You might remember how to say the former? Sent Ee ree ez la Pairsh. You will no doubt know how to pronounce Bordeaux! Bor doh!
Waz set the alarm for 6.30am, I believe. The object of that was to have as early a start to our travels, as possible...and give the cats the most ordinary day possible, in terms of their routine.
I don't know if they knew we were leaving, but they sure stuck around, when I opened the door to the Sous-sol, first thing.
With all their food read for them to eat, they seemed more interested in being cuddles, stroked and herded up the stairs and out the back door. I went outside and opened all the shutters, and was followed, every step of the way by at least one of them.
We thought we would be smart and leave the house at 8am. We were smart to leave at that hour, even though it was -4C, and a Saturday. Only problem was, the local McDonalds, where we had thought to have breakfast, before leaving town, was not open until 9am! Yep, really smart!
The actual time is 7.40am, and we don't know where the thermometer is on the outside of the house, but it must be VERY protected, because when we were five minutes down the road, the temperature read -4C. -1.6C was a doddle by comparison.
I sat with the motor running while Waz opened the gate...he had to unstick it first, due to frost, and then put the key in it's hiding place, for our hosts to pick it up later in the day. Out the gate we went, saying our goodbyes to the lovely property and the kitties we have so enjoyed for the duration, and off we went...to McDonalds on the other side of town. Lights were on but nobody was home. Bah! Now what?
By the time we decided to just go, anyway, we somehow knew our new favorite bakery would be open. IT WAS!!!...happy dance!
Stopped around the corner in their parking spaces (a weeny bit tight, but we made it) and Waz stayed inside with the engine running while I went for morning food. We had only been in there in the late afternoon, and there was not much selection! WOW! This morning the selection of fancy patisserie was overwhelming! My goodness, how had we not discovered this place before?? I should have taken a photo, of course, but lots of other people in there and I needed to make choices fast.
2 plain croissants, a Pain raisin, and a pain chocolate. French Breakfast, don't you know! We would find coffee whenever we could. Simple.
Looks cold doesn't it?? Dry cold, so you don't feel it straight off, but believe me, that -4C got into your bones pretty darned quickly when you were out and exposed.
We were a bit surprised by how much frost there was, on the fields. Bear in mind that we were starting on the eastern side of the Parc Naturelle Perigord et Limousin. We had to go back through the bottom of the Parc going west, towards Bordeaux. That meant going through places where the temperature dipped markedly, and not in the valleys, as we had thought, but on the tops of the various plateau, which were at greater elevation, of course. We started at 500mtrs above sea level, and I have no idea how much higher we went, but 1500ft elevation is pretty high, in these parts.
Waz was tasked with taking the photos. He always wants to drive while I take photos, but I'm the only one listed as a driver...I'm a TERRIBLE passenger, just so that you know!
Cold much! This large pond is frozen over.
oh look! -6C, just an hour after we left home. So it wasn't getting warmer, as we drove west, but colder.
One the way there was plenty to see and keep us occupied for the 2 1/2 hrs to our next destination.
These avenues of Plain Trees are lovely in the morning light. Frost everywhere, and the sunshine didn't warm things up at all.
We are travelling along the bottom of the Parc Naturell, so some towns are higher than others, but the real height is in the parc itself, further north. Good thing we didn't go that way, as there was plenty of vigilance on my part, due to black ice on the road. Plenty of warning signs along the way, too.
Here we are approaching Brantome, with its amazing rock formations, homes and castles built into the rock, and of course the Abbaye de Brantome.
These photos show the approach to the town of Brantome.
Waz had eaten a plain croissant straight up, when I returned to the car from the Boulangerie/Patisserie, but there is nothing designed to distract and slowly drive you crazy, when driving, than the smell of fresh pastries at hand. lol.
We stopped in Brantome, in -4C and had the rest of the pastries. Yes, sunshine, YES, COLD!
The gorgeous Abbaye de Brantome. You might remember the photos coming from the other direction, three weeks ago?
The dock for the restaurant across the river.
It is such a photogenic building. One day we might stop and go inside! Built into the rock, on the back side.
