Today is a stormy day. Heavy rain and high winds kept us inside most of the day.

We had lunch in the town of Bazs sur Mer and then visited a bunker that was constructed in Le Pouliguen by its German occupiers during WW II. The bunker has been converted into a museum displaying artifacts of the Germans occupation. It was a poignant reminder of France’s tenuous situation during that war and added a personal side to the usual american view of France’s role during the war.

We played bridge for several hours in the late afternoon. The group fixed a dinner of fresh shrimp, oysters, snails, et cetera. They were kind enough to fix a portion of Hake (a mild white fish) for me and Mom.

Pasquale departed for Paris this afternoon after he and Anne Marie took in a movie. He works there during the week and comes to Le Pouliguen most weekends.

Vannes
St. Peter church

Raders and Armisteads departed from Le Pouliguen for Paris. Denys, Fernando, and I escorted them from Le Pouliguen to the Nantes train station to make sure their departure was uneventful and then had lunch in Nantes.

Rain

Move to second house

Did I mention rain?

Bridge at 2nd house

Storm

Ann Marie and Pasquale prepared dinner for us tonight as the weather was too bad to go out. They also joined us for dinner. They are our host / hostess in the second house; Ann Marie is Denys’ cousin.

The group played bridge this morning at the second house, and then headed to Piriac for lunch. After lunch we did a bit of sightseeing on the roads between Piriac and Le Pouliguen before settling in for the conclusion of our bridge game, dinner, and our trophy presentation. Nicole assembled for us a wonderful last supper from leftovers from the previous dinners.

Fernando (1st place), Denys (last place), and Sandi (2nd place), receive their awards from Mistress of Ceremonies Carol Silva

The winner of our bridge contest was Fernando. Sandi was in second place, and Denys earned the opportunity to spend the next three months studying “the book”. Congratulations to all of our competitors and kibitzers.  We hope to see those who could not make it to Le Pouliguen at our next event in Atlanta on January 31st, 2015.

I am greeting the sunrise this morning. Our veranda’s view faces east across the bay toward the mainland. The sun has not yet broken through but four contrails in the distance are a brilliant pink, foretelling a nice sunrise.

Denys, Fernando, and I went for a bike ride this afternoon while the girls and Eddie went shopping in La Baule. We rode a six mile route that took us along the oceanside close to our houses, through the harbor, and through the town of Le Pouliguen. Lots of bicyclists were out enjoying the sunny fall day. The terrain around Le Pouliguen is flat, making our ride quite easy.

Skies this morning are beautiful and blue – boding well for our drive up the coast to Le Pouliguen today.

We had a delightful breakfast with other guests staying at the B&B this morning, particularly a couple from Belgium who spoke English comfortably. The husband works for a chemical company and the wife is a high school French teacher. We had a good time comparing education approaches between Belgium and the US with them.

The B&B was a real sleeper. The exterior was not inviting at all. I was ready to pass on it before Jan went inside and gave it her approval. The interior was nicely done and the host was very friendly and helpful. Breakfast was great, and the B&B was located a few minutes from the tram that took us into the Old City.

We were the last of the group to arrive in Le Pouliguen. The Williamsons, Raders, and Armisteads gathered on Saturday and the Silvas arrived yesterday. The Williamsons are hosting the gathering and arranged for two houses to accommodate the group. One is a bed and breakfast run by Nicole’s cousin and the other is an oceanside private residence owned by a classmate of Nicole’s. Both are beautiful. We are currently staying in the oceanside home with the Williamsons. Our second floor east facing bedroom overlooks the ocean and has a private veranda that we will use in the morning to watch the sunrise. Life is difficult here in France.

We arrived in Bordeaux today. It was a rainy day, but it cleared enough for us to catch a tram into Old Town for dinner.

Bordeaux is an interesting diverse city. Lots of students were on the streets tonight. The streets in old town are interesting – no cars allowed that we could see, only the trams. The streets have been tiled and are now wide pedestrian walkways. The shops along the streets are very modern, not unlike what you would see on Fifth Ave in NYC, well lit, and filled with the latest styles.

