You had me at "when I still had all my teeth". LOL looking forward to more!

.when I still had all my teeth, the car still had two sideview mirrors, and my husband still possessed a wallet!

that sounds ominous.

This should be interesting.

Looking forward to more...and like you, I was negligent with keeping a trip journal, and am still puzzled by ow to post photos!!!

You know how to keep an audience on the edge of our seats. Glad you survived to tell the tale.

CaliNurse,

just open an account on any photo posting web site (Kodak, WEbshots, Flickr, etc.) and then post your individual URL. For example, I can post my general public access pictures:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mksfca/collections/

or a country collection:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mksfca/collections/72157622845845243/

or a region:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mksfca/sets/72157623877915948/

down to the individual picture:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mksfca/5976308188/in/set-72157623877915948

I use Flickr, but I suspect that any of such site will offer the same options.

I use Photobucket and Image Shack.

Hurry please! Can't wait!

You have definitely peaked our interest in hearing more about your trip. At least the start of your trip sounds good so far.

I'm almost afraid to read more given the part about "when I still had all my teeth, the car still had two sideview mirrors, and my husband still possessed a wallet!"

A beautiful evening at Le Presidial in the garden--been there, done that. Can't wait to hear about your time there. So lovely.

Thanks, MIchael!!! i have Ritz Camera photo folders on line, but they are about to redo the site.will check it out, and see if i can post individual pix on FF>

Thank you for the replies, everyone. Michael, I will try and learn how to post photos here. I know how much I enjoyed pouring over the photos that others have shared. I even worried that the Dordogne would not live up to my expectations. But, of course, it was spectacular.

For those who like slow travel, this was it. Two cars, three couples, everything takes longer. But, for us, it worked. And I know this is a place I can definitely get DH to go back to.

Due to my non-existent notes, I have to jump back to our first day in Toulouse. The walking tour was set to start at 9:30 a.m. DH and I set an alarm. The others had wake-up calls. I never heard the alarm, the N's never heard their wake-up call. I awoke with a start at 8:50 a.m. Yes, those beds were mighty comfy!! DH and I never moved so fast in our lives. Luckily, the tour started close to our hotel. The P's were waiting downstairs. thinking we had left without them. The N's did not make it to the Toulouse tour.

Breakfast was included in the price of our room. We missed it, of course. I hate missing a meal, especially one I already paid for!

Wednesday, September 7

Talking about breakfast...one really weird thing at this hotel...not only are there beverages, breads, cheeses, meats, and eggs served, but an assortment of pills are available. I cannot remember all the varieties, but some were for better skin, anti-aging, brighter outlook on life, etc.

Time to get the rental cars and head towards Rocamadour. I had two options in my notes. 1) walk to train station to get rental cars while pulling rolling suitcases. 2) walk to train station to get cars, then come back to hotel to pick up suitcases. Neither of these options sounded like much fun. The sidewalks seemed so busy, pulling suitcases seemed likely to be a nightmare. Driving back to the hotel down that little one-way street was even less appealing. Mrs. N suggested option 3. Take cabs with our suitcases to the train station to get cars. Leave from there. Brilliant! Why didn't I think of that? It is good to have a voice of sanity in the group! It worked out well. DH and I had a car, and the other four shared a car.

Both cars had good maps, ordered from Amazon before we left home. DH and I brought our good friend Nigel with us (Mr. Garmin). We managed to get out of Toulouse without too much trouble. Even got through our first toll booth without major stress.

First stop, Castlenau de Montmiral. Our first bastide. Very picturesque. So glad we went here! Next stop was Cordes-sur-Ciel. We took Le Petit Train up to upper village. We had lunch there. We spend a lot of time here. The weather was superb, and we enjoyed being leisurely.

Then on to Domaine de la Rhue, where we spent 2 nights. It is a lovely place, with wonderful owners, Eric and Christine. Eric had made reservations for us at a place called Les Vieilles Tours in L'Hospitalet. He had a map, showed us how to get there. Either we were not listening very carefully, or he failed to stress how darn small the road we were looking for was...DH and I were leading the other car, but we had no idea where to go after circling around several times. We were out of ideas. I finally spotted someone to ask. They had no idea, but went in to ask another restaurant where Les Vieilles Tours was. Now, with new instructions, we made another attempt to zero in on this place. I finally saw a small sign, pointing down a country lane. DH was not convinced that this was the right road...but, in fact, after quite a journey down this path, there it was, Les Vieilles Tours. I knew they were expecting the 6 of us, and therefore, we absolutely had to find it. And it was well worth the search. We were brought an aperitif. Our first taste of the famed walnut wine. We were hooked! A wonderful dinner was enjoyed in a beautiful dining room.

Back to the Domaine de la Rhue and to bed.

Add me to the list awaiting the denouement of the introductory sentences. We have our first trip to the Dordogne scheduled for March 2012.

Kansas : This report is so timely for us: already In Paris, and gong to Dordogne In a couple of days, thon arriving At Domaine de la Rhue on 9/30 for a cole of nights - so I'll be looking for more for several reasons! many thanks, more please.

Happy travels taconictraveler!

thanks, FMT. sorry for all the errors in last post. My iPad went to French or international language somehow and the default spelling is hilariously French(?) to say nothing of the keyboard !!

having great time and I'm now about to post about our cellphone on my thread about that.

AGM Cape Cod and Taconic, I am green with envy that your trips to the Dordogne are still ahead of you. It is truly a gorgeous area. You will love it!

Thursday, September 8th

We had a reservation for a tour of Pech Merle at 10:30. We needed to pick up tickets at 10:00. So, after a nice breakfast at the Domaine de La Rhue, we headed off. Nigel (our Garmin) was given his marching orders. "No Matches Found", he said. As a matter of fact, that was a favorite saying of his quite often. He was waiting for me to instruct him to go to "Grottes du Pech Merle", not just "Pech Merle". Later, when I entered the text "St. Cirq Lapopie", he was also clueless. He demanded that I spell out the word "Saint". This bit of info might be useful for someone unfamiliar with the idiosyncrasies of GPS units.

I had used Nigel in Provence. This was DH's first time driving in Europe with Nigel on board. DH wanted to trust Nigel. I tried to explain to DH that Nigel likes to travel as the crow flies. So, that is how we arrived at Pech Merle. This drive was really not too bad. We drove through some tiny picturesque lanes with lovely cottages.

We liked Pech Merle, but were not really wowed by it. Our guide was not real enthusiastic...and it seemed to us that it took a lot of imagination to see the paintings. We thought it was fine, but just not great.

