Meeting Perigord Noir!!

Sunday August 18th
I had decided to take the scenic route to Plazac in the little Clio...unfortunately I missed a turn, which made it more scenic, but really much longer! When I started out, the GPS said I would arrive at 2:30; by the time I was continuing my route, it said 4:30! I arrived later, but mostly because I decided to ignore the Garmin. So I arrived at 6:30!
Ginger, my Couch Surfing hostess, greeted me very graciously to her delightful home, built in the 1700's in a bucolic setting, overlooking

a peaceful valley. She has lived there for thirteen years and had had to do EVERYTHING to it! Each couch surfer has to write a profile, so I knew that Ginger was a reader, writer, and gardener....I had been SO looking forward to meeting her, and I was SO right!!! Our first dinner was outside in her "summer dining room"!
Monday August 19th
As luck would have it, Ginger lives very close to some of the many famous caves of the Dordogne. So I decided to visit some of the caves my first day in this beautiful region.
First stop was Grotte de Lascaux II, www.semitour.com discovered in 1940 by four boys (who swore never to tell-until the next day!) The original paintings, which are no longer shown to tourists, are between 15,000 and 17,000 years old! After Picasso first saw them in 1940, he muttered, "We have invented nothing!" By 1948 they realized that human breath and body heat was ruining the paintings, so they were closed from 1963-1983 so the 20 painters could recreate the original in two rooms, which are still quite amazing!
En route to Lascaux, I had passed the Chateau de Losse, so I decided to stop on my way back for lunch and a visit. They had lovely gardens, www.chateaudelosse.com/en

One view of the Chateau de Losse

Salad in the garden at the Chateau de Losse

and the only way I could see inside the chateau was to take the French tour, which I did.  
Next stop was Le Village Troglodytique de la Madeleine, a cave village, built 10,000-14,000 years ago, above the Vezere River. www.la-madeleine-perigord.com This too was very interesting to see! This reminded a lot of Mesa Verde in Colorado.
Last stop was Grotte de Rouffignac, a cave, which plunges 10 km into the earth. www.grottederouffignac.fr You take the tour on  what the Lonely Planet describes as a ramshackle electric train, but it does the job and was also interesting to see! The tour was in French, so I was literally just "along for the ride" and to see what I could see!!

NOTE: I know that these links take you to sites in French; if you are interested, you might be able to get them translated through the Google website.

That night I went back to Ginger's, where three guests were coming to dinner. She had invited Nada, an American who owns a gite and teaches painting. She had lived in Nepal at one time, and Durgha had worked for her for quite a while. She had just come to Plazac, as Nada had found a man who wanted to marry Durgha, so she would be getting married very soon. (Durgha had been in a bad marriage in Nepal; this was her first trip out of India.)   Rebecca Merry is an Englishwoman who lives in Cambridge, and she was staying at Nada's and painting. This interesting group made for an invigorating discussion over a tasty dinner in Ginger's garden!

On to Brioude....

And so on August 17th, Pascale left for the Pyrenees, and Jean Francois kindly took me to Clermont Ferrand to pick up my Auto Europe arranged rental car. While my Garmin GPS kept telling me my maps are outdated (2 years old), I was counting on it to guide me through my limited driving time. Alas, in the flight, the adapter had broken, so first stop was to see IF I could even find an adapter to buy. (I did have visions that I might need to buy whole new GPS!) First, however, I had to DRIVE it. Standard transmissions are much cheaper to rent than automatic, so I had a diesel Renault Clio to get used to. I am so pleased when I realize that I can drive a standard car! However, I was not so pleased to realize that this car had no CD or cassette player, so for the next week, it was the radio or nothing! (Once the car was loaded with my stuff, I had no interest in changing cars! Plus the diesel meant my fuel costs would be less.)
The Geant Casino store was not a mile away, and happily I was able to find an adapter for 20 euros!
I also had to stop at the mobile provider for more time. NOW I have not been sending pictures or going on-line much at all, but I am told that I am using all this data....THIS is getting to be a drag. Hopefully when I am in Burgundy, I will have time to resolve this with a better plan!!
And I was headed an hour south to Brioude where the Brachets, who will be in my house until at least the end of May, had invited me to visit her mother's home for overnight, so we could finally meet!! They weren't going to be home until 4, so I had time to kill, as it were....So I found a McDonald's (love that internet access) where I could also have lunch...Big Mac, small Heineken, chunky fries for 6.90 euro. Now, that was a win-win for the not usually a Mickey D's customer!! AND I got all caught up on the computer, etc.

Interesting to see the sunflowers in varying states-water shortage, but these looked wonderful!

Avril, Paolo, Aline

Aline's parents live just outside of town in a somewhat hidden location-at least for this first time visitor! So several phone calls later, I was up the hill at this very interesting home. She told me that the original builder/owner wanted to have the first swimming pool

in Brioude, so he built the pool before he built the house, so the house is very close to the pool!

