Inter Hotel Grand Hotel Saint Pierre Aurillac

... view from the drivers side as I was looking right into the gorge (don't worry mum I drove very slowly and was very careful not to drive too close to the edge). Luckily there were many parking areas to stop at so both of us could get out and really appreciate how beautiful it was. On the downside it was still a little wet so hiking was off the cards...next time.<br>

Beaulieu-sur-Dordogne... Literally translates to beautiful place, which is the prefect description for this little village nestled on the Dordogne River. We found a fab parking spot for the night right on the rivers edge next to a cute little cottage with purple painted ...

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!

Errff -- I can't remember which town I wrote about last time. Guess that's the trouble with doing most of your travel writing once you're actually home from your trip! On the other hand (I'm scrambling for a lure so you'll want to keep reading) by the time you've been back for a while, you have more perspective on your trip -- you know what's really memorable, because you needed some time to see what you remember. If that ...

alright, our first rest day. I apologize to anyone who finds a typo in my writing first of all. the french use a different keyboard layout and i'm not very adjustable apparently. So where to start? so far our trip has been wonderful, and having a day of rest only amplifies our feeling. today, while resting, we've managed to meet with a friar of the local cathedral and monastery dedicated to saint ...

... 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 ...

Finally the day of departure from the BB arrives! Plan was to be gone without trace before it awoke, but packing and pondering took too much time for that. Lengthy goodbyes to the Welsh boys and Andy. Everyone else was too busy meditatin. At the last minute before disappearing, Dani ran out with fruit for us. Felt like the spotty kid who gets a moment´s attention from one of the big girls. Why so ...

Misery. We´re so WET. Chris didn´t sleep. And I barely did. Found a cheap super market and bouhgt a cheap roast chicken to dry our sorrows. A bad move. This over-preserved chicken´s soul will come back to haunt us. Catch about six rides from village to village til we get to ...

... with the Sicilian's own olive oil - reserved for special guests as his grove is small and he only produces enough for 25% of his restaurant needs. For lunch on Friday we went to Siena - a beautiful walled city an hour south from Greve, via Castellina where we bought fresh figs for breakfast and delicious forest mushrooms for our pasta last night. The produce here is delicious and we are eating very well and feeling so healthy from it all. Saturday ...

... wine tasting I was exhausted so by 830pm I was in bed. I needed a nap and the hotel was very comfortable so I had a hot bath (ahhhhhh...) and then slept like a baby. I woke up a few hours later then tried to watch CNN for about 5 minutes but it was just bad news, like usual. I think watching the news really depresses me putting me in such a negative state of mind. I took a walk down by the river with Brad and Glen and we ...