Next we took a drive along the river. We came to an amazing field of bright yellow sunflowers. Every other field of sunflowers was way past its prime, but this one was stunning.

St. Cirq Lapopie was next. This is where Nigel really had us off the beaten path. We were driving on some little lane; a lady was sitting next to her house. We were so close we could have touched her. She was sitting there picking fleas off her dog (we think this is what she was doing). She had probably not seen two cars drive past her house in 20 years. After we passed her, the route ended on some maintenance road. We debated about backing up, but then decided to just see where it ended. Luckily, it rejoined a paved road in about a half mile. DH did not want our friends to think we were nuts, so he tried to act like it was a reasonable route we had taken. But, he could not keep a straight face. It was just too darn ridiculous. It was at this time that DH started to question Nigel's sanity.

St. Cirq Lapopie was not overly crowded. Really, nothing was crowded in the Lot or Dordogne areas. We spent quite a bit of time there and had a nice lunch.

Maybe someone who lives in the area can explain why the salads are so much better in this part of France. Is it the dressing? Are they using walnut oil? If so, I have to get some. What I wouldn't do for a walnut salad right now....

After St. Cirq Lapopie, we headed back to L'Hospitalet. The other four wanted an early dinner. They looked at me like I was crazy when I told them I doubted it was possible...restaurants don't open for dinner until 7:00 or 7:30. Well, I was right. So we kicked back and settled for some wine or beer at a little place and then had dinner later, right near the view of Rocamadour. I can't remember the name of the place. Perhaps it was called Belvedere. It was surprisingly good.

After dinner, it was nice and dark, so we were able to get some night time photos of Rocamadour.

Back to the Domaine. Tomorrow we head for Sarlat.

Yes,it's very common to use walnut oil in salad dressings in the Dordogne.

Glad to get your frank assessment of Pech Merle.

Friday, September 9

DH and I got a much earlier start than our friends. We had an early breakfast, checked out of the B & B, and headed to Rocamadour. We were nice and early and beat any and all crowds. We took l'ascenseur down from L'Hospitalet to the sanctuary level. We enjoyed the beautiful morning, visited the Chapelle Notre-Dame with the Black Madonna. We also walked part way up on the Way of the Stations of the Cross. Then back to L'Hospitalet for some more photos.

We then headed back to the Domaine to see if our friends were up and at'em. They were moving very slowly, so we told them we would meet them around 4:00 in Turenne.

DH and I then left and went to Autoire. Then had some coffee at St. Cere. We saw signs for a golf course, and decided to have a look-see. The best part of the detour was coming upon the view of Chateau de Montal. The story in the Green Guide about this chateau is enough to break your heart.

Now off to Loubressac. A lovely village. We walked around and then had a leisurely lunch. I had a fabulous walnut salad, DH (gluten-free) had his usual omelette. We dined on a terrace with a wonderful view.

Now, heading back down from Loubressac, we were sailing along without a care in the world, when all of a sudden, a utility van came flying around the corner, half in our lane. We had little room on the right to move over. A HUGE "WHAP" sound...DH says "what the H was that"?? Yup. His sideview mirror was now dangling. Of course, the van just continued on his merry way. As soon as we could, we pulled over to try and at least set the mirror (cracked in a million pieces and with no back plastic housing left) back so it is not dangling. It took a few different stops to finally "fix" it so it was not dangling anymore.

DH takes in all in stride. A broken mirror is not going to upset him on vacation.

As a side note: I called my Visa card. I have to get all sorts of documentation etc. The charge to my Visa card is just under $500...I am pondering chalking it up to the cost of the vacation VS. working to get the claim paid by Visa.

Next stop Carennac with the beautiful cloisters and lovely houses.

Collonges-la-Rouge. We just drove by. It looked packed with buses and people. We were spoiled by the serenity of the other places we had visited. We had no desire to join the masses.

On to Turenne. Nigel brought us some convuluted way. We ended up at 3:55 at the back of Turenne. No possible way in. The road was barred. We had to find our way to the other side of the village. We were going to meet our friends at 4:00. Somehow, we got around to the front, no thanks to Nigel. I imagined Turenne to be so little that we would find our friends easily. It is not quite that little, but as luck would have it, Mr. P had gone back to his car for his Green Guide, and we spotted him almost immediately. The 6 of us explored Turenne together, and then headed for Sarlat, our next stop.

I have lost two or three side view mirrors on the battlefield over the years. Generally, I have been debited a considerable amount for a start and then refunded a reasonable amount later (usually after reminding them). Replacement and installation of a mirror should run less than 100€ in my book, but some of the companies have a complete price list of each item that you can consult. I know the cheapest item is the two little front fender plastic covers on the blinkers, because I have paid for them as well when they disappeared during the night -- those cost me about 30€ from Hertz.

Thanks, Kerouac! I think I will persue this. I would rather put the $500 towards another trip! Gathering the information from here does seem daunting, however.

I smacked mirrors with a larger campervan as I drove our rented high top van to Rocamadour back in the 1980s. That SMACK sound sure made us jump too! The other van had exactly the same damage so we shook hands and each continued on our way. Luckily only the mirror was damaged... I picked up a new one 2 days later at a Citroen dealer for 60 bucks.

The first time it happened to me, I immediately went to the internet and checked out the "spare parts" sites for the car I had been using to see exactly the price of the item and if possible the cost of installing a replacement. It is good to know such things before you write your first letter.

Kansas, so sorry to hear about your sideswiping accident. Those roads are narrow and they sure do come around those curves fast. So many times I've been fearful of the very same thing.

We are really enjoying your report, bringing back fond memories of our recent trip. Your stops sound so familiar. We also stayed at Domaine de La Rhue and loved it as well..

Keep the report coming...

ParisAmsterdam, I do not think I will forget that WHOP sound for a long time. It was just such a SURPRISE!

I e-mailed avis.fr asking for some documentation. I received some gibberish from them. Lots of words with the "&" sign in them. I think it was just an e-mail telling me mine was received. It wasn't in French and it surely wasn't English either! We shall see....

St. Cirq, I am going to buy some walnut oil today. We also had walnut souffle for dessert one day. Fabulous!

Winnick, we enjoyed your trip report and especially your photo book! Thanks for reading this!