It looks lovely, but it was truly mind-numbingly cold, out there.
Waz had either abdicated his role or I had grabbed the camera, for these ones:)
...yes, while driving! Nobody behind me, or in front, so I took the liberty of playing tourist, albeit with a car under my supervision!
You can tell we are still in the vicinity of the Parc Naturelle, as there are hills, certain kinds of Chateau and stately homes on rocks and high places.
The scenery along this road is lovely. It wowed us on the way east, and again on this day going west.
I am a sucker for those turrets!
These rocks literally overhang the road.
The road isn't very wide, and all along our journey we were cursing the locals who thought they could drive on my side of the road, this morning. This isn't unusual, as I have sounded off about this before, non?
Bourdellais (boor de yay)
All the decorations in this small town were white, interestingly. Not many decorations at all, come to think of it. Perhaps the town council doesn't have much money to spend on such things? But there is a token gesture made, with the trees everywhere. Sapin de Noel. Christmas Trees. (saparng der no elle)
Now the river is on our right, and the rocks on our left. Actually, we are in a valley with rocks on both sides of the river, and no sunshine. Coming out of the valley, the sun decided to hide, and we were left with that bright white light that cold cloud cover give you...a bit of a nuisance when driving, and certainly challenging for photography.
Notice the homes built into the rock? Their front doors pose a distinct challenge for the owners, as if you put a foot out the door, it might be chopped off by cars/trucks, so close is the road.
The Mairie in the next town had a bit of money for colorful deco's, but the trees are small and a bit mean looking. Those trees would cost about 25 euros in the market, though. Not cheap!
Small overhead decorations, if you can see them.
How marked is this countryside, versus where we just came from. We are not out of the Parc Naturelle, and into Wine Country...namely Bordeaux region. Here the land is flat for the most part, and the vegetation changes markedly.
Huge and wide open spaces with crops for miles...or in this case, Kilometre.
Our next stop is the house right in the middle of the photo. We had to stop at Saskia and Graeme's house to drop off our bags of goodies. We had accumulated food to be kept for our next house sit, about 40 mins north of here. They are the caretakers of the property and will be going up there before Christmas, so it seemed like a good opportunity. They were not there, so we dropped and left.
We stopped for the above photo, just after turning off the main road. I looked left, and had the distinct impression I was being watched! I was! Bovine curiosity!
The road up to the house is lovely. Crops on one side and forest on the other. We are surprised at how much lovely color there is with the brown leaves on the Oaks and other trees clinging to their now dead leaves.
The farm at the right angle turn in the road. Pretty!
You really don't want too much traffic on these roads. They are definitely one lane, don't you think?
Look far out to the right, and you find another Hameau ( Am oh or Hamlet)
Outside Saskia and Graemes home they have lots of fossils on a rack. I didn't notice these last time I was here.
I took the opportunity to take some typical winter scene photos of their view, which is glorious.
The swiss chard on the left (red stalks) was suffering a little, in the cold, but where we had snow for a week, they had none, on this side of the Parc, being more westerly and therefore in that maritime region known for its more mild temperatures. I guess there is a good reason they live here!
Motoring on down the road, and it was now lunch time. With a small breakfast and no..NO coffee...how did that happen, you ask?? Nobody open!
So we stopped and went in search of a Grand Crème...of course. We found a pub open, just as the town market was packing up. The wind was freezing and I had left my scarf in the car. Idiot!
The grand crème was expensive...do we have something written on our foreheads that says "CHARGE ME MORE"? because the crème was almost cold, even though I had asked for Lait Tres Chaud...VERY hot milk!
The pub was full of locals, some of whom were watching the Horse races, this being a pub where you can place racing bets. I think the Trots were on, actually. They were setting up the dining room for lunch, and we thought about eating their Formule dejeuner for 8euros each, but it didn't look too inspiring. We went in search of other.
Along the way we spied this church with a hole in the bottom...well not quite, but different, right?
