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France and Greece 2018

October - November 2018
A 24-day adventure by Nanaroo Read more
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  • TravelerFrance and Greece 2018

    Getting to France

    October 19, 2018 in France ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C

    Dave and I are travelling to new places in France and Greece, excited to see new things and have new experiences.
    We flew to Paris and took the train to Bordeaux that day. We checked into our hotel and had a long nap to fight off jet lag. We had a lovely dinner with duck terrine and a main dish of duck confit for Dave, and of course a little wine. In the morning we picked up our rental car to head off to Gavaudon, 3 hours farther west. We travelled through some lovely flat farmland but were beginning to wonder about our choice of locations, when we arrived in the hills. We have already seen beautiful castles waiting for the MacDougalls to visit. Yes, there will be many things to see here.Read more

  • TravelerFrance and Greece 2018
    1
    Day 1

    Gavaudon first day

    October 20, 2018 in France ⋅ ☁️ 15 °C

    We are staying in a small, privately owned resort with just 3 of the units given over to RCI. The owner had a meet and greet this morning with a glass of Rose wine to sweeten the deal. He spoke in 2 of his languages to give us details of the surrounding area. What a wealth of information!
    We decided to go and see some Bastides today. It means "new town" but from the 13th century. Monpazier is a beautiful walled medieval town. It is the end of the season here and some shops were closed, but the kind folks at a small cafe made us a late lunch of scrambled eggs and apple cake for dessert. It was 23 degrees and so nice to sit in the sun in the town square and enjoy our lunch. The church was very pretty and we broused the shops but kept our visa cards tucked away. We drove to a second Bastide about a half hour away, called Monflanquin, very different as it sat high on a hilltop. Got a bit of exercise climbing the hill. The views from the city walls were breathtaking. Life is good!!!.    Read more

  • TravelerFrance and Greece 2018
    Day 2

    Caves and a medieval town

    October 21, 2018 in France ⋅ ☀️ 16 °C

    Yesterday was very foggy in the morning and so it was noon before we headed off, going east. The landscape became much more rugged with huge cliffs and the twisting River Lot in the valley. We went to Grotte du Peche Merle, huge caves with prehistoric paintings. Because of rocks falling down to block the entrance, the caves were undisturbed for 12,000 years, hence the preservation of the paintings. They protect the caves by limiting the number of people allowed in each day, so that the temperature and humidity is not affected. Some of the paintings were 29,000 years old. In some places there were old paintings in red with "newer" ones in black over the top. We were able to have an English tour which was great. We have found our French is not very adequate. Cameras are not allowed, of course, in the caves, but we bought postcards and took some pictures of them. As well as the paintings, the caves themselves were quite spectacular, and one really unusual feature was the 'pearls'. Water came down at some point and spun pieces of limestone around making them totally round and smooth. Very unusual!!
    Our second stop was the Medieval town of St-Cirq-Lapopie perched atop a cliff. The Chateau would have stood on the highest cliff, but is now just ruins. The church and town are still there, and really give you a trip back into the 13th century. The old tile roofs, seen from the higher viewpoint of the chateau ruins, look weathered but still serviceable. Going by the size of the parking lots outside of town, this place must be swarming with tourists in summer. On this early evening, there were just enough people sipping espressos and wandering the village, to make it welcoming and give some idea of how it must have looked so many centuries ago.    Read more