So, back to the story. We left Turenne late Friday afternoon, and headed to Sarlat. No one trusts Nigel anymore, so Mr. P decided to be the lead dog. I hope he does not read this, but, honestly, he was no better than Nigel. He was leading us way too far north. We needed to be going southwest towards Sarlat. DH and I finally decided to leave the pack and forge our own trail.

We arrived in Sarlat, but then I realized I had no address for Les Cordeliers. I had put Nigel back to work, but he did not have Les Cordeliers in his databank as "Lodging". So we pulled over and I asked a man for directions. He did not know where Rue Les Cordeliers was either. But, he was kind enough to search for someone who could help us. As we were standing alongside the road, I spotted our friends coming along. I signaled for them to pull over. We got our directions from the nice man and were able to find our B & B.

Les Cordeliers has been mentioned here quite often lately. We loved it. Chris and Amanda were wonderful hosts. The breakfasts were great, rooms enormous, and my wifi worked perfectly on the top floor. No complaints whatsoever. It was everything we wanted. We stayed here for 6 nights.

I had asked Chris to make us a dinner reservation for our first night because I knew we would arrive late. He chose Le Presidial for our first night in Sarlat. It was a perfectly balmy evening and we enjoyed a wonderful meal sitting outside. The one thing that did amaze me about the dinner was the sizes of the portions. We ordered "le menu". First, the walnut wine with an amuse bouche. Then a starter of escargots with duck foie gras (12 escargots!). The plat of duck was about 12 slices of duck, and some vegetables. Followed by a cheese course, and dessert. We literally waddled away from the table.

Saturday, September 10

We spent the day in Sarlat. The men did not want to see the insides of the cars for the whole day. So, we enjoyed the market, and just chilled out the whole day in Sarlat. It was relaxing and just plain wonderful to be there.

It is indeed important to understand that portions can be considerably larger in the provinces than in Paris. There are many times when the "menu à 12€" can just about make you explode from overeating.

bmk

Kerouac, it took us a few meals to get the hang of ordering less food. If we had not figured it out, I doubt we would have fit into those skinny coach seats on the way home...

Saturday evening we had dinner at Le Bistro de L'Octroi. Another perfect evening eating outdoors. The meals were beautifully presented. The setting is not what Le Presidial is, but still most enjoyable.

Sunday, September 11

Font de Gaume day! I had reserved our tickets for F de G many, many months ago. Then paid for the tickets last April. We had an 11:00 a.m. tour in English. Our guide was Jean-Marie whose love for Font de Gaume was very evident. He was the ultimate guide. He described how the bison would "move" when seen by torchlight. He was extremely passionate, and his fervor was contagious. It was a thrill to experience Font de Gaume with him.

We had to make tracks today after being so lazy yesterday. We followed the cave experience up with La Roque Saint-Christophe. The weather could not have been more perfect. What's not to love?

Next stop, St. Leon sur Vezere. A lovely, peaceful village with the Romanesque church. We also had lunch here.

And the last stop of the day was La Maison Forte de Reignac, the amazing cliff castle. 3 of us missed the "torture" display. After hearing about it from those who saw it, I think I am glad I missed it. Who needs nightmares when on vacation?

After the full day, we headed back to Sarlat. Dinner was in the medieval village. Nothing grand but good.

Our first taste of the famed walnut wine. We were hooked!

Vin de Noix

Ingredients:

35 green walnuts picket between June 21 and June 24

6 bottles (750m. each) dry red wine.

1 quart vodka

4½ cups sugar

Score the walnuts, or cut them in half, and place them in a clean, dry wide-mouthed glass jar or ceramic crock large enough to hold them and the wine. Pour in the wine. Cover the jar or crock, put it in a cool, dark place, and let stand for 40 days. At the end of that time, strain the wine into a clean, dry crock, or jar or any non-reactive pot large enough to hold it. Discard the walnuts.

Pour the vodka into a nonreactive pot or bowl. Add the sugar and stir until it has dissolved, about 10 minutes. Pour the sugar-vodka mixture into the wine and stir well. Using a funnel and a ladle, fill the bottles to within 1½ inches of the tops. Cork and seal the bottles. Screw top wine bottles work well for this.

The wine mellows in the bottle, so it is recommended that it is kept sealed for a year, but in fact it is drinkable within a month of bottling.

Eau de noix is done in a similar manner but just with vodka, at which point it is closer to nocino, or with wine to reduce the alcohol content to approximately 30%. In both preparations, one could add a cinnamon stick or a vanilla bean with the walnuts to create a subtle variation to the drink.

Wow, Michael! That sounds like a fun project for next summer! Have you ever tried it? We have black walnut trees in our yard. I am fairly sure that would NOT be a suitable substitute for making a delicious wine!

Monday, September 12

We visited Castlenaud first. Loved everything about it. We spent some time trying to figure out which house belonged to the couple who wrote "A Castle in the Backyard".

We had lunch at Les Tilleuls, and sat on a terrace with a great view of Castlenaud.

Next stop was Les Milandes. DH and I had both read a biography of Josephine Baker before the trip. Knowing her story greatly added to the enjoyment of the tour. The photo of Ms. Baker, sitting on the steps outside her kitchen, is enough to bring one to tears. After touring the inside of Les Milandes, we saw the birds of prey show. This was well worth attending. We all enjoyed it immensely.

And finally, we ended the day with the Jardins de Marqueyssac. We enjoyed the maze of boxwoods, and the gorgeous views from the Belvedere. DH was worried that I would get some crazy ideas for my own yard and hand him the hedge clippers the day we got home!

Then we headed back to Sarlat. Once again, we decided to eat in the medieval village, at one of the many cafes near Hotel de Ville. As we were eating, there was a mime working the street....he would follow people, and mimic their walks, their stances, etc. It was very humorous and all in good fun!

So, all in all, we had a most enjoyable day!

I do it every year. You could try it with black walnut, it's only a bottle of wine and sugar (hold off on the vodka until you taste it) if you reduce the proportions accordingly. I have been told that it can be done with just the leaves, but I do not know the steeping time. With cherry leaves (55 of them per bottle of wine) it's just one week of steeping before removing the leaves and then adding the sugar and alcohol.

So far so good... no lost teeth or wallet as yet! ;^)

Next summer, I will try to make some vin de noix, Michael. Thanks for the recipe.

And, we will soon be at the tooth episode, Paris Amsterdam!

