Hotel B&B Agen

... instead of Cab Sauv and it is an interesting grape in the blend as it adds a lot of earthiness. Sarragan also sticks to those tried and true varietals for their blends and produces some really good wines. In fact, we really loved the wines of the Les Baux de Provence region. They don't get the critical regard that some of the more popular Provence areas get, but the wine qualities here really stuck with our palates. A lot of them have a chocolaty undercurrent that we didn't ...

... Finally, we arrived at Europcar and the line to pick-up your car was wrapped outside and down the sidewalk. Fortunately, we had a voucher through Auto Europe and were able to “skip the line!” We quickly jumped in our ...

... cars and lorrys. Although we stopped for many water breaks we finally made it to Agen where we drank a beer on a park bench, like a homeless, which we were.

Just outside of the city we set up camp off a foot pass next to a huge river. We cooked our food on the rocks next to the river and as the sun set we listened to some wierd animal sounds which for some reason we assumed to be aligators.

7 days in the small village of Miradoux in Gascony ... living in a surprisingly large 4 bedroom house overlooking a patchwork valley and touring through beautiful ...

It was a long day on the bus, but we finally made it to Provence. On the way we stopped in Avignon to see the Pope's Palace and then made our way to the Roman Aqueduct. After dinner in Provence, we stumbled upon a crazy street party with a DJ. It was fun experience to dance with the locals and get a feel for the flavor of the town. We are off to Barcelona tomorrow!

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20 minutes grumbling thunder preceeded a violent storm, force 8+, rain and big hailstones. Dave went out in pants only to save the awning from being blown off!

Nightingales (rossinol?) sang after the storm, and again in the morning.

... with about another 6 boats. This was a lovely trip as the Lot is a very wide lazy river. As part of upgrading it for tourism they have built some spectacular new locks including a 13 m one (the second biggest in France)! Much to everyones relief they opened up the Baize for the afternoon and in escorted convoys of 2 we made it into the canal system and onto the Canal Lateral la Garonne. Over ...

... only spans halfway across the river, as it was washed away in a flood in 1668. Our next stop was to be the town of Arles, known for its Roman ruins, just 70km south of Avignon. But Tom had other ideas. I realise that Tom is merely a computer with a voice, however after a few days of having his company on our journeys he had started to take on a bit of a personality. Tom very confidently led us out of Avignon, but as the roads started to get narrower and eventually ended in the middle of ...

... star rating to the gentlemen's convenience. Apart from the eatery there seemed little to recommend Souillac so we resumed our journey. Martel and Vagrac were merely names on signposts as we sped down the D703. Bretenoux appeared to be no more interesting but we stopped, nonetheless, for a lunch of the local specialty. Over sweet and sour snails and marinated frog legs we debated the desirability of a visit to the nearby Chateau de Castelnau. Autoire and ...

... Even the medieval museum with its suspect wax figures was full, though the rain may have been the deciding factor for its visitors. In the aust**e church we found a novel way of collecting money. Visitors pay ten francs to hamm** a nail into a beam of "medieval" wood. The log looks like it had been blasted with shotgun pellets. It was difficult to sit and contemplate our surroundings while children hamm**ed enthusiastically in the background, but at least the ...