4 yo Avril's darling new hat

6 yo Paolo's new hat

They had gone to the market that morning and found these cute hats!

Soline and Andy

I had a very nice visit with both Aline and Olivier before dinner! It was a good chance for me to remember a few more things I thought they might find helpful. For example, the Appalachian Mountain Club might be good place for them to meet fellow outdoor lovers! They could clarify things I had mentioned in emails as well!

Aline's sister prepared delicious dinner

When I offered to help Soline, Aline's mother, in the kitchen,she said, "Come speak English with me!" She had started learning English when she was 11 years old. Early in her marriage, her husband Jean Jacques (now the mayor of Brioud-for the third time) had taught economics at the University of Michigan for a short time, so she had had the opportunity to live in the States and speak even more English!! She invited me to come for a week so she could teach me French cooking, and we could speak English!! She and Jean Jacques have a Boston trip planned for late October; she will also probably visit later in September, as Olivier will be back in France for his work, and Soline will be able to help with the children, while Aline is in school at Brandeis. I had a wonderful time with everyone! Then next morning before I left, Soline took me into town to visit the wonderful old cathedral in Brioude. We were all happy that we had had the opportunity to meet and spend more than just an hour together!
And then I was on my way to Plazac (pop. 1900) in Perigord Noir, where couch surfer Ginger had invited me to stay for five nights.
Thanks for coming along with me....

Last Few Busy Days in the Auvergne....

August 15-Well, the pretty little tour of the hills was great practice for le Mont-Dore (elevation 3422'), central France's highest peak. Jean Francois (Pascale's dad), Pascale, her brother Eric, and I headed off with our picnic lunch. We took the cable car up (Téléphérique du Sancy), and had a delightful hike/walk down-quite steep in some places, much easier in others. There were other hikers, but not crowds, so it was great fun. I loved watching the Queen Anne's Lace (one of my favorites) moving with the pleasant breeze following us down.

We stopped for lunch and also enjoyed the wonderful views. The walk took us an hour and three quarter down.

On the way back we stopped to pick some wild raspberries, which were quite off the beaten path! Jean Francois, like many French people, makes lots of jams (confitures). I had asked Pascale if (before her  mother had died about thirteen years ago) her father had done much in the kitchen. Apparently not that much, but now necessity had forced a change. His jam-making was impressive! When we got home, he made the raspberry jam right away! (It reminded me of when my friend Jane made apple pie as soon as she bought the apples from the fruit vendor who came to her door in Plattsburgh, NY, long ago!) While he was making the jam, I picked some pink currants (groseille), and he made them into jam the next day.
Friday was to be my last day in Ceyrat, and Jean Francois wanted to take us to Chateau Vollore, where descendants of Lafayette still live. We had lunch before we left, as Vollore would open al 2. Jean Francois poached an Alaskan Salmon; I liked it; they didn't think it was too good!

Did you know that Lafayette was 20 years old when he asked Louis XIV to bring soldiers over to fight in the American Revolution?

He sent 4000 soldiers to fight. Brandywine was Lafayette's greatest victory. There was quite a collection of his memorabilia...very interesting!

Vichy near the Parc and springs

We stopped briefly in Vichy, whose "understated grandeur" (Lonely Planet) made it quite charming to see albeit it briefly! Napoleon III had laid out the delightful Parc des Sources, near the springs.

And then we were off for a 5:30 appointment to see Claire Basler, a well-known French artist,www.clairebasler.com whose work Pascale really enjoys. The day before she left on holiday, Pascale went home for lunch to accept the shipment for a painting she had ordered from Claire. She lived in an old (I guess they are all old!) chateau

about 30 minutes from Vichy. Two years ago she and her husband Pierre had bought the Chateau Beauvoir. When they bought it, it had no heat and no water. We guess-timated it might have cost $500,000....Most rooms have murals which Claire had painted. WE saw those rooms which were finished, and one can only imagine how many rooms there are in all! 

Cooking area of kitchen

Refrigerators

Claire and Jean Francois in the dining room which could seat at least 18.

They think this tree is at least 200 years old!

One of her two studios was in the former stable....this painting is one of my favorites!

Visiting and meeting the enthusiastic and charismatic Claire was SUCH A TREAT!!! She very graciously gave us a wonderful tour, and then Pierre took us to the top of the tower (nearly as big as Joan of Arc's in Rouen!). I figured the chateau has about 74 acres of land with it. And before we left, she invited us to have a glass of wine with them!

For dinner that evening we met Eric at Le 1513 in Clermont Ferrand, a medieval mansion which specializes in crepes, so that was a very fitting end to a fascinating day!!

MANY thanks to Jean Francois for his wonderful hospitality and tours of this delightful area!

