Kristina's Big Fat Fortieth in France 2008 -A week in Paris and the Dordogne Trip Report
Oct 27th, 2008, 07:04 AM
#101
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Louisa-thanks! I'm glad someone is still reading. 
I forgot to add links to the photos.
Page for day 4:
http://www.wired2theworld.com/PARIS2008Day4.html
Extra photo page with pictures of the Chateau and the cute town of Bourdeilles
http://www.wired2theworld.com/PARIS2...tlephotos.html
I forgot to add links to the photos.
Page for day 4:
http://www.wired2theworld.com/PARIS2008Day4.html
Extra photo page with pictures of the Chateau and the cute town of Bourdeilles
http://www.wired2theworld.com/PARIS2...tlephotos.html
Oct 27th, 2008, 07:23 AM
#102
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Hey Kristina...
I'm still "hanging" with you too!
The similarities just keep mounting, not me, but my sister is a chef. I'm not much of a cook, but I am a very appreciative eater!
Question for you...I think in an earlier post you mentioned something about compressing your photos so they load faster to your website. I'm trying to figure out a way to store my 1400+ pictures on CDs but since I shot my photos on this last trip at 8 megapixels I can't even fit 20 photos on one CD! Any helpful hints you can give or should I just break down and buy an external hard drive to store my ever increasing number of photo files?
Sorry to hi-jack your trip report with a technical question. On the bright side I am gearing up to start writing my own trip report...look for it in the next few days...I promise!
I'm still "hanging" with you too!
The similarities just keep mounting, not me, but my sister is a chef. I'm not much of a cook, but I am a very appreciative eater!
Question for you...I think in an earlier post you mentioned something about compressing your photos so they load faster to your website. I'm trying to figure out a way to store my 1400+ pictures on CDs but since I shot my photos on this last trip at 8 megapixels I can't even fit 20 photos on one CD! Any helpful hints you can give or should I just break down and buy an external hard drive to store my ever increasing number of photo files?
Sorry to hi-jack your trip report with a technical question. On the bright side I am gearing up to start writing my own trip report...look for it in the next few days...I promise!
Oct 27th, 2008, 07:37 AM
#103
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Kristina this is great!
I had to laugh about Angouleme. You should have seen my friend backing up the car in traffic, after missing, for about the 5th time, the entrance to the highway! Every time I read the same I think of how much trouble we had just finding our way THROUGH that town, never mind negotiating our way OUT of it as you did!
I had to laugh about Angouleme. You should have seen my friend backing up the car in traffic, after missing, for about the 5th time, the entrance to the highway! Every time I read the same I think of how much trouble we had just finding our way THROUGH that town, never mind negotiating our way OUT of it as you did!
Oct 27th, 2008, 08:22 AM
#104
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LCI- I don't mind the technical questions. As for the photos on the website, I don't compress them, I actually make them smaller, reducing both their size and resolution sometimes to as much as 10% of the original. So I actually have two copies, the small one for the website and the the original.
I highly recommend you buy a back up drive for your photos and your computer in general. I learned the hard way about this after a complete computer crash once. Back up drives are very cheap now; it's easy to find one under $100.
Unless your computer's HD is very small, you shouldn't have to take your original photos off completely.
Also, do you have a DVD burner on your computer? DVDs hold much more than a regular CD so you can fit a ton of pictures on one DVD.
In a perfect world, you would back up your photos to both; a back up drive and the DVDs.
Note to self; time back up computer and burn some photos to DVDs.
Eks-did you actually spend time in Angouleme? It looked like a cute town from what we saw of it, going in circles. Did you go to the market which was in the center of a square with traffic on all sides? I think we drove around that at least 6 times!
I highly recommend you buy a back up drive for your photos and your computer in general. I learned the hard way about this after a complete computer crash once. Back up drives are very cheap now; it's easy to find one under $100.
Unless your computer's HD is very small, you shouldn't have to take your original photos off completely.
Also, do you have a DVD burner on your computer? DVDs hold much more than a regular CD so you can fit a ton of pictures on one DVD.