It turned out to be a 19th and 20th century church, so reasonably new. Not pretty, but Im sure it serves it's purpose. I also wonder how old the church it replaced, was, because that is usually what happens in these cases. This town is on a high plateau, and we sought the vantage point from which to view the river below. Just behind the church, it happened to be.
To get there we had to pass some pretty old homes. Note not just the colombage on the house, but the pigeons in cages on the green roof!
Next door, on the river side of the church was this tiny corner ornament of Jeanne D'Arc, or Joan of Arc. This being the Institution of Jeanne d'Arc, on which it stands.
We are now in the park, way above the river, looking back towards the church and the town on the hill.
What a fantastic view. Can you see way into the distance? Those hills are from whence we have just come, through the Parc Naturelle Perigord/Limousin. There is a weir at bottom left, with a small weir 'house' ...that white thing with red roof.
Another small town below on the river plain.
Looking downstream
Looking upstream.
On our way back to the car, we watched as this huge truck stacked with tied logs trundled through the middle of the ancient town and down the hill out of sight. We figured this is firewood, each being a Cord of Wood.
These cheerleaders were in the town center, ready for a performance of some kind. Too cold to stay and watch.
One of this town's Christmas decorations.
It always amuses me how some buildings look like they have just been chopped. I have no doubt that at some time in the past, there was another building beside it.
We needed petrol so stopped at the Intermarche on the outskirts of the town. May as well go inside for toilet stop and to see what we could see:) This being the other side of the divide, we were curious to see way more product variety than we had found on the eastern side. The seafood alone was different and of course less expensive.
Oh yum! Fresh Scallops on the shell!
The least expensive oysters we found anywhere.
The meat looked wonderful. Look at that RED! Not pink like the meat we find in the USA.
I don't mind Rabbit, but for heavens sake, get rid of the eyes, please.
What fun little hats these fellows have:)
Like I said...we are now in Bordeaux Wine country, and there are vines forever.
Slightly hard to see, but these machines are grape pickers! Yes, almost everything is automated.
We have promised ourselves that when we return in January for our next house sit, that we will come down this way again for a leisurely sampling tour.
This is where the feeling of relaxed motoring goes out the door, and the stress starts. Driving in and into Bordeaux the city is challenging.
That weird building in the middle beind the pole is the Cite de Vin (sit aye de varng( or City of Wine, which is where you can go and learn about and sample wines for the Bordeaux region.
Coming into Bordeaux near the train station which is where we had to find the parking lot and deposit the car back to the rental folks.
We did get there, thanks to the GPS Wizardry and the memory of the passenger-in-chief, the Wazster.
Of course I had to make the most of the clear skies and air and take photos from the 6th floor parkin garage of the rental car place. This is our view over Bordeaux, the city.
Not our car...that's the level below us. But this is Bordeaux, Gare St Jean. (Gar sent jong)
And just because I like to see what people have in their back yards...mostly similar, the world over, I might add...chairs, bar-b-q etc. lol
This fellow could REALLY play the piano. These pianos are found in stations everywhere. Some can play well, some play superbly, and others, like the fellow on the right, know what to do with their right hands, but their left hands ruin it all.
Yes, we had to find somewhere to calm my post-city-driving nerves, so we stopped on the bottom level of the station to gather ourselves with a Latte...WHY CAN THEY NOT MAKE THEM HOT??? before walking the distance to our hotel with all our bags et al.
As I have said before, we don't spend much money on hotel rooms, because we are never there. it is only for the bed primarily...but this was the neighborhood, lol. Of course I always lean far out the window to record the neighbors. Now, this one is interesting. Derelect building to our left, but that metal façade would indicate that there is a modern home behind it. You can tell by the garage door! Someone destroyed an old building and put up their modern home that you can see into. It reminded me of the TV program Grand Designs, where they do into all kinds of these homes and show you that their light is all from the skylights. This perhaps is the same?
So, here I will leave you for now. After we put all our 'stuff' in the hotel room we went walkabout...or should I say...tiki-touring. Waz had a destination in mind, and we went there, BUT we found so much more.
Time for me to get some dinner. I will continue the saga later. A Bientot.
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