hieroglyphics. The museum also generally describes how written languages and alphabets came to be, and has a number of very old Egyptian and other artifacts. Very well done — a bargain given the reasonable five-euro entry fee.
More pictures from the day are here:
//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.jsTomorrow we are back on the road again — me and Suzie anyway (Paul is staying with his friends for a few days). Suzie and I are heading for the Dordogne, a region we’ve never visited, which is supposed to be very beautiful. I’m feeling better, the weather is splendid, and I’m looking forward to seeing more beautiful, interesting things during my last week or so in France. J’ai de la chance.
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