  • TravelerFrance and Greece 2018
    Day 3

    Wine tasting

    October 22, 2018 in France ⋅ 🌙 14 °C

    Today we headed off to the Cahors wine district, but first a visit to the LeBoat rental place in Douelle. The River Lot would be a fantastic place to rent a boat. The river bends back on itself, over and over, covering little distance on the map but a great deal on the water. It goes through huge vineyards, by many medieval towns and there are many castles and chateaux to see on the cliffs and hillsides. The season here is pretty much over so most of the boats were at dock. Europeans coming to the Rideau to use LeBoat will say what a beautiful place they have come to, as well.
    And then it was off to lunch and wineries. We have found it a little difficult locating places for lunch. Our best bet is to ask the GPS for suggestions, but sometimes places are closed or don't look so good. Today it found us a lovely spot with the 'assiette du jour', the only choice. Fortunately it was a great meal, and at a very good price, too. The GPS is invaluable for getting around but does seem to like back roads that are one lane wide and many turns. You could not retrace a route if you tried. You do get to go through the most lovely little villages built hundreds of years ago and Dave gets to practice his rally driving on the narrow, winding roads.
    Oh yes, the wineries. The Lot River valley is full of wineries because of the gravelly soil and limestone rock close to the surface. They grow Malbec grapes almost exclusively, and the wine is generally reasonably priced. Our host at Domaine de Gavaudon gave us a map with suggested wineries on it. The first one we visited, he recommended because it is at a REAL chateau. It was a beautiful setting and we really liked the wine. The owner talked with us for a long time, and we took away 2 bottles. We visited only one more winery, because you just have to buy some when you are the only people there. Again the owner let us taste several wines and we bought 1 more. We think that we can do them justice over the next several nights, before we leave France.    Read more

  • TravelerFrance and Greece 2018
    Day 4

    Chateau Biron

    October 23, 2018 in France ⋅ ⛅ 11 °C

    We stayed closer to home today and went to tour the Chateau we had seen on first arriving in the area - Chateau Biron. It started out as a Medieval Fort and during the 15th and 16th centuries was converted to a Chateau for the Biron family. They had their ups and downs, sometimes being on the wrong end of the guillitine, the sharp end. In the 18th century their lands were returned and they built another whole section to the Chateau. It was very interesting and quite large, including a church within the walls. The different areas had much different construction techniques and styles. Another warm day, we have been so lucky with good weather.Read more

  • TravelerFrance and Greece 2018
    Day 5

    Sarlat and Lascaux

    October 24, 2018 in France ⋅ 🌙 16 °C

    Sarlat-la-Caneda is considered one of the most beautiful cities in France and Wednesday is market day there, so off we went! It has an old town that is charming and quite busy on market day. As well as stalls with local delicacies such as nuts, pate, terrine, wine, sausage, cheese, there are plenty of small shops with other things to buy. We browsed, bought a few things, and had lunch at an outdoor cafe. Since it was just 4 degrees this morning, sun was important in the choice of a table. By late afternoon it was 23 degrees, though, and we had shed our sweaters. Meanwhile the large lunch, three courses, was devoured, and we waddled off to our next stop.
    In the same vicinity is the Grotte de Lascaux, one of many cave areas in this part of France. We were surprised to see a very long, sleek, modern building, on our arrival. It turns out, to protect the cave paintings, they have built an exact reproduction of the caves to tour. The caves are 125 metres long, and so the building, too must be huge. A guide took us through this part. His English was good and his sense of humour better. It is a very technologically advanced exhibition. After leaving the cave reproduction area, you go into an exhibition of the various paintings and the small tablet you are wearing, with earphones attached, gives you a description of what you are seeing, in your chosen language. We also saw a 3-D presentation in a theatre, again translated through our set. Both of us thought we would not have chosen to go to Lascaux had we known we would not actually go into the caves, but it was so well done, we did not regret it at all.
    We had some nervous time today when our GPS stopped working. We were on our way to the caves and found that fine, but travel in the more "backwoods" areas would be very difficult without this device. Many roads are not on the maps, and it takes many turns with little guidance from road signs to get where you are going. Thankfully, GPS had a rest and was ready to work again when we came out of the caves.    Read more

