Wonderful shots!!

Beautiful pictures!!! I take similar subjects....food, markets, towns/villages and landmarks so your album is inspiring to me.

I took notes on a couple of villages we haven't seen yet in the Dordogne & Aveyron area as well as a few restaurants. Thank you!

What great shots! I love all the descriptions and photos of the meals...it made my mouth water just looking at them.

Thanks. Sorry they are a year late but better late than never I guess.

Thank You, Julie, your photos brought back memerories of my times in those areas.

Ah, cigalechanta, honored to have you look at and like my pix. You're my role model for enjoying the moment and piling up good memories. Thanks.

Thanks, Julie! I will look at your photos now! I appreciate you posting them.

Abby and Tomas are now in the Dordogne.

I'm your fellow Wisconsinite and I must say that your photos are beautiful. The lighting on most of them is fantastic. Either your a real pro or very lucky because that isn't the easiest thing to get right.

I really ehjoyed some of the surrounding places we will visit when we stay in Sarlat in Sept.

Thanks for taking the time to post.

Julie does get it right! I stayed in Brantome,
What a beautiful spot. the Moulin de L'Abbaye
And another time in Champagnac de Belair at Moulin de Roc
,'

cigale, sorry I didn't get these up before Abby and Tomas left for the Dordogne, but I'm sure they'll find plenty of beauty wherever they go. I think it was on your advice that I decided to stay in Brantome. We really liked the area.

TPAYT, lucky rather than talented. DH is the real photographer in our family. I am too lazy to carry great, heavy equipment, so I count on luck and a little help from the Picasa ferries. The editing features just keep getting better and better. Perfect weather doesn't hurt either.

You will love the Dordogne. After we got back from China, I thought and thought about why I wasn't as blown away as I expected to be. It was interesting. In places it was serene. Then finally I realized--but somehow it it wasn't charming. And charm is what it's all about for me. Dordogne is almost always charming. Enjoy.

OMG! What gorgeous photos! I had to close out before finishing viewing them all as the food pictures were making me soooooo hungry. I'll look at them all tonight AFTER I've had dinner.

Very nice pictures!

I'm only up to photo 100 and think I've already gained 5 pounds! Thanks for sharing your wonderful photos!

Hi Julie,
Lovely shots of Lyon, you've whetted my appetite (both physical and mental) for my upcoming trip there (four weeks to go and counting).

Apologies for being 'that guy', but it looks like the photo you labelled as being the 'cafe de federations' is actually a shot of the Cafe des Negociants. I like to think I'd recognise that decor with the amount of time I've spent in there...

The Cafe des Federations I know of has slightly more home-spun decor (which I think is putting it mildly) and is widely considered to be one of the best bouchons in Lyon.

Again, apologies for pointing out what basically amounts to a hairline crack in a 6ft vase, but I couldn't help myself. I know, I'm seeking help...

Jay G, thanks for the correction. Never hurts to get things right. I'll fix the picture in the library. Enjoy your time in Lyon. It's one of our favorite cities. I hope to be able to go there sometime for their Illuminations festival. Pictures look spectacular.

Glad folks are enjoying the food pix. When we first started traveling, I immediately made DH take pix of our meals. Back then we were about the only ones I ever saw do that. Now you probably see more people doing it than not, though I think Zagat did a survey on it and folks are divided on whether it's acceptable in moderation if you are circumspect in setting up your shots or it's a disgusting intrusion on the dining experience of others. All I know is that when we come home with a bunch of pictures to show friends, the ones they ooh and aah over are always the food. If I were a chef I'd to have my dishes photographed to provide folks vicarious pleasure even if it doesn't show up on the bottom line.

Lovely pictures, Julie! Now where are the ones from your winter holiday trip to the Alpes, if I'm remembering correctly?

Envy you, all that travel-wow!

Great phoots

Grandmere, that was the Christmas trip 2009/2010. I recall you helping me with some issues. It was great. Have pretty good pix. Will try to post them soon.

Julie - thanks for taking my 'correction' in the spirit it was meant.

The festival of lights is definitely worth a trip on its own. I've been a few times, but not for a few years now. From the reports I've read and photos I've seen, it just seems to be getting better year on year.

I'm going to have to 'make do' with going to a couple of things at the Nuits de Fourviere this trip (http://www.nuitsdefourviere.com/?lang=fr) which (I think) is worth a trip of its own as well.