Next stop: Brioude and meeting the tenants! Now I am off for a swim in the pool here in the Pyrenees. Thanks for traveling with me....

My First Experience in Auvergne

Last Tuesday (August 13) about 6:30 Pascale and I arrived in Ceyrat, next to Clermont Ferrand in the Auvergne region, to spend four nights with Pascale’s father, Jean Francois. Her brother Eric was there as well. Her father has a variety of fruit trees, and right now there is an abundance of purple and pale green plums, cassis (I thought they were blueberries-although a bit tart), and red currants (groseille). Regrettably about ten days ago there was a big hail storm, so he lost about 90% of the plums.

Over dinner he asked Pascale what she planned to show me, and she responded. However, he told her WHAT I should see….So Tuesday morning, the three of us were off to a huge market in Murol; there was a variety of regional foods as well as clothing, household items, etc. Then we stopped nearby and climbed up and through cow fields and up and up to overlook Chambon sur Lac. Pascale commented how much she liked to hear the bells on the cows; this was another new experience for me! (We had taken our suits, but it was really too cool to swim!) A tasty lunch of ham and St. Nectaire (soft) cheese on a baguette and peach gave me enough energy to head down.

(My recent practice walking up the hills in Suresnes, as well as near the beach in Seattle helped, but this exceeded my normal walking experience!) It was a spectacular day weather-wise-maybe highs 60’s-mid 70’s, so my sweater went on and off. It seemed to take about 1 ½ hours going up and 45 minutes on return. It was great fun!!
And, okay, I did feel like I was channeling the Von Traps in "The Sound of  Music" a little!

Next we visited a sweet little church in the mountains in the town of Vessiere. Apparently a miracle had taken place there long ago. A Catholic man was going to church, but this Protestant man wouldn’t go with him. He became blind, but when he later went to church with his Catholic friend, he regained his sight.

Next stop was Lac Pavin, which is a crater lake, surrounded by what one of the books described as “the fine network of trails”. We walked down and met her dad. There is no swimming in this lake, but people can rent paddle boats. There was an excellent display all about the lake at the bottom of the trails, which many people had stopped to read. It was surprising how many people were there, but clearly it is for all these trails, as one could walk around the lake, as

well as what we walked down.

Next stop was the little middle age town of Besse or Besse-en-Chandesse . Super Besse has a ski resort, but we didn’t stop there. There was good signage in both French and English. One sign described the fact that the butcher was on a fairly steep hill, and that all the animals were killed in the streets, so the blood, etc. would easily flow downhill. (It didn’t say what was there to catch the remains!)

Besse center

INTERESTING garden display in Besse

!

Next stop was Saint-Nectaire, which has a very famous 12^th century church by the same name, as well as the cheese we had for lunch. On the way, we came across a Dolman from some 3000 years BC! The Roman style church was much more impressive on the inside to me.

I came home very fatigued!! However, it was a fascinating day-one that few Americans experience, because this is not a part of France where many Americans go. I appreciate very much the wonderful tour Pascale and her father provided me!!

The Delight of Monet's Home in Giverny

One of my favorite places to visit in the Paris area is Claude Monet's home. http://giverny.org/monet/welcome.htm
It is but an hour's train ride away followed by a bus, but WELL WORTH IT!! Besides being a famed painter, he was a very fine gardener. (I would guess that could go "hand in hand"!) Every month of every season varies, and while I have been there twice, it would be the first time in August, so off I went!
Getting to Sainte Lazare was now a "piece of cake", and I arrived in twenty minutes from the Suresnes train station for the 8:20 train to Vernon. I knew EXACTLY where to go, because the same train goes on to Rouen.
Busses were waiting to transport us to Monet's home for 8euros round trip.  (It is really the town of Giverny, but his home is also called by the same name.) It was such a delight to see-dahlias some flowers as big a grapefruit, huge displays of geraniums, roses, marigolds, petunias, a fuschia "cousin"
which looked like a "skinny" version of what we have, etc. I asked the two "gardeners" if the plants were annuals or perennials in that location. She was a New Jersey college student who was leaving (sadly) the next day; he was from Virginia. They have been there for a summer internship program. They really didn't know the answer to my question, as apparently they had heard both yes and no!

Two American college students on 6 week volunteer project

Getting there early on a Monday meant there were not that many people. Unfortunately they do not allow pictures to be taken in the house, so you cannot see what a good job was done on the recent renovation of his studio. The yellow dining

Studio diorama in the gift shop

room is one of my favorite rooms.

Then following the signs to Water Lilies, I walked out of the house garden to see the basis of all his water lily paintings! There are some rowboats about, so you could envision Monet sitting there or rowing or painting. Actually one of the rowboats had a huge bucket in it filled with pond weeds, as a worker was moving the weeds into a wheelbarrow. No doubt he had pulled them up from the bottom of the pond. There were groves of bamboo, as well as a huge tree which I was told was in the fig family.