Tuesday, September 13

In my huge sheaf of notes, I remember cutting and pasting something like "the best thing about Beynac is the view". We almost skipped Beynac, because, honestly, there are gorgeous views at every turn. But, at breakfast, we decided since we were here, we would go see it. Thank heavens we did. We loved, loved, loved Beynac. Nigel did himself proud this day. I entered "Chateau de Beynac" and Nigel took us to the parking lot UP NEAR THE TOP!! Way to go, Nigel!

As we were approaching, Beynac suddenly appeared with the lower portion in a layer of fog, and the upper part against the bright blue sky. What a sight! (I will post pictures at the end...I am close to knowing how to do it!)

We spent a lot of time at the Chateau, and then walked down almost to the bottom of the village. We had a grand morning.

Next, we decided that we would take the Gabare Norbert boat ride in order to see La Roque Gageac from the river. We bought our tickets for a later trip, then went and had lunch. The gabare boat ride was relaxing and very enjoyable.

While in La Roque Gageac, we made dinner reservations for the next night at La Belle Etoile.

Final stop of the day was Domme. We enjoyed seeing the view, the church, and doing some shopping. I remembered that I was told to try the chocolate covered walnuts from the Sarlat market. I missed seeing them there, so, I was on the lookout for them in Domme. It kept getting hotter and hotter. Now, the chocolate covered walnuts started to sound very messy in the heat. I spotted a little store with walnut caramels. What could be better! They were nice and soft, sitting in the sun. My friend said, "Are you crazy? They will pull out all your teeth"! I looked at her as if she were nuts. These caramels were so soft..........

Yup. One bite...and out came a crown...not smack dab in the center of my mouth, but not far off to the side, either. I quickly closed my mouth, and did not admit what happened until we were back at the B and B and I got a good look in the mirror at myself. Total Bummer.

And this was the evening we were meeting fellow Fodorites "Just Retired" at Le Presidial for dinner. DH told me not to mention it to them. But, I surely did not want these strangers I had never met before to think that people from Kansas go around with giant gaping spaces between their teeth....so of course, I told them.......

The dinner with Larry and Margie (Just Retired) was wonderful. We sat outside at Le Presidial. We talked about the wonderful, helpful people here at Fodors forums, travels, and family, and then they entertained DH and me with their stories about Harold the parrot.

Another perfect day in the Dordogne (if I manage to forget that I have a big gaping hole in my smile).

I'm glad to hear it was just a crown lost to a caramel... I had visions of an ugly encounter with a gold ring finder or an altercation with clip board person! LOL

Yes, ParisAmsterdam, thank heavens the tooth episode was not an international incident, but only due to my stupidity..

Wednesday, September 14

After breakfast, Chris (host at B and B) took me outside and pointed the way to his dentist's office. I decided I did not want to spend the rest of my vacation missing this crown. Finally, all those French CD's I loaded on my ipod were going to come in handy! I knew the words! "La couronne est partie. Pourriez-vous la remplacer, s'il vous plait"?

The door was locked, and there was no sign listing the hours. A cute little woman in a florist shop across the street beckoned me over to her. She explained (in French) that the dentist was closed on Wednesdays. She then gave me a blow by blow account of all the dental work she had had done. This is in French, with her fist in her mouth, pointing out various areas. This was highly amusing...I couldn't understand 75% of what she was telling me. But she was very animated and I am sure she was delighted to have someone to listen to her dental stories. I said my good-byes and went back to the B and B. No dental appointment for me today.

This was our last full day in the Dordogne area. We had many things left undone. We settled on seeing Cadouin and its abbey, and then Monpazier. This was a good ending to our Dordogne adventure. The cloisters at the abbey in Cadouin are Flamboyantly Gothic and a delight to the eye. There was also a little market right next door in the square. We made some purchases and then went across the street to a cute little store and parted with some more of our euros.

On to Monpazier, another bastide town, which has a a market square surrounded by arched porticos. The architectural details are stunning.

We all thought that our last day was well-spent with these two choices.

We headed back to Sarlat to get ready for dinner at La Belle Etoile in La Roque-Gageac.

On our earlier visit to La Roque Gageac, we had not had time to follow the winding paths that lead up behind the main road. The cliff protects this area from the cold, thus producing a micro-climate. There are all sorts of tropical plants along the walkway. This was a lovely pre-dinner activity.

My DH was not that enthused about driving to dinner this night. He would have been happier to stay in Sarlat and walk to a restaurant. But afterwards, he admitted that La Belle Etoile was definitely worth the trip, and he was very glad we went there. By the time we had made our reservations, there was no more outside seating available, so we dined inside. It made no difference to the ambiance of the evening. The meal was perfect. And we got our night-time photos of La Roque-Gageac!

Tomorrow: The train from Brive to Paris. And I have a question regarding my train tickets that I hope someone can answer!

I am glad that your crown was lost to the delights of a caramel. My sister spent her junior year in Nantes. When she had a stomach virus she took a header into the toilette and lost her two front teeth to the marble sill. My mother was going nuts arranging for a dentist for repairs.
Great report especially as we have plans to visit the Dordogne next March.

I had such a wonderful time in the Dordogne several ago. Your report brings back great memories. We stayed in Sarlat as well.

Looking forward to your next chapter. Sorry about the tooth!

Thanks, Cape Cod and Leely2.

As I mentioned above, we left a lot of things undone in the Dordogne...most notably: Lascaux II, canoeing, Chateau de Commarque, Chateau de Fenelon, Chateau de Hautfort, les Jardins d'Eyrignac. My husband had his heart set on a hot air balloon ride, also. So a return trip is already forming in the back of my mind. I do not want to wait too long. There is a ton of walking and climbing to be done in the area. And we are not getting any younger!

One other thought for you, Cape Cod... We had driven in France before, but for some reason, this time we never seemed to have the right change for the parking machines. You can never have too many 1 and 2 euro coins in your pocket. It seemed we were always borrowing 3 euros from our friends for those "horodateurs".

Thursday, September 15

I decided to run back to that dentist office right after breakfast. Surely, he could cement my crown back in...

The door was unlocked, so I walked in and explained my situation. The woman at the desk was most definitely not interested in my problem. So, I slunk back out of there, and realized I was going to have to wait until I was back home to get the tooth fixed.

We made our way to Brive for our 2:38 train to Paris. Gassed up the cars on the outskirts, and then found good parking places right in front of the train station. We had plenty of time to go in and figure out where we needed to return the cars, which platform we were going to need to go to, and then still have time for lunch.

The Avis rental office is just down the street, straight away from the train station. It was just closing for the 12:00 - 2:00 lunch break. We left all our belongings in the cars, and went and had lunch. Then, back to get our things to the right platform. A few minutes before 2:00, Mr. P and I went back to the Avis office to turn in the keys and our rental contracts. We were back to the platform with time to spare.