  • TravelerFrance and Greece 2018
    1
    Day 6

    Chateaux Bonaguil and Gavaudun

    October 25, 2018 in France ⋅ 🌙 10 °C

    Our last full day in France and we had some sights that we hadn't yet fit in. This morning we headed off to Chateau de Bonaguil, not too far away. It was built as a small fort in the 1200's on top of a chunk of rock. It was added to extensively in the 1400'S and became a real fortress. In the 1700's it was modified again to be a home for Marguerite de Fumel. The French Revolution occurred and a law required that the towers of castles must be levelled to the height of the main buildings. The place was sacked and that is what the condition is today. Even with all that it is very impressive, perched high on a cliff overlooking the valley. We spent some time there and then had lunch below in the village. Their speciality was a meat and potato dish flamed at your table. Another night to have a chacouterie tray for dinner after a heavy lunch.
    Our second stop was in the village of Gavaudun, just down the road. We visited a church there built in the 1100's and in good repair. People were working in the graveyard on upkeep. The tombs had a family name but no dates or individual names. We visited an old fort at the village, again on top of a huge chunk of rock. No attacker was getting up those walls. Very little is still there except the keep, but you can see where the different parts were. I was dizzy just looking down from the first level, even before going up in the keep.    Read more

  • TravelerFrance and Greece 2018
    Day 9

    Ah, Greece!

    October 28, 2018 in Greece ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C

    We had along day of travel on Friday. First the 2 1/2 hour drive to Bordeaux, then a train to Paris, but there weren't any in our time frame going to the airport, so we took the Metro to another station, then a train to the airport. Then we flew to Athens, getting into our hotel at about 1 am.
    The next day was relaxing, with just a flight over to Paros to the smallest airport ever, where we had a car rented to drive to our timeshare at the village of Drios. It will be very comfortable for the next week. Breakfast out on the patio of our unit this morning was great, Bougainvillea blooming over our heads. We went to the town of Lefkes, looking for a larger grocery store, and came upon a small parade celebrating the liberation of the island in WWII. It is a gorgeous old town, but we did not have cameras with us, so will have to go back. Nice Greek lunch there and back for a walk around our own village and down to the beach. Tonight... A Greek cooking lesson!!    Read more

  • TravelerFrance and Greece 2018
    Day 10

    Cooking class and Naoussa

    October 29, 2018 in Greece ⋅ 🌙 18 °C

    Cooking class last night was a blast. The group helped with some of it and watched Maria do the rest. We had Scampi with tomatoes and feta, Pumpkin soup, Vegetable towers with tzatziki sauce, Moussaka, and Baclava. Everyone did some of the Baclava, and some other things. It was a fun group of Americans, Germans and us. The food was wonderful and the wine flowed freely. Maria has the perfect personality for being a teaching chef.
    Today we went to the town of Naoussa which has a port with lots of fishing boats, an old town and a ramshackle Venetian fortress. The island was under Venetian rule from 1204-1537. We had lunch down by the harbour, but noticed that many restaurants and businesses were closed for the season. With this wonderful weather, they may be wishing they had stayed open a little longer.
    We ran into two other couples from cooking night during the day. I guess it is a small island! Tonight we are going to a Greek dinner at the resort with music and dance. I hope Dave doesn't get into plate smashing. Our damage deposit could be eaten up quickly.    Read more

  • TravelerFrance and Greece 2018
    Day 11

    Greek night and Lefkes

    October 30, 2018 in Greece ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C

    Greek night featured many dishes to sample in a buffet dinner. We sat with a couple from Boston, David and Sarah, who we had met the night before, and a couple from NY City living in Barcelona. Some expats were there too who we had met at the cooking class. The music was interesting, guitar and violin, that sometimes sounded like Nova Scotian Celtic music. Dave did not get into breaking plates, thankfully. However, my dance partner and I seem to have broken a glass at one point. Fergus, from northern Scotland, got me up dancing, but unfortunately we didn't learn any Greek dances. It was fun and the locals were very welcoming.
    Today we toured round, to a town on the coast, called Piso Livadi. Then I had the bright idea that we should go up to a monastery high in the rugged interior. The road was steep and primitive and a very large and vocal dog up there kept us from roaming around too much. Coming back down tired out my right leg, as I felt the need to break constantly, even though I wasn't driving. Next time I'll keep my suggestions to myself.
    We went back to Lefkes to take some pictures. It is steep in the village with narrow alleys that are covered in paving stones. So pretty!
    I would love to have a fruit orchard here, not just olives, but oranges, apples, pomegranates, lemons, even prickly pear cactus sometimes. The climate can handle anything as long as you have water to irrigate.    Read more

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