Best Western Le Saint Laurent Perigueux

Today was eventful yet relaxing. We just walked around this town that had tons of history and shops and was just great. I bought some new jeans and a shirt and found some things that i only wish i had the money to buy! We got a can of Dr. Pepper, which you can't find anywhere by the way, for 2 euros which is like $3.50 or something. Karen keeps getting ...

Bergerac sure was neato! i shoulda taken pics of the rif-raf to show everyone. There were some punk kids hanging in the town square. I had prolly the best hamburger ever, which is weird since i'm from Nebraska. hmmmm..... I think all i'm doing here is eating, which is the opposite of what i wanted. I'll prolly come back 10 ponds heavier, or some matter of kilograms or whatever it is ...

Well it's finally happened! I'm in France! After 10 hours of 3 flights and an hour drive, i'm in my new residence and have been fed to the max. A home cooked meal was certainly what i needed after all the **** i consumed on the flights. I'm surrounded by endless grape vines and amazing scenery. It's like 70 degrees here and so nice. The house i'm staying in is from the 1500's and it ...

... of vin rouge... bliss.








My visit also gave my folks an opportunity to take a few days off from the hard labour of building their house with their own fair hands. In a year they have gone from owning a bare patch of land to having a little home which they themselves have roofed, floored, wired, plumbed, walled, plastered, tiled etc ...

Distance covered: 15 miles

Well we originally had planned to leave fairly early in the morning but these plans were destroyed by not being able to part with the swimming pool and spending time kicking the hacky sack with Winston (who turns out to be a football legend). We finally left around 6pm. Cycled a few miles, found a nice wood and slept in just the inner sheets of the tents. The sky was so clear you could see the milky way. Although not luxurious, this was certainly a paradise.

Distance covered: 75 miles (on the fist day)

I have to say cycling up and down hills for 75 miles (6.5 hours) with luggage on a ****** bike with bad gears is not fun. Not even a little bit. Even if it was all down hill just sitting on a bike for that long isn't cool. On top of all this we only managed to find one water supply, which was green. However, arriving in Bergerac to see ...

... br>But I'll get there, sooner or later, and will be keeping a web log provided by the organization I'll be working for. I think it is www.katherinelapthorn.helptmee.nl, so if you like you can give it a try. Might even be able to hook it up to travel pod somehow, I'll sort that out.

Anyway, tonight we have been invited to dinner by Bernadette and Nico, her new beau.
I am amazed by the speed at which both Bernadette and ...

Just a quickie before we leave for St. Leon-sur-Vézère. Another puzzle. Ants again.

I left a cup of orange juice on the table outside and noticed some ants making their way towards it. Well, it was hot and I thought they were either thirsty or fancied a swim, and forgot all about it. Till we sat down for dinner and I saw what looked like the mesh of very fine tealeaves in the cup. There must have been thousands and thousands of them ...

... br>Next was a trip up to Bordeaux where we met with Emma. Spend the next few days around the coast south of here including the biggest sand dune in Europe. Really good.

More to follow...

... only to red wine. The Dordogne is famous for its food, especially its duck, foie gras, and mushrooms. We had lots of wonderful cuisine prepared by Tracey from the wonderful veggie garden (see photos of the girls with the fruits and veg of their labours) and from the local market. We learnt that courgettes come in at least 4 different varieties (see another photo) and didn't realise how many ways they can be prepared (think regular and thai style soup; baked with ...