If we had needed to drop off the keys when the Avis office was closed, we would not have known where the lock box was. For future reference, I asked the Avis woman. She said that if the office is closed, one should drop the keys off at the information booth in the train station. I know we would not have figured this out.

I had printed out the prems train tickets for first class at home 90 days in advance. The ticket said Teoz 3640. When we got to the station, the sign said it was train 3630 that left at 2:38. Hmmmm. I went up to the information booth, and the man said no problem, same train. He crossed off the 3640 on my e-ticket and wrote 3630.

We got on the train, and there are people in DH's and my seats. They showed me their official (not e-tickets) tickets. They were in the right seats. Our 4 traveling companions had no problem. Their seats were vacant. So, we sat elsewhere, but with a very sinking feeling. DH was tossed from his seat right away, and found a single seat further up in the car. I was able to sit in "my" seat until the second stop, when the person with that seat assignment boarded the train. People got on that had the seats where our friends were sitting, but as you know, possession is 9/10ths of the law, so they remained in the seats.

The conductors did not seem to care. "Sit anywhere", they said. Fine and good. But there were no more seats in the car. I finally decided to go to the first car, and found a seat in a compartment there.

So, what is the deal? Why a different number on my e-ticket than the actual train? How can I avoid this in the future??

We arrived in Paris just before 7:00 pm. Here is a word of advice: if you are going to take a cab from the station, make a bee line to the cab line. We dilly-dallied and were at the end of the line. The cabs came about every 5-8 minutes. We waited the better part of an hour for a cab.

We stayed at the Hotel Fleurie in the 6th. DH and I arrived in our cab ahead of our friends. We checked in and had a great room...Chambre 14. Lovely, and large! The N's checked in with no problem. The P's go to check in. Oops. Mr. P had a confirmation for a room starting September 14th, not the 15th. Someone had made a mistake. They had given his room away because he had been a "no-show".

The Fleurie had a very small room for the P's for one night. (The next day they found them a "junior suite" at the Hotel Louis II just 2 blocks away. They even arranged to move their bags to the hotel for them. And then, on Saturday, the P's were able to come back to the Hotel Fleurie. Again, their bags were transferred for them. So, not a bad solution).

So, back to Thursday night. It was late by the time we all had our belongings in our rooms. We left the hotel to go find something for dinner. The streets seemed absolutely packed with people. We found something to eat somewhere. It was food. And at this time, the P's did not know where they will spend the next night. They just know it will not be at the Hotel Fleurie.

We go to bed, hoping for better things on Friday.

Kansas: We're now in France, in Dordogne, and following your Trip, going back to Paris in a couple of days, and hanging on your every word!
Hoping not to emulate your tooth and hotel problems!
Great report!

https://picasaweb.google.com/107028330533746192263/BestOfFrance2011?authkey=Gv1sRgCK_gzfD7_o72RQ

Hopefully, that link will work to view my "Best of France 2011" album.

The photo of DH and me in front of the sunflowers is the one that I mentioned in my first post....the car had two mirrors, I had all my teeth, and DH still had his wallet. The wallet story is coming up soon....

Taconictraveler, I hope you write a trip report when you get home! Do you feel the need to go back to the Dordogne ASAP??

I MUST go back.

Thanks for sharing... lovely photos... lovely couple! (teeth or not!)

Very enjoyable. I have to wonder what could have been deleted above! More, please!

Now in Bourges to see the cathedral, then on to Paris,and yes, there will be one or two reports but not til after Oct. 11 return home.
Loving it all......
saw Autoire and , Carennac and Martel yesterday. Today stopped at Collonges Le Rouge and Turenne on way north. Simply incroyable! And each so different! Tedgale said not to miss them and so glad we didn't
More later.

Thanks, ParisA, TDudette and Taconict,

The deleted comment looked like an advertisement....

Friday, September 16

I had arranged to have a private Paris Walks tour of the Louvre for the six of us in the morning. Our guide was Genevieve, and she was excellent. The tour lasted about two and a half hours. The Louvre was not all that busy this Friday morning...probably because it was Paris Patrimony weekend, and most all of the museums were going to have free admittance on Saturday and Sunday.

We spent the rest of the day walking, and walking, and walking. We went to Luxembourg Gardens, then over towards the Pantheon. We had to have a photo shoot on the church steps of Saint-Etienne du Mont, the place where Gil (Owen Wilson in Midnight in Paris) was thrust back in time!

Then we went over towards the Eiffel Tower. We decided on an early dinner because we had tickets for a concert at 8:00 pm at St. Julian Le Pauvre. We ate at Cafe du Trocadero. We had eaten here before, and it is always a good stop.

I had read about the concerts at St. Julian Le Pauvre from a poster here. I am sorry I cannot remember which poster it was. This concert was a real highlight of our time in Paris. It was the Ave Maria concert. You can find out about it at www.concertsinparis.com. I had reserved seats in advance, but I am sure that is not necessary. We did have front row seats, and it was wonderful to be able to see the pianist fingers fly over the keys.

All in all, it was a good day!

Saturday, September 17

We had another private Paris Walks scheduled - the "Guided Walk of the Islands and the Marais". Maybe it was way too much territory to cover for a two hour walk (the guide actually stayed with us for closer to 3 hours), but the Louvre tour the day before was much, much better. Anyway, the guide left us near Place des Vosges. We had a much needed long lunch and rest. Then we walked around Place des Vosges for a while.

We then decided to find the nearest metro station and head for the Arc de Triomphe. Here is a photo of the crowds we ran into:

https://picasaweb.google.com/107028330533746192263/CrowdAtTechnoMusicParade?authkey=Gv1sRgCJqYuc-z65iRNQ

There was some sort of Techno Music Parade/Celebration going on. The boulevard was a sea of people: young, old, costumed, you-name-it. Huge trucks blasting music, many with dj's or dancers on them. We watched this spectacle for quite some time.

Then off to the metro and the Arc....

After getting the obligatory photos of the Arc de Triomphe, we decided to get the metro back to our hotel. I think we went to metro station George V, right on the Champs Elysees. It was quite crowded. As the train pulled in, the crowd started really pushing and shoving. I got separated from our group. Just as I was about to get on the train, a young girl forcefully shoved her way in front of me...I thought it was extremely odd...I then saw her hand move forward, and then she backed up and stepped off the train just as the doors were going to close. I knew immediately what had happened...

