Campanile Moulins - Aurillac

We spent the entire afternoon canoeing down the Dordogne. We packed a lunch and found a nice spot along the river to enjoy some wine and cheese. It was so peaceful and beautiful. Every couple of Kilometers was anothe castle overlooking the river. The river was so flat that we could just float along and enjoy the view.

From the cousins house we moved further west to Neils parents house. They have a place in a beautiful old town. It is an old walled vilage on the hilltop overlooking the valley. The village is full of cobblestone streets, windy narrow alleys and cute little homes. We ate great meals, enjoyed excellent wine and spent time with Neils parents. thank you again for hosting us!

We left the west coast and headed inland to look for work. We stopped at Angouleme for lunch which had a spectacular view from the old city. We carried on into the Dordogne, and looking for a campsite came across a municipal site in a little town called Argentat-sur-Dordogne. The weather was stifling hot, which that night brought on 24 hours of massive thunderstorms and then 3 days of rain! The Dordogne was flooding and even Argentat lost electricity one night!

... any idea what kind of amount will be charged. And the amount varied widely! Our friend had told us Avignon was dull and way too touristy, but we had a very different experience. Unless we're way more mainstream than we thought (not too likely). We really enjoyed the town, and if you haven't been in one of these medieval walled towns before, I'd think this would be a great one to start in. People were very friendly, and ...

... or faith, and talk to him about pilgrimage. we also interviewed rob descotes, a pastor from vancouver, and also an all around awesome guy and spiritual pilgrim, and eric, a law student from paris. last night we interviewed this really great german music student sebastian, who is walking from his home in liepzig (65 days away just to here) with a travel trumpet, and we listened to him perform ...

... talkative when the camera is out of sight. There are a ton of people walking right now because of french and swiss holidays, and they are teaching us some french, although tams is the only one learning anything, as jeff nods his head and speaks spanish to them, and i nod my head and turn into a really giant hairy mime most of the time. It seems on a walking route people are really in love with walking, and find a spiritual connection within ...

... Probably more fun to write. Jules offered us a ride. And dispatched one of his rabbit-toothed dogsbodies to take us down the road. He drove us two minutes, then stumbled through a long and awkward farewell-see-you-soon-youve-been-gr**** ****-what-was-your-name-again-sorry? Freedom! Ride with an English teacher (a French one). Quite creepy. Never become a Language teacher. Serious "autostop ...

... Puy. Relief. Le Puy is a beautiful town. It has a crumbling castle perched on a comically craggy cliff in the centre. Find the internet and realise that Betabet is not in Le Puy. Take a bus to a little town nearby then catch two more lifts off kind souls and finally. Arrive.

... rows of cypress pines lining the winding roads, the beautiful little villages, the vines lining every slope, the olive groves, the colours of Tuscany. Having bought provisions from the village, we settled into our apartment in the old converted stables overlooking the vineyards, for an Italian feast of fresh tomatoes and basil with local buffalo mozzarella in the delicious Villa Branca oil, meats and fresh bread followed by fresh, juicy figs and cheeses. We ...

... half dressed in freezing temperatures are just hoping it's a "cold spell" that will pass. I remember the tradition every fall when mom would bring out the bags of "winter clothes" and I would re-discover my favorite scarf with the mittens on the ends. Maybe that preparedness is one of the plusses of having more pronounced seasons. In any case, I am definitely looking forward to seeing the sun more. Cahors is a little ...