Chateau De Monrecour Chateaux & Hotels De France Saint-Vincent-de-Cosse

This village clings to the side of a cliff. We first saw it in an articule in the TNT magazine in London.

It is another stop on the pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compestela. It has a famed image of a Black Madonna which is reputed to be responsible for many miracles.

From a distance this village is spectacular. We ...

... i have no concept of time. I have no clue what day or time i'm in and i only have internet in the office, so i'm back in this room being rude and posting pics. I miss everyone! But, i'm not quite homesick yet. Had another get home cooked meal tonight and they had a friend over. She was hilarious. She's gonna be watching their son while we are in Paris along with doing a few other ...

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 ...

We left the bordeaux region today for the dordogne valley - the ancient town of Sarlat - waaaay medieval-
I've determined that there is not enough of france to walk in to justify the amount of food we've been eating...oof. We havent even had any pastries or creme brulee we're so full from lunch and dinner!
we"ll post more in the matin!
Bonne Nuit!

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!

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.

... in for a night of drinking.

So, we decided to have another rest day and managed to go to a near by town where we entered a cave that was rumoured to be hell. Another highlight of the day was finding five litres of wine in a barrel for 3.7 euros. Remember this: kicking a bean bag between a few friends after 5 litres of wine is the funniest thing you can do. However, don't get naked.

... and now has butter smeared inside it from our shopping trip on the way home. Righteo. I'm sick of writing. I think you've got pretty much the drift of the place, and hopefully some photos should speak far louder than my silly words, so I'm going to head off. I want hot chocolate, but Mark's making me learn the rules to Tricket in the hallway before I'm allowed to have any, so the sooner I head, the better. Much love to all, Maddi (and Mark) xxx

Upon leaving my lovely villa, I returned to a charming, affordable hotel near the train station in Cahors, and explored that medieval town of 21,000 a bit better. The cathedrals, the 700 year old fortified Pont Valentre, and more winding streets, farmers markets and promenades along the Lot in the warm summer sun made for a delightful August.