Our friend Mr. N was right in front of me. I said John, do you still have your wallet?? He was surprised by my question, but he still had his wallet. My DH, who had gotten on the train several people ahead of me, felt for his wallet, and it was gone. He was wearing cargo pants. The wallet was in a pocket about mid-thigh. Gone....

DH did not lose much money...probably only $40 US dollars. But, what a nuisance to replace the "stuff". I had told him to take out all the things he would never need in Europe - all his cards for hotels, etc...and he had not done so. (I have made a concerted effort to NOT say that he should have listened to me)!! At least I had MADE him take out the Capital One Visa. I carried the Visa, he carried the Mastercard, so at least we still had a working credit card. We went back to the hotel to cancel his credit card and bank card. I was surprised that DH was not more upset about the whole thing. For some reason, he was more relaxed on this trip to France than he has been on any trip.

By the time we collected ourselves and went to dinner, it was cool and rainy. We ate near our hotel. It was fine. We had wanted to have dinner at Le Florimond one night, but it never worked out. According to their website, Le Florimond was closed the weekend we were in Paris.

So, there you have it...the trio of our lost items. They always say that things happen in three's...

Ah, it could have been worse! No cholera epidemic at the moment, though. I must admit that I do feel a bit validated. With all of these "is Paris safe?" or "what areas of Paris should I avoid?" questions, I always try to point out that the Champs Elysées has the highest crime rate in the city, followed by all of the tourist areas. This is unfortunately normal because that's where the loose cash and the naive people are. Lots of tourists think they are so smart to avoid the sleazy areas like Barbès-Rochechouart, but the pickpockets do not work much in poortown.

George V is my station for going to work every day, so I am always vigilant about everything going on there. Actually, the non-tourists and non-"normal working people" stick out like a sore thumb, but you have to be a local to immediately recognize the difference.

DH and I never took anything good with us on our trips. Particularly clothing-we were not welcomed in a couple of "fancy" places, but were rarely approached by anyone "iffy".

That being said, I'm so sorry it happened to you, Kansas. I don't know if I could have held back an "I told you so" so good going.

Glad the tours worked out for you.

Kansas....nice detailed report...sort of nostalgic. Welcome to the growing legion of Domaine de la Rhue fans among Fodorites. Your pix are captivating...your teeth look just fine. Husband's wallet no where to be seen. I think that was
my niece in Paris who filched it.

I'm a Picasa user also. We've had very good experiences with Google. So many duplicate pix of yours. These are pre-digital
and scanned on Picasa. The edting function does wonders for old scanned pix..I've scanned back as far as 1941!! Thought you might like the Domanine pix...it's been on our top-ten list for several years now, and we've directed some of our friends and family there. Happy the hear that Eric and Christine still own it...what a property. We walked the long forested path to Roc from there.

http://picasaweb.google.com/stuarttower/TheDordogneAndLotRegion#

Happy travels!

Stu Tower

P.S. Taconic, you might want to splurge-dine a bit at Chateau Roumegouse across the highway and a few kms south from Domaine. Eric and Chrstine will make reservations.

Very nice report and wonderful photos, kansas. Sorry about your little mishaps, but glad they weren't too, too serious.

Yes, kerouac and TDudette. I am usually very careful and aware of my surroundings. As soon as I saw the girl step back, I knew that we had been "had". DH often thinks I am half crazy. I never want to leave things like golf clubs in my car when I go shopping. He thinks I am nuts. Maybe he will pay more attention to me now. At least a girl can hope!!

Tower, your post made me laugh! Your niece can keep the $40, but please have her send back the rest of the stufrf!

I know that Domaine de la Rhue is a favorite of yours, Tower. Christine told us that they have to make some changes due to government regulations. I am not sure why, but their rating will also change. I think they plan to have some self-catering apartments in the new plan. It is a beautiful piece of property!

This was my first time using Picasa. My photos of the Domaine and Rocamadour are not very good. A young girl had helped me try and get night time photos of Roc, so she switched my camera to night-time mode. The next morning I did not realize I was still on the night mode. The photos came out way too light. I was able to improve them quite a bit with Picasa, but they are still not the greatest. As if I needed another reason to have to go back to this part of France!

Tower, I am now going to look at your photos. I tried on my ipad, but it did not work. I did see you went to Conques. That will be on my next list of places to see in the area.

sap, you posted while I was posting my last reply. Your wonderfully detailed report made me leery to do one of my own. I have wondered what you do for a living...I hope it involves some sort of creative writing. You truly have a gift.

Thanks, kansas. I wish I could do that for a living, but we work in the comparatively dry and boring field of law. I had to give up the idea of being a writer in college as it didn't seem like the practical choice. I guess the trip reports are a channel to feed that latent need. If I ever change my mind, though, I'll surely hire Michael as my editor and blunder-buster!

I wanted to mention how much I liked your photos of Cordes-sur-Ciel. I had wanted to swing by that pretty town, but we had to cut back on a few things at the end 'cause we were getting a bit burnt, fried and wall-eyed. Too much beauty can me mind-boggling after awhile.

It's great to hear that you liked Dordogne, too. Sigh . . . Looking at other people's photos is a nice way to bring back happy memories -- and the urge to return, no?

There are reasons to go back:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mksfca/collections/72157624827253292/

Yup, M. There's a lot of drool-worthy stuff in your 40-year photo collection -- and that's just relative to France. I'm jealous as hell.

There's a lot of drool-worthy stuff

Just don't keep the laptop too close to your body.

Stu: Thanks for the suggestion, but I didn't even know about Roumagouse until after we left Domaine de la Rhue.
We loved staying there again, as we are the ones who were there 15 years ago, and where DH got sick, AND they were so kind. They sent us to their MD, who diagnosed Jim in his very best English that "yu-or hoosband as been beeten by an octopoos". After I stopped laughing, we figured out he meant "spider" And though it turned out to be latent Lyme disease, he did prescribe doxycycline - so he was totally correct in treatment, and saved us a lot of worry. I was so mortified to have laughed at this delightful man who gave up his lunch hour to see my fever/chill ridden husband.
Just an example of how kind and welcoming the Jooris family is. to say nothing of the beauty of the convereted barns and the surrounding fields. A really class act.

I love the photos, Michael and Tower. I had spent many hours pouring over these photos and all the others that I could find prior to our trip.