In a perfect world, you would back up your photos to both; a back up drive and the DVDs.
Note to self; time back up computer and burn some photos to DVDs.
Eks-did you actually spend time in Angouleme? It looked like a cute town from what we saw of it, going in circles. Did you go to the market which was in the center of a square with traffic on all sides? I think we drove around that at least 6 times!
Oct 27th, 2008, 09:29 AM
#105
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Kristina: No. We were driving from Cognac to a village near Albi via Brantome. We did not enter the core of Angouleme but kind of circled it, looking for the continuation of the road we were taking. My friend who was driving got so fed up that she actually backed up on an entrance ramp of an autoroute..we eventually got straightened out but it was touch and go for awhile!
Oct 27th, 2008, 10:06 AM
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Kristina,
Thanks for the "technical" info. I posed the same question to a co-worker and he suggested the same thing. Yes, my computer does have a DVD burner so that may be a quick fix option for now. I'm going to look into getting the external hard drive too.
Thanks for the "technical" info. I posed the same question to a co-worker and he suggested the same thing. Yes, my computer does have a DVD burner so that may be a quick fix option for now. I'm going to look into getting the external hard drive too.
Oct 27th, 2008, 12:46 PM
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<b>Dordogne Region Day 5
October 8, 2008
The Longest Day...</b>
We are up early with the plan to be at the Chateau to meet everyone by 8 AM.
Because of this, we have arranged an early breakfast with Caroline and when we get up and go out into the common room, there is our fabulous breakfast all neatly laid out for us. There is coffee, tea, juice, yogurt, fruit, all sorts of jams, butter and feshly made fruit bread. She apologizes because there is no baguette; the local bakery does not open until 7:30. <i> Pah!</i> Who needs baguette when you have all this?
The plan for today is to drive all the way to the Pauilliac region to visit the Chateau Lynch Bages winery. We have an 11 AM appointment for a tour of the Chateau and the winery for a tasting.
Obviously getting a large group of people together early in the morning is a challenge. Utimately, there will be 10 of us going in 4 cars and the trip is supposed to take 2.5 hours.
Three of the cars have GPS and of course, ours does not, so we will be following and will have M's large Michelin map book for all of France with us. In addition, we have hand written pages of directions for us from the GPS unit.
Finally, around 9:30, we all set out together and for the first 20 minutes or so, everything seems to be going along by the directions. Then, suddenly, we are not following the directions we have. I look at the map. Nope. We are not on any of the roads listed.
Hmmmm, what to do? Everyone seems to be going along, so we follow. I can see from the map we are going in the right direction in general, but at some point we need to head south to hit the main autoroute. I wonder why we don't.
October 8, 2008
The Longest Day...</b>
We are up early with the plan to be at the Chateau to meet everyone by 8 AM.
Because of this, we have arranged an early breakfast with Caroline and when we get up and go out into the common room, there is our fabulous breakfast all neatly laid out for us. There is coffee, tea, juice, yogurt, fruit, all sorts of jams, butter and feshly made fruit bread. She apologizes because there is no baguette; the local bakery does not open until 7:30. <i> Pah!</i> Who needs baguette when you have all this?
The plan for today is to drive all the way to the Pauilliac region to visit the Chateau Lynch Bages winery. We have an 11 AM appointment for a tour of the Chateau and the winery for a tasting.
Obviously getting a large group of people together early in the morning is a challenge. Utimately, there will be 10 of us going in 4 cars and the trip is supposed to take 2.5 hours.
Three of the cars have GPS and of course, ours does not, so we will be following and will have M's large Michelin map book for all of France with us. In addition, we have hand written pages of directions for us from the GPS unit.
Finally, around 9:30, we all set out together and for the first 20 minutes or so, everything seems to be going along by the directions. Then, suddenly, we are not following the directions we have. I look at the map. Nope. We are not on any of the roads listed.
Hmmmm, what to do? Everyone seems to be going along, so we follow. I can see from the map we are going in the right direction in general, but at some point we need to head south to hit the main autoroute. I wonder why we don't.