Daylight savings time ended in France at 2:00 AM this morning. I neglected to reset my watch and have been an hour off all day. Mom prefers to remind me that I have been a bit off since she first met me.

Today is our last full day in Sarlat, so we will wrap up a few loose ends that we wished to see while here. First is the Gardens of Marqueyssac. The Gardens are associated with a Chateau, but the real attractions are the gardens and their view of the surrounding countryside. The gardens are perched on the top of a several hundred meter high hill alongside the Dordogne River, the major river flowing through the Dordogne Valley. The garden’s walking paths offer great views of the river and a number of magnificent chateaus on nearby hilltops (one of which is our second destination this afternoon.)

During our walk we ran into Richard and Sally from Nottingham England for the second day on a row. They are a delightful couple we met yesterday at Maison Forte de Reignac. We had a nice chat with them there and we continued our chats today as we strolled along the paths at the Gardens of Marqueyssac. It turns out that Richard and I have a lot in common with our work in the IT industry.

Chateau de Castelnaud was our last destination today. The chateau was initially built in the 1200s and after falling into disrepair has been repaired and opened to the public. As with the Gardens of Marqueyssac, in our opinion it’s main claim to fame is its views of the Dordogne River and Valley and the other chateaus in the area. The climbs up the Chateau’s steps were a bit much for Jan, so we limited our visit to the lower areas of the Chateau. Even with this limitation, our visit was thought provoking. In addition to their exhibits of daily life in a chateau of that era, the chateau offered an extensive display of armaments used in the 13th – 16th centuries and videos characterizing the evolution of chateau or castle design as the tools of war evolved over the same time frame.

Saturday is open air market day in Sarlat. We walked around town amongst the market vendors. Jan made a few purchases. The scene is not unlike a market day in the US with many small vendors exhibiting their wares under small shelters. The main difference is that the main streets of the town are turned into pedestrian walkways with vendor shelters along both sides of the streets. We stopped for a coffee in one of the squares and watched several larger vendors break down their displays of food products. There must not be a French FDA as food handling was quite casual and cooked chickens etc appear to be transported unrefrigerated. We have noticed this elsewhere in France as well.

During the afternoon we took one of our signature cross country rides (via GPS guidance over shortest route with unhurried pace) to a close by area (20km) with several cliff dwellings. We did not know what to expect at our destination, but the countryside we rode through was beautiful. It was similar to the mountains of north Georgia. We drove through many small isolated communities of a half dozen buildings or so and assumed they were family farms. At each enclave the grounds were neat and well groomed, and the buildings were generally well maintained. Fields were neatly tilled as if in preparation for next spring’s crops. The main exception was fields of sunflower plants. Dead plants were left on the fields with flower heads intact. We assume this is to allow the seeds to dry before they are harvested. The sunflower fields must be beautiful when the plants are in full bloom.

Roque Sainte Christophe Fort et Cite Troglodytiques

A cliff face that has allegedly been occupied for over 55,000 years. We could not get close to the cliff face as they were in the process of filming some sort of documentary. It was easy to see why the cliff location was picked by early residents of the area. The cliff offered shelter and defense and the nearby Vezere River provided water.

Maison Forte de Reignac

A fort and residence built into sheltered areas in a cliff face. It has allegedly been occupied for over 15,000 years. I entered expecting a hokey exhibit similar to Rock City in Chattanooga but was pleasantly surprised to find a well done and thought provoking exhibit of life as it must have been over the centuries at this location. We enjoyed our trek through it.

Vezere River and Valley

The Vézère is a 211 km long river in southwestern France. It is an important tributary to the Dordogne River. Its source is in the northwestern part of the elevated plateau known as the Massif Central. It flows to the southwest.

The Vézère Valley is famed for its prehistoric cave systems, containing numerous cave paintings and hominid remains. UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) collectively designated these a World Heritage Site in 1979.