Any festival where you can see Jane Birkin, Jessye Norman and Bjork on subsequent nights, performing in a Roman amphitheatre with views over the city is not to be missed, I think.

I'm getting overexcited about Lyon again. I better have a glass of Cote du Rhone and some St. Marcellin, followed by a lie down. Yup, that'll probably sort it...

Julie, your pictures are amazing. We are using them as a guide to plan our trip to the Dordogne area this October. My question for you is how many days did you spend in this area? From Brantome to Millau?

Julie, absolutely fabulous pics! I sat down for an hour and looked at each and every one.

Even downloaded (may I?) a few including the window with the charming duck motif curtains and that fabulous market shop at St. Cyprien. What care they take in arranging those beautiful veggies.

The food looked fabulous – obviously you take good notes in addition to taking such great photos. Meanwhile, I was cooking our modest chicken and rice dinner – oh well.

Julie, thanks again. This package makes up for you not doing the other trips, in my view. Merci…

Nice photos. From them, it looks like l'Essentiel was the only restaurant not to overcook the rouget.

Consistent misspelling: Excideuil

You sat under linden trees (tilleuils), not (horse) chestnut trees (marroniers).

ttt- for those who missed these great pics...

thanks Helen for bringing these up. Love seeing them again but I'm trying to lose weight and they don't help.
(AS Mimi heads to the ice-a-box

I missed these fabulous pics first time around so I'm grateful to ltd for topping the thread. Loved the overviews and details. As others have said, the food shots made me crave somthing to eat. Unfortunately (actually fortunately, as I am trying to lose some wieght) only some salad fixings in the fridge.

How about sharing some of your other trip piics? By the way, I enjoyed your trip reports from a ways back.

irishface, thanks. I just posted a report of our trip around the British Isles. We leave tomorrow for Stockholm and Copenhagen and I will try to post after we return. I'm working on pix from Costa Brava and Barcelona as well.

Could you tell us the names of hotels you stayed in?
Thanks so much! Your photos are beautiful!

TAW Don't have hotel info nearly right now (reached Stockholm this morning) but will try to remember to respond when we get back to FLL in September (around the 10th) I do recall that we were very happy with them.

TAW, Sorry, I forgot I'd promised this information. Hope it's still useful to you.

Moulin de Vigonac in Brantome
Bon Encontre in Sarlat
Mercure in Rodez
Hotel de la Muse et Roziers beyond Millau

Oops, pushed something without intending to.
Other hotels we stayed in
Hotel Regina in Le Puy en Velay
Royal Lyon in Lyon

Your photos are amazing!!!
Eager to see your photos of Costa Brava & Barcelona; we were there in 2010!

Julie: i've just been thru all these remarkable photos, and I must say I have been to a lot of the places featured, but your photos are SO much better than mine!

Thanks for the memories and for the super food photos. You guys know how to live. And dine!

I have always enjoyed your reports, and will take them anyway you deliver them: words or photos or both! Many thanks for the effort.

Thanks Kwoo and taconic.

Kwoo, my photos of Costa Brava and Barcelona are driving me nuts. I've put them up 3 times now, combining pix from my husband's camera and mine, and when I return to them, somehow Picassa separates his and mine, so that I can't show a sequential set.

I'm currently working on pix from our recent trip to Stockholm and Copenhagen. I'll probably not return to CB and BCN until October. Just can't face redoing all that. Kind of like putting a jigsaw together only to have the thing fall apart as you're about to insert the last piece. Ugh!

Julie,

In your first post you mentioned a British Isles cruise. How was it? Would love to have your impressions, doesn't have to be a full report.

We did a transatlantic crossing last March, Cunard Queen Victoria, and are doing an eastern Med cruise next May. The crossing was excellent.

btw, photos are great.

Here's a link to the report and pix from our British Isle cruise.

http://www.fodors.com/community/europe/finally-seeing-the-british-isles-a-report-with-pictures.cfm

Ok, will check back in October for CB and Barcelona! Will you post them under the Spain tag?

julie and val...just came upon this today, and so happy I did. You do things with Picasa that I try to do without the success you have. Absolutely great display Thank you.
stu tower

Bookmarking for leisurely stroll through your shots. Thanks JV!