Oct 27th, 2008, 12:52 PM
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After about an hour, we need to make a pit stop, but there's no way to communicate with the other cars and we have no pre-arranged signal. We see a <i>Intermarche</i> and decide to stop there, taking off on a round about, flashing our lights. They keep going. We figure, we have a map, we can catch up! Our stop takes less than 5 minutes and we are back on the road again.
We immediately take a wrong turn and realize we are on the wrong road. My mother makes a u-turn and almost gets us creamed by a semi. At this point we are pulled over on the side of the road looking at a map when we hear "beep! beep!" It's C and K and they have come back for us, bless them! How they found us, we'll never know, but we can't thank them enough, because without them, we would have been hopelessly lost.
We continue to follow them, and while doing so, I am following the map. I can't figure out where we are going because it looks like we are headed straight for water and there is no bridge!
Eventually, we get to the end of the road, and it is a town called Blaye. Blaye looks to be a cute town, and the large local market is in full swing as we drive by. But unfortunately, they do not have a bridge to Pauilliac and there is a large body of water, the Gironde blocking our way.
What they do have is a ferry, for which we have missed the morning crossing, and the next one is not for another 6 hours.
Our only option is to go south to Bordeaux so we can go north to Pauilliac which will take us at least another hour or more.
At this point I am seriously considering staying in Blaye and going to the market. But there are people waiting for us, so we push on, knowing full well we are hopelessly late. Our only consolation is that most likely the other two cars are late as well.
We immediately take a wrong turn and realize we are on the wrong road. My mother makes a u-turn and almost gets us creamed by a semi. At this point we are pulled over on the side of the road looking at a map when we hear "beep! beep!" It's C and K and they have come back for us, bless them! How they found us, we'll never know, but we can't thank them enough, because without them, we would have been hopelessly lost.
We continue to follow them, and while doing so, I am following the map. I can't figure out where we are going because it looks like we are headed straight for water and there is no bridge!
Eventually, we get to the end of the road, and it is a town called Blaye. Blaye looks to be a cute town, and the large local market is in full swing as we drive by. But unfortunately, they do not have a bridge to Pauilliac and there is a large body of water, the Gironde blocking our way.
What they do have is a ferry, for which we have missed the morning crossing, and the next one is not for another 6 hours.
Our only option is to go south to Bordeaux so we can go north to Pauilliac which will take us at least another hour or more.
At this point I am seriously considering staying in Blaye and going to the market. But there are people waiting for us, so we push on, knowing full well we are hopelessly late. Our only consolation is that most likely the other two cars are late as well.
Oct 27th, 2008, 07:45 PM
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Thanks for sticking with me! 
Yes, of course, there will be many more photos including the towns Brantome and Perigueux.
But first, Pauillac (which I misspelled above) and a Michelin 2-star lunch...
Yes, of course, there will be many more photos including the towns Brantome and Perigueux.
But first, Pauillac (which I misspelled above) and a Michelin 2-star lunch...
Oct 28th, 2008, 10:38 AM
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It's around 12:30 when we finally arrive at Lynch Bages winery. It's closed for lunch and we have a hard time finding anyone. Finally, we find someone who confirms that yes, we missed the appointment as did our other group.
At first we have no idea where they've gone to, but then we learn they have tentatively rescheduled the tour for 4:30 and they've gone to a local restaurant for lunch. One which just happens to be at a Michelin 2-star Relais & Chateau hotel and restaurant called Cordeillan-Bages with chef Thierry Marx.
Back in the car and we drive about a half mile to find the hotel. We walk in and the restaurant is in the back. We have to wait at the front desk, feeling a little like the <i>country cousins come a-callin'</i> while someone goes and gets C so we can find out what the plan is. We're told that we need to hurry if we want lunch because it's almost over.
It seems to take forever and a day but finally, C comes out in his orange t-shirt and jeans and suddenly I don't feel so Beverly Hillbilly (I'm happy I decided to wear a nice jacket and pants today). He invites the 4 of us to be their guest for lunch. Unfortunately, the other guys have already been seated and have started their meal so we have to sit at another table.