Luckily, when we got to Sarlat, and I realized I did not have an address for Les Cordeliers, I recognized the square near the B & B from the myriad of photos I had studied. I had DH park the car near the Hotel Madeline and then got out and searched for the B & B on foot. Next time, however, I will make sure I have the directions to the hotel and not rely on la bonne chance!

Next up, the finale.

Sunday, September 18

DH and I went our own direction this morning. We checked out a neighborhood where our daughter and her family plan to rent an apartment for a week in June. She asked us to scout the area for grocery stores and playgrounds. After doing this, we headed for Ile St. Louis. We had a nice brunch and then continued meandering.

I have to admit that the pickpocketing incident did take a little wind out of our sails....

We met up with our friends for dinner, then back to the hotel to pack up for our flights home in the morning.

Monday, September 19

Per the hotel manager, we allowed beaucoup time to get to CDG and check in. Our taxi driver was from Viet Nam and sure had his opinions on the state of the world. He spoke no English, so a lot was lost on me...but he knew more about US politics than most people living here.

We "discussed" the Obamas, Michele Bachmann, the Clintons, Chelsea's marriage, Sarah Palin, Nicolas Sarklzy and Carla Bruni. I put "discussed" into quotations, because I was following and answering some, but certainly not all of this dialog. It certainly made the trip to CDG go fast!

So..picture yourself sitting at CDG, waiting to be allowed to get in line for check in...and coming over the loudspeaker, you hear the dreaded words: "whoever left an unattended bag in the restroom between 2A and...". You know immediately, this is not good news, right? Right.

Obviously, no one claimed the bag. So those of us in terminal 2A were herded to a "safe" area. The danger area was roped off, and after about 30 minutes we were motioned to cover our ears. Yup. They detonated the bag.

A fitting end to the Paris portion of our trip! We got back in line, and from then on, it was (happily) an uneventful trip back to O'Hare.

And this is when I knew the trip was officially over:

Our flight from O'Hare to KC was delayed about an hour. We spent some time getting a bite to eat, then DH bought a new wallet. He was leaving for a business trip first thing the next morning and needed something in which to put his one lonely credit card left at home. I went to buy a bottle of water. I came back to where DH was sitting, without water. When asked where the water was, I replied that the lady wanted $3.17 for a small bottle of water. And I just could not do it. That is when I knew the vacation was over. I, who have perfected the art of never looking at a price tag on anything while on vacation, could not bring myself to buy that lousy bottle of water.

Thanks for sharing your entertaining adventures. I'm glad it wasn't your bag that was blown up at CDG! ;^)

Our last flight home from Paris was held up for over an hour as someone's luggage was aboard but the person was not. ;^(

Hi, Kansas! Thanks for sharing that nice dinner with us in Sarlat, and thanks for the trip report. We liked Le Présidial so much we made reservations there and returned the night of "Les jours du patrimoine", when Sarlat was lit by thousands of candles.

Margie and I have been back from France for over two weeks now, and I haven't gotten to my trip report yet. But it IS coming - I've started getting my notes together.

I'm also going to post on the Forum, separately, some thoughts about using a Garmin GPS in Europe. Our experiences were much like yours - our GPS seemed to prefer to take us off onto very small roads.

I have a "blog" that I add to every week. It's not topical, but rather is more like a set of memoirs. It's only a blog in the sense that I post an entry weekly, and it's on the web. This Thursday evening's entry, to be called "Recalculating!", will be about the use of a GPS, and touches upon its use in Europe.

By the way, in case any of your readers are curious, the stories about the parrot "Harold" that we told you at dinner in Sarlat can be found on my blog at:

http://ljkrakauer.com/LJK/70s/harold.htm

Taconictraveler, did your DH really get Lyme Disease in France, or did I misunderstand? I didn't think it existed there (it certainly exists here in Massachusetts).

- Larry

I need to read all this more carefully but really good report with lots of suugestions. Thanks!

funny, your Garmin must be related to our Tomtom.

there was a perfectly good motorway that it could have taken us on to get from Berlin to Potsdam [as i only realised much later] but it wanted to take us across country not just on small roads, but on roads that didn't actually go anywhere. one classic moment - as we were driving in the dark down the tiniest lane it told us to turn round, and when we'd turned round it told us to turn round again.....we just kept going till we found our way back to civilisation and followed the signs - much easier.

Hi Larry and Margie,

Peter just read the "Harold" blog and was laughing just as hard as he was when you told the story. I will never forget the moment when you squawked like a parrot, Larry! What a fun evening we had.

I look forward to your "Recalculating" blog. With our Garmin, we also had a lot of "No Matches Found" that was annoying to say the least. And, I know that I spelled the names of the towns correctly. Each time we left Sarlat for the day, our Garmin would spend quite a long time "Acquiring Satellite". I believe it often took about 10 minutes until the Garmin was up and working. We usually had our friends in their car right behind us. It truly was a case of the blind following the blind.

Annhig, I am surprised that your Tomtom also liked to lead you astray. I have read so often that the Tomtoms are superior to the Garmins in Europe. Thank heavens we knew enough to have good old paper maps, right? We will laugh about the narrow lane that lead to the "maintenace road" for a long, long time!

On acquiring the satelites: How old is your Garmin? I had a Garmin Nuvi 650, four years old, and it took a long time (in the US) to acquire satellites. Just before our September trip, I bought a new Nuvi 1370T, and it seems to acquire the satellites much faster (and it doesn't even have a flip-up antenna, like the older one).

I have a bit more to say about the "no matches found" in my upcoming blog entry this Thursday evening.

can't wait to hear the "recalculating" stories.
we just got home from France, where our GPS (came with auto rental) operated in many of same ways complained of above! I too finally gave up - checked Google Maps or via Michelin on my iPad before traveling, and used my notes, my paper maps, and my nose to get where we wanted to go. Lots of narrow, as the crow flies, roads on the GPS!!

Justretired: No, DH had obviously been bitten by a tick right here at home in the Hudson Valley! then it took two weeks into our France trip until the Lyme disease broke out with a vengeance!

Annhig, I am surprised that your Tomtom also liked to lead you astray. I have read so often that the Tomtoms are superior to the Garmins in Europe. Thank heavens we knew enough to have good old paper maps, right? We will laugh about the narrow lane that lead to the "maintenace road" for a long, long time!>>

to be fair, the oral information and the screen lay-out are a lot better than the first one we had - a garmin. we get told the road no, shown junction layouts - that's very good. but the road FINDING, which is after all its main function, leaves quite a lot to be desired. the route it found from Berlin Schönefeld to Potsdam was just daft.

as you say, lucky we'd got a nice old-fashioned MAP.