Even with the people there, it was peaceful. There didn't seem to be any group tours. The only actual tours have to be arranged for groups beforehand.

Thank you for coming to Giverny with me! Please come back, and do leave your comments-as challenging as I know it can be!

Next stop, Auvergne!

My Last Sunday in Paris...

Sunday was a fine day in Paris, and I had three-maybe four-things on my "to do" list. Pascale had given me a pass to see Cite de l'Architecture et du Patrimoine (architecture and heritage), which I had visited before and thoroughly enjoyed. She had also told me about the Sevres

Museum, which is the National Ceramics Museum, and that intrigued me from my pottery classes at the Danforth. Third, I had toyed with revisiting the American Church, after the interesting experience when I spent three weeks cat-sitting for Snagglepuss. (I went to a viewing of "Babette's Feast", and we had to bring either chocolate or wine.) There was a third flea market I thought about visiting! And in the back of my mind I also wanted to walk about the Left Bank some! I knew that this was my last day in Paris-at least for now!!
So while I started out for the flea market, I quickly scrapped that and went to the Sevres Museum.

Work by Hector Guimard

It was a quiet little museum with pottery from all periods, as well as a contemporary display with works from Germany, UK, even the US.

Some works were so big I could only imagine how huge the kilns must have been to fire them!

I especially liked a work by Robert Winokur from Philadelphia, titled "Asparagus Holds up the House".

He has done a number of these, and I wondered if it started because he knew a child who hated or loved asparagus??

Then where would I go?

It was too nice a day to be inside, and I really also wanted to revisit the Luxembourg Gardens....

I had also envisioned a pleasant lunch outside somewhere, but that became a quick ham and cheese baguette in the Luxembourg Garden overlooking the fountain, and I was off to enjoy the delightful day and a DELICIOUS gelato!!

Now perhaps you have noticed that I have been in Paris nearly two weeks with not a mention of visiting a church! I've visited Notre Dame and Sacred Coeur previously, so they weren't on my list. Thus, as I wandered past a little church almost diagonally across the way from Notre Dame, I went in for short, pleasant visit and to escape the hordes of tourists. I didn't even write down the name, but it was peaceful and cool and a place to sit, before I went back outside! 

So it is au revoir to Paris for now....Thanks for traveling with me!!

Of the Paris Plage and Flea Markets...

For you reality show watchers....Pascale watches a French reality show translated as “Love in the Meadows”; it is about French farmers-men and women who are looking for companions. It has been on for seven years (only in the summer). I watched it with her the other night. Hmm…well, I am not a big reality show person under any circumstances, but it was interesting, although she did have to explain most everything to me. (Some things were obvious by the actions.)

http://www.marketplace.org/topics/life/single-french-farmers-raise-tv-ratings

Yesterday I made plans to meet Frederique

for lunch. She was my delightful couch surfing hostess, who took me to Nuit Blanche several years ago. I was to meet her by the Theatre Chatelet, but she could not find a place to park, so she picked me up, and we drove to the Ile de France. Picture us at one of the myriad of little sidewalk cafes, where we had lunch and visited. I had the ham quiche and a tasty salad. Afterwards we walked around and had a famous Berthillon ice cream-very delicious, but really expensive for what you get. GOOD for the Paris experience, however,I guess.

I wanted to see the Paris “Plage” or the “beach”

which they set up along the Seine. In places they do bring in some sand, where some kids were playing. In other places they just had beach chairs where people were reading. There was even a portable library

Building on the left is the library.

so people could take out books. In one area they had a picture display of how the Seine has changed with copies of famous Impressionist prints.

We walked along and enjoyed the Seine and the lovely scenes of Paris in summer.

 

On my home, I stopped into buy a ticket to Giverny for Monday. It was to be an 11 minute wait as opposed to 30 minutes earlier in the morning. Alex helped me, and when I asked about the best place to buy a Tram ticket, he actually walked me over to the gate outside of this ticket area!!

Today I decided to visit some of the famous Paris flea markets, which was another first. The Lonely Planet had highlighted three; I got to two of them. Supposedly the largest in the world is at Porte de Clignancourt, which was my first stop. Well, I may have missed something but ALL I saw was rows and rows of clothes and stuff, new and cheap.

Would have brought a hat home for Peter, if it were the end of my trip!

This says OFFICIAL U.S.MARSHALL ATHLETICS

I wandered around for maybe 45 minutes, before I headed to Porte

LUCKILY I am here for along time, or this would have had to come home with me!

de Vanves. This is the smallest of the three, but definitely more interesting, although many were closing as I arrived at 2:30. (Book had said it would be open 9-6.) But then the book also said it was the “friendliest of the lot”? I bought nothing-yeah!!

Thanks for traveling along with me, and I hope you will leave your comments!!