The dining room is light, airy, and very gracious, with French windows overlooking the vineyard. The service is absolutely impeccable and everyone, from the servers to the bussers to the Sommelier speaks perfect English and can answer questions in detail about anything on the menu. The only awkwardness in the service was a Sommelier who seemed at a loss on how to recommend a "reasonably" priced bottle of wine.
And the menu! <i>Whew!</i> It's presented in a small blue square cardstock cover which opens to a black and white photo of a slice of onion with the Chef's name in small print. Then, it opens further and there's the menu on creamy white paper, in French only, with appetizers ranging in price from 40 to 48 euro, main courses 45-60 euro and desserts at 25 euro.
Somehow, that makes the 3 course menu (any two courses plus dessert for 90 euro) seem like a relative bargain. We all opt for the menu since that's what the other guys are doing as well. Because the menu is only in French, we are taken through each offering by the server with a full description in English.
The meal ends up being much more than the 3 courses we each order; there are multiple amuses, plus 2 extra desserts, plus petit fours. By the end (heck, by my main course) I am stuffed to the point where I cannot even contemplate a <i>wafer thin mint</i>. I really tried to pace myself, but it's so hard not to try everything.
I did not take notes, but I did take photos of almost every course and plate. I also have a copy of the menu. I will do my best to recreate it for those of you who are foodies and are interested in the details, but not here on Fodor's. I'll post a link when it is on my web site.
At first we have no idea where they've gone to, but then we learn they have tentatively rescheduled the tour for 4:30 and they've gone to a local restaurant for lunch. One which just happens to be at a Michelin 2-star Relais & Chateau hotel and restaurant called Cordeillan-Bages with chef Thierry Marx.
Back in the car and we drive about a half mile to find the hotel. We walk in and the restaurant is in the back. We have to wait at the front desk, feeling a little like the <i>country cousins come a-callin'</i> while someone goes and gets C so we can find out what the plan is. We're told that we need to hurry if we want lunch because it's almost over.
It seems to take forever and a day but finally, C comes out in his orange t-shirt and jeans and suddenly I don't feel so Beverly Hillbilly (I'm happy I decided to wear a nice jacket and pants today). He invites the 4 of us to be their guest for lunch. Unfortunately, the other guys have already been seated and have started their meal so we have to sit at another table.
The dining room is light, airy, and very gracious, with French windows overlooking the vineyard. The service is absolutely impeccable and everyone, from the servers to the bussers to the Sommelier speaks perfect English and can answer questions in detail about anything on the menu. The only awkwardness in the service was a Sommelier who seemed at a loss on how to recommend a "reasonably" priced bottle of wine.
And the menu! <i>Whew!</i> It's presented in a small blue square cardstock cover which opens to a black and white photo of a slice of onion with the Chef's name in small print. Then, it opens further and there's the menu on creamy white paper, in French only, with appetizers ranging in price from 40 to 48 euro, main courses 45-60 euro and desserts at 25 euro.
Somehow, that makes the 3 course menu (any two courses plus dessert for 90 euro) seem like a relative bargain. We all opt for the menu since that's what the other guys are doing as well. Because the menu is only in French, we are taken through each offering by the server with a full description in English.
The meal ends up being much more than the 3 courses we each order; there are multiple amuses, plus 2 extra desserts, plus petit fours. By the end (heck, by my main course) I am stuffed to the point where I cannot even contemplate a <i>wafer thin mint</i>. I really tried to pace myself, but it's so hard not to try everything.
I did not take notes, but I did take photos of almost every course and plate. I also have a copy of the menu. I will do my best to recreate it for those of you who are foodies and are interested in the details, but not here on Fodor's. I'll post a link when it is on my web site.
Oct 28th, 2008, 08:07 PM
#117
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Leely, you got my reference!
Perhaps I will post the page with the meal before I finish the rest of day 5, just for you guys. I am working on it right now!
Gracejoan-I wish we could have stayed there. It looked very nice and peaceful. Plus, staying there would have prevented the drive from hell <i>back</i> to Grand Brassac, but I am getting ahead of myself...