I've just posted my Thursday blog entry about our Garmin GPS. It's called "Recalculating!", and it can be found at:

http://ljkrakauer.com/LJK/00s/recalculating.htm

It actually has a picture of "American Jill" - take a look.

I thought annhig's story about a GPS repeatedly advising U-turns was hysterically funny. I guess if it doesn't know what to do with you, it has you spin in circles.

Many years ago, when GPS units were new, someone told of a calculated route to a spot in Boston that took the user out of Boston through the Callahan tunnel, then made a U-turn, and came back to almost the same spot through the Sumner tunnel (these names actually refer to the opposite directions of the SAME tunnel - Boston never wastes a naming opportunity).

In the blog entry, I note that I've found it best to enter only the basic part of a street name. In France, I entered just "KENNEDY" to have my GPS find what turned out to be called "AVENUE DU PRESIDENT JOHN FITZGERALD KENNEDY". But that leaves me mystified as to why "PECH MERLE" didn't match the full name "GROTTE DU PECH MERLE". Any chance there was a hyphen in there, "PECH-MERLE"? Hyphens can be entered on the Garmin keyboard by selecting a key labeled &?%

It would be nice if Garmin gave us a manual with more information about their matching algorithm, but no such luck.

By the way, there are some thoughts on our encounters with the French on our Dordogne trip in another blog entry:

http://ljkrakauer.com/LJK/00s/thefrench.htm

But I haven't gotten our trip report up yet! Sorry.

- Larry

We are looking forward to your trip report, Larry. Pete and I both enjoyed your blog. What a wonderful gift you are giving your children, grandchildren, and future generations.

The "Costco Effect" made me laugh. At our neighborhood grocery store, we have quite a different scenario right now. There is a sale on mums. Buy one for $3.33 or three for $10.00. Every time I walk by, I shake my head and cannot believe the sign is still up. I feel like buying three of them just so I can tell the cashier to ring them up separately!

There is a sale on mums. Buy one for $3.33 or three for $10.00. >>

"mums"?

dare I ask what they are?

Kansas,

Just got back to finishing reading your report. Great job and loved your pictures. It certainly brought back many fond memories from our trip there in June. We are already thinking about next year's trip to France.

I sure am sorry to hear about your mishaps. Those things can sometimes ruin a wonderful vacation but glad to hear they didn't hamper your enjoyment of your time there.

I found it particularly funny reading about your Nigel directions. We also had brought our Garmin with us and also had a GPS with the car. Both of them were wrong many times and we were also glad to have our paper maps. We eventually turned off the Garmin and used just the car GPS because we were getting conflicting information and suffering from TMI.

annhig, "mums" is a standard American contraction of chrysanthemums. Like kansas, I would have assumed the word to have been also used in the UK, but I guess not.

- Larry

justretired: That is a very very good discussion of "Recalculating" -- and it pretty much matches our recent experiences with a garmin nuvi in France.

I must say, though, that we did get to see some very lovely NARROW quiet scenic roads!! Sometimes that was a plus! Sometimes it was positively maddening!

I just posted a separate thread on Fodor's with the material from my "Recalculating!" blog entry, to make it more widely available for people who haven't gotten to it from this thread. If you've already read "Recalculating!", don't bother with the Fodor's version - the Fodor's material is a subset of the blog entry. If you do want to look at it, it's at:

http://www.fodors.com/community/europe/experiences-with-a-garmin-gps-in-europe.cfm

I'm also well on the way to polishing up my notes on our Dordogne trip, and should have a trip report up soon (I hope).

taconictraveler, your statement that "we did get to see some very lovely NARROW quiet scenic roads!!" made me think about the effect of the GPS from the other point of view - the people who live along those roads. As a result of all the people following GPS guidance, they must suddenly have all sorts of traffic coming down their previously empty roads. Before the GPS, the only people who drove there must have been the locals, and the occasional outsider who was hopelessly lost. Now, all of a sudden, all kinds of people can use their roads.

I wonder if they'll fight back by having the roads removed from the maps.

- Larry

Hmmm. - Never thought of that.....

Re: trip report: me too. Trying to get all notes in one place to remind me of all I want to say.

OMG! They detonated the bag? With folks still in the airport? Astounding. Glad there wasn't a BIG bomb in it.

annhig, "mums" is a standard American contraction of chrysanthemums. Like kansas, I would have assumed the word to have been also used in the UK, but I guess not.>

ah, that makes sense - i think that growers call them that.

us amateurs call them 'chrysants".

Our first trip to Europe by ourselves (not with my parents) we had the same situation with security blowing up a bag in CDG. I didn't think it at the time but my mother commented that had it been a bomb it would have blown out the whole terminal. It was funny they put it in a metal box and detonated it and then poured the contents on the ground and left. It looked like it had been a canvas LL Bean type of briefcase with lots of papers. Hope it wasn't irreplaceable contracts!
Great trip report. Glad that even with the travails you enjoyed it.

Very enjoyable report. Between you, justretired, and other posters I have gotten some good suggestions for the Sarlat area.

We just returned from France, but only did Paris this year. Usually we have some time in Paris and then take the TGV to another location for a week or 2. This is an area we have not explored as of yet, but the reports and photos of the Fodorites make us want to go there.

I will update the saga of the broken mirror on the Avis rental car:

Posted on my Visa bill on September 19th, was a charge of $445.09. I contacted Visa about their insurance: I needed copies of rental contracts and an estimated or final repair bill, plus pictures of damage. Visa must have the information within 90 days to pay the claim.

I e-mailed Avis. I was given a "Case Number". I was told to wait 15 days to receive the necessary documents. 15 days came and went. I contacted them again. This time they said it should have said "30 days" for international rentals.

The 30 days came and went. I called them on the phone. They said that these things take time. On November 16 I called again. The man I talked to said he would "expedite" the request for documentation.

Now for the surprise conclusion...

I pay my bills on-line, but I do still like to receive a paper copy of my Visa bill. And I almost never check my Visa bill on-line.

My Visa bill was there. And, surprise, surprise, there is a credit from Avis for $400.02! This credit was posted on October 19th. The repairs had to total more than $45.07! But that is all this mirror has cost us now.

Kerouac had mentioned earlier in this report that the rental companies debit a larger amount, and then may issue credit after being reminded a few times. Perhaps that is what happened here. In any case, it was a happy conclusion!