Trip Report - Sort of...! Toulouse, Rocamadour, Sarlat, Paris
 

I say "sort of" because I was negligent in keeping a journal this trip. On previous trips, I faithfully would keep a diary of each days happenings. This time, I think I was just too tired at the end of each day to even think about it. But, luckily, cameras date photos, so at least I know what I did and when I did it!

If I were clever enough to know how to add photos to this report, I would show you a cute picture of my husband and me...when I still had all my teeth, the car still had two sideview mirrors, and my husband still possessed a wallet! But I am getting ahead of myself!

I would also show you a photo of a beautiful evening in Sarlat, dining at Le Presidial with fellow Fodorites, Larry and Margie, aka "Just Retired".

We traveled with friends. The P's are good, good friends. The N's are relatives of the P's. We had never met them until we arrived in Toulouse. I cannot even imagine a more congenial group of travelers. We were all delighted to be in France, and to share it with each other.

And of course, before I begin, I must thank all the wonderful posters here. Stu, St. Cirq, Carlux, Michael. And recent travelers to the area, winnick, sap, sssteve, etc. The wealth of information here is staggering. I am indebted to all.

So, here we begin....each couple made their own flight arrangements to Toulouse. My DH and I flew American/Iberia through Madrid. It worked reasonably well. The gluten-free meals ordered for DH were delivered on all flights as requested. They did leave a lot to be desired, but they get an A for effort, nonetheless.

On arrival in Toulouse, we took a cab to Le Grand Balcon Hotel. It is located right near a corner of Place du Capitole. The staff were very friendly and helpful. All six of us declared the beds at Le Grand Balcon were the MOST comfortable in the whole wide world. The rooms can be noisy, due to its location right by Le Capitole, but, we would definitely stay here again.

Knowing we would only be in Toulouse for one full day, I decided to book a walking tour with Penny Dickinson. www.toulousewalkingtours.com. This proved to be a great introduction to Toulouse and its' history. Penny was a delightful guide and we thoroughly enjoyed the morning we spent with her.

Next up: Off to Rocamadour area.

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

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

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/...7622845845243/

or a region:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mksfca/...7623877915948/

down to the individual picture:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mksfca/...57623877915948

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.