Perhaps I will post the page with the meal before I finish the rest of day 5, just for you guys. I am working on it right now!
Gracejoan-I wish we could have stayed there. It looked very nice and peaceful. Plus, staying there would have prevented the drive from hell <i>back</i> to Grand Brassac, but I am getting ahead of myself...
Oct 28th, 2008, 08:11 PM
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Sometimes I feel like that character that Shakespeare puts in all his plays that stands to the side and actaully explains what's going on. Well,ok, explains from my side.
I will not pre-empt this fantastic tale about our trip, and tell what actually happened (from my side)when we returned from the Dordogne, but it involves car washes and, yes, I'll admit much whining about maligned mothers and badly done maps. For those of you familiar with New York, think about going from Times Sq/42nd St to the 8th ave train underground, with luggage.
The taxi ride from the hotel to Gare Montparnasse was my first ( and hopefully the last) experience with a French Taxi driver..and I did it without coffee!
I have taken taxis from Bangkok ot New York, and if the best are in New Orleans, the French take the worst prize. Gee, I so hate paying for rudeness. especially when I haven't had my morning coffee.
And about getting out of Angouleme, well, let's just say that the getting out was a happy accident, that has nothign to do with knowing which direction is right or left, north or south.
Note to self: GPS GPS GPS.
For those waiting for the GREAT LUNCH description, it is worth the wait. I don't know whether it was the best meal I have ever eaten, but it was certainly the most intense eating experience. I will be grateful to our friend C. for letting me be part of this.
When we sat down, I said to K "Don't be shy, get your camera out, and take pictures. She turns to me incredulously, "Are you kidding? this will be the most photgraphed meal of all time." I love my kid.
Kristina and I have had a lot of great meals, that is one of the best parts of traveling together. we have a similar outlook: " Nice church, what's for lunch?" "Great museum the Louvre, can we snack now?"
Well,ok, explains from my side.I will not pre-empt this fantastic tale about our trip, and tell what actually happened (from my side)when we returned from the Dordogne, but it involves car washes and, yes, I'll admit much whining about maligned mothers and badly done maps. For those of you familiar with New York, think about going from Times Sq/42nd St to the 8th ave train underground, with luggage.
The taxi ride from the hotel to Gare Montparnasse was my first ( and hopefully the last) experience with a French Taxi driver..and I did it without coffee!
I have taken taxis from Bangkok ot New York, and if the best are in New Orleans, the French take the worst prize. Gee, I so hate paying for rudeness. especially when I haven't had my morning coffee.
And about getting out of Angouleme, well, let's just say that the getting out was a happy accident, that has nothign to do with knowing which direction is right or left, north or south.
Note to self: GPS GPS GPS.
For those waiting for the GREAT LUNCH description, it is worth the wait. I don't know whether it was the best meal I have ever eaten, but it was certainly the most intense eating experience. I will be grateful to our friend C. for letting me be part of this.
When we sat down, I said to K "Don't be shy, get your camera out, and take pictures. She turns to me incredulously, "Are you kidding? this will be the most photgraphed meal of all time." I love my kid.
Kristina and I have had a lot of great meals, that is one of the best parts of traveling together. we have a similar outlook: " Nice church, what's for lunch?" "Great museum the Louvre, can we snack now?"
Oct 28th, 2008, 09:24 PM
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How cool is my mom?
Honestly, I didn't think the French cabbie was rude, just expensive. He was nowhere near as bad as the one in Madrid (think back on that one Mom) or even some of the ones in Bangkok.
Ok, the fantastic meal is posted!
http://www.wired2theworld.com/PARIS2008Day5lunch.html
Still working on the rest of day 5...
Honestly, I didn't think the French cabbie was rude, just expensive. He was nowhere near as bad as the one in Madrid (think back on that one Mom) or even some of the ones in Bangkok.
Ok, the fantastic meal is posted!
http://www.wired2theworld.com/PARIS2008Day5lunch.html
Still working on the rest of day 5...
