So East it's Ouest

Okay Paris let's call it quits.  Let's stop all this stealing and cheating and bad attitude.  I accept that you will be expensive and crowded and have terrible weather if you can accept that I can enjoy you without loving you.  Sure I realize you can't control if you have terrible weather and if certain areas are stinkier than others, just like I shouldn't expect the baker to be friendly in the morning after the morning work rush, when they are nice all the better.   This is what I want.  No more of these diva outbursts.  No more expensive crappy restaurant food.  No more hassling.  No more dismissiveness.  If someone elbows me in the boob at the market I want them to at least smile an apology.  No more attitude.  Okay Paris...?  ......ok.  Truce.

What do foie gras, Josephine Baker and canoeing have in common?  Except being amazing?  They all can (could) be found in an interesting little corner of France known as the Dordogne also known as the Périgord which is about 2hrs north of Agen.  The area is known for its good food, the beautiful towns,  and for being a canoeing/hiking summertime hotspot.  It's known as being the area in France the best preserved of the 14th century.  My three main goals of the trip:  visit Sarlat known for its amazing market, visit La Roque Gageac on of the most beautiful villages in France, and visit Josephine Baker's castle.   Sarlat is beautiful.  Sarlat is frozen in time (except for the tourists) and one reason for this is that it was actually an old town that lost its prosperity during the hundred year war between England and France fought in this area (Protestant/Catholic), during this time while Sarlat was catching up again it was quite effectively cut off from the rest of France.  Usuall

Hitchhiker, vagabond, drifter...pilgrim?  That's not a word you get to use every day.  In the very religious land that is France...psyche!  France although very catholic is not very religious anymore but do you remember the old French adage assume to never assume?  Every year pilgrims, not the buckle mayflower ones, make a trip to north western Spain.  The goal of the pilgrimage is the Catedral de Santiago de Compostela where supposedly lies the final resting place of St. James also known as James the son of Zebedee.  Spanish tradition goes that after preaching in Spain, James was subsequently beheaded in Jerusalem where apon his fellow disciples returned his body to Spain.  With the muslim moorish invasion of Spain the tomb of James was kept miraculously safe there apon beginning a pilgrimage to the very cathedral.   Its one of the 3 major pilgrimages the other two being Rome and Jerusalem starting in the 10th century.  Along the marked pathway the pilgrims find boarding houses wh

So basically the coolest thing has happened.  When talkin car, yeah you know guy talk and all that: piston, horsepower, chassis, spark plug...I mentioned that my favorite car in France is an old style Renault I didn't even know the name of it.  When in the midst of the conversation a friend says I have one of those.  'Yeah I drive it in the summer, it's a really fun drive'. Uh excuse me, first thought maybe I could sit in it and take a picture second thought maybe I could drive it a tad.  'I have to fix a few things up on her'.  Awh no go, ah well.  One week later 'you know I lent this car out to a friend awhile back, once I get her up and running well again would you like to have it for a bit?'   Jaw drop, rent this little gem of a car?  Tool around in the countryside with a little no heat, no power steering, no vacuum brake beauty?  Uh yes!  And so it was that in early March I was given the gardian ship of Gerty Blue otherwise known as the Blue Wagoon.

If Paris was a person I would go up to her (she is that catty girl from high school didn't you know) and say 'you must have some serious personal problems' and walk away.  Paris has never liked me.  This trip Paris liked me even less.  My latched bag was no problem for the sneaky pickpocket that snagged my wallet.  Lesson learned,never keep your passport and cash in the same area and don't carry it on you when traveling lock it in your bag in the hotel (or hostel).  Flashback to Chicago as I am somewhat mawkishly ogling my passport looking back on my 3 last visas and international stamps thinking to myself how I want to fill this passport up in the 5 years it was valid.  Flashforward reaching into the vide of my purse in order to pay for metro tickets only to touch the soft leather bottom.  What passes through your mind?  First sheer panic, then you convince yourself that you haven't looked well enough.  You return to your hotel you search everything the obvious and

The worst part of traveling...wonderful people.  You shouldn't envision a world where you drag your friends and family along with you everywhere you go but it is tempting.  Thank you FaceTime and the Internet for making long distance friendships bearable.  But still I'll have to wait another few months in order to hold my cutie pie nephew again, sigh. My brief teaser of a visit with my family was a nice little reboost and I do declare it is difficult to spend more than a few months without seeing them.  But on the flip side when I'm back in the US I want my frenchies, can't have it all can we?   They all surprised me with a surprise dinner in Elkhart with my grandparents and to quote my grandma 'I started cooking but I don't know what happened I just kept going...!'   I got to bring back a lot of clothing and the like and do some important paperwork while I was back.   I also got an animal fix as well,  although my crazy kitten Elby doesn't recognize me

Just got back from this winter wonderland.  As if I haven't explained already why the south west is prime location in France we will hang another little carrot our there. The Pyrenees, this fine mountain range between France and Spain that calls itself home to the country of the Andorra, fluffy dogs, sheeps milk cheese and some beautiful slopes also is known for several therapeutic mineral hot spring spas.  So once again recap.  Surfing, duck, wine, cheese, mountains, hot springs, warm weather...etc let's continue shall we.  Our little group headed out Thursday evening and ended up in Loudenvielle in the Louron valley the Pyrenees 3.5 hrs away.  We passed through Auch another cool south western city.  We settled into our little chalet shaped lodging up 5 flights of steps, I got top bunk of the bunk bed yeah and awoke to...rain.  It decided to rain on us but no matter we visited the village and when the sun decided to peek out while we were picnicking we ran to rent some skis an