Chateau De Salettes Chateaux & Hotels De France Cahuzac-sur-Vere

Arrived here after dark last night and managed to find a spot right on the river. It rained all night so we didn't venture out of the Scoobs.

This morning the weather was much better so we headed to the town square to check out the weekly market ...

Every year my family on my Mom's side organizes a family reunion. It always takes place on the last week-end of July but this year we made an exception because a second-degree uncle was celebrating his retirement and 60 year-old birthday the first week-end of August. As we are all spread across France and even outside of France, we could not have two events a week apart. My Mom's family is pretty big: 11 uncles and aunts, 17 cousins plus their ...

Distance (14 miles)

Hungover we found ourselves in a poor part of Toulouse where people were selling random items (like a single roller blade!?) on tarpauling. People kept trying to sell us cigerettes on the street. Then a load of Police came running round the corner and busted one of them by stealing the offenders cigarettes and stamping all 200 of them into the ground ...

... were back in the car! We then headed off to Ravenna, with the idea of going on to Venice. I'd never heard of Ravenna, but the Rough Guide says there are "unmissable" mosaics there. We weren't really sure how they would compare to the mosaics in Madaba but - the walls and ceilings of the chapels are covered in them and amazing colours. Yes, definitely worth the effort.

By this time we, Martin in particular, felt we'd had enough travelling ...

... clear night and the stars lit up the night with the silhouette of the mountains as a back drop, it was pretty special. We were very quite that night, thankful this show was still on the road and we were relived not to be coming home one way or another! Looking at the the stars we could see over twenty flashing plane lights at any one time, obviously we were close to the main flight route towards Spain, we would be following them soon but maybe not as high this time!

... the trip, I had a can of Coke Zero, which was flat but cold; a glass of Coke Zero, which was warm and flat; a small bottle of Limonade, which was carbonated and on ice, with a very subtle lemon flavor and truly delicious; and litres and litres of warm water, both bottled and tap. Departing the E.Leclerc (which has 80 checkout lanes!) and the Centre, we headed for downtown Toulouse and a bit of sightseeing. Doug drove the 5-speed rental car ...

... which means it lasts for about 4 hours), and speak to some well travelled French guests and get some valued advice for our journey. It was great fun as I got to apply some of my culinary genius, and get a taster for what Asia will be truly like..... i.e. being lost in translation. I did get an unexpected surprise, it turned out I was going to be ...

... the pieces. Some of them were downright ugly though. The museum itself was much smaller than I expected. But it is in a beautiful building, the Palais de la Berbie which was built as a bishop's residence in 1265. The author lists the entrance fee as 4 euros, but it is now 5 euros.

... to put down my pencil and paint brush again. Friday evening we had our last supper as a group and said our goodbyes the following morning over breakfast. We had all come together to share this beautiful experience and it was now time for us to venture off in different directions to continue putting to work our fresh inspiration. I am truly grateful to have been a part of this group and have learned something from each and ...

Good dinner last night, but WAAAAAY too late for these bones. Up at 7:30 and breakfast at 8am so can leave by 9am. Stopped at a Roman Aquaduct [we passed several of these] on the way to Les Baux. The climb to Les Baux is a bear, but worth the effort. The 'living' city has some nice shops - in fact we bought a nice art piece at a high-end glass shop near the ...