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fun4all4: Trip Report to Lot, Dordogne, Paris, Normandy ... family with teen

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fun4all4: Trip Report to Lot, Dordogne, Paris, Normandy ... family with teen

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Old Aug 1st, 2007, 02:11 PM
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fun4all4: Trip Report to Lot, Dordogne, Paris, Normandy ... family with teen

Greetings everyone! We returned on July 19th from a fabulous trip to France. For this trip, my husband (B) and I (C)traveled with our 13 year old son, D. Our older son, 16 year old J, was on a trip to Prague, Poland and Israel for 5 weeks and so did not accompany us this time - thus, the title should really be "fun4all3."

It has been a busy return to "reality," with work, bills, laundry, email, a 3 day trip to NYC (we live in Virginia) to visit sis and pick up J at JFK upon his return, etc...

But, now, no more excuses as I finally begin this trip report. My writing style may not be as witty or skilled as that of many other posters (hey, we can't all be like MaiTai Tom), but I hope this report provides helpful information to others. We love to travel and feel so incredibly fortunate to have the opportunity to experience such amazing places, people, history, food, wine, .....

Before I begin, though, I must thank the many posters who, either directly through responses to my queries or indirectly through numerous threads, contributed to the success of this trip. At the risk of forgetting someone, special thanks go to Lexma90, St. Cirq, Carlux, La Tour de Cause, ira, StuDudley, moolyn, jgg, ekscrunchy, robjame, and many more!

<b>Friday, July 6th - Departure</b>

B was on a 5:30 flight from Dulles to Toulouse through Frankfurt. C and D were not departing until 10:00 pm on the same routing (Dulles-Frankfurt-Toulouse). This was partly because we were using FF miles and partly because crazy me did not want all 3 of us to fly without J (yes, intellectually I know it is safe, but emotionally I felt more comfortable flying separately). Thus, D and I had a long wait at Dulles and a long layover in Frankfurt with arrival in Toulouse at 6:15 pm. B arrived in Toulouse at 10:30 am so he took care of the car rental before taking the bus (6&euro; round trip) into Toulouse for the day. He walked around, enjoyed a Salade Nicoise for lunch at an outdoor cafe, and explored an open air market w/demonstrations going on at City Hall. No sense in wasting a perfectly good day in France, right?

<b>Saturday, July 7th - Toulouse to Albi</b>

So, D and I arrived in Toulouse at around 6:15pm. After a slight confusion with our luggage retrieval (there are 2 different pick-up carousels - one for arrivals from within the EU and one from without in a separate area), we headed to the parking lot to get the car and drive to Albi for the night.

And here is where the fun began! Having already clarified that the car required diesel fuel and trying to make sure we understood the other features of the car before leaving the parking lot, we proceeded to try to pull out of the lot. Well, no such luck. The parking brake on the Passat was engaged and we could NOT figure out how to release it. As no one from the rental agency was immediately available (or even present), we prowled the parking lot looking for someone to ask.

We came across a young Finnish couple with their 2 young kids and asked if they knew how to release the brake. They, however, were having the same trouble - after much use of the &quot;F&quot; word by the Finn man, he suggested that &quot;we leave the cars and go get drunk.&quot;



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Old Aug 1st, 2007, 03:04 PM
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Oh my gosh - arrrgh! It only posted half of what I wrote - I lost about 1/2 hour's worth of typing through the end of day one. I'll try to retype it tonight.
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Old Aug 1st, 2007, 03:29 PM
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Please do! Looking forward to more.
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Old Aug 1st, 2007, 03:40 PM
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Hi F,

What a great start to a trip report.

If you type up your report in Word and save it as a &quot;plain text&quot; document, you can review it, check spelling, etc and then post it in sets of about 350 words without having to worry about losing it.

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Old Aug 1st, 2007, 04:01 PM
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Excellent! I was wondering whether you'd been yet. Looking forward to more.
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Old Aug 1st, 2007, 04:10 PM
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Oh goody! Can't wait to read the details!! Sorry about the loss of your posting. I do the same thing that ira recommended - type it up on word first. Too bad we didn't discuss that at our dinner!!

Looking forward to more!
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Old Aug 1st, 2007, 04:27 PM
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Great start. I look forward to the rest (including the lost 1/2 day)

Tom
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Old Aug 1st, 2007, 05:29 PM
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Yes, I always type it as a Word report, but started like this for some strange reason. Go figure. OK, I am off to type into Word.

And I already forgot a couple of &quot;thanks.&quot; So, thank you also to Tom (Paris) and the Go Family (Dordogne)!!
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Old Aug 1st, 2007, 05:55 PM
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<b>July 7th ...cont'd</b>
That idea was tempting at the moment, but jet lag was beginning to set in and the desire to reach our final destination for the day won out. Next, we all queried a German couple, but to no avail.

In the meantime, I had tracked down an employee to ask, but was unable to communicate “brakes” in French (repeat after me: I will never again forget the vocabulary word “freins”), and she spoke no English. While I ran to get the French dictionary out of the car, the attendant departed again – it seems she was going back and forth from the terminal or another garage and returning to repark returned cars. I was running back and forth between our car and that of the Finns which was across the lot when I spotted the agency person driving to another space. I ran over to her and explained the situation. She showed us that the button on the dash needed to be pushed WHILE the brake pedal was depressed – we had done one or the other, but not both at the same time (I hope this instructional tip helps someone avoid this same mistake). Voila! We ran back to tell our Finn friends the “secret,” and then were finally on our way to Albi.

The drive was an easy one of about one hour, and we arrived at around 8:30 pm. Our accommodations for the night were at the Hotel St. Antoine which we entered through a lovely courtyard garden. We checked into our spacious and well-appointed room (we had reserved a superior double with extra bed to make a triple, but they gave us the jr. suite which is their nicest room). The rate was 165&euro; which was the original price we were quoted. We would definitely recommend this hotel - they were friendly and helpful and our room was very nice.

We walked around Albi which has some lovely fountains, an amazing cathedral, and found a music festival going on with lots of vendors, crafts and a stage set up. Hungry and tired, we stopped for dinner at Brasserie St. James which was casual yet tasty. D had a croquet madam, C had tagliatelle with smoked salmon which was good if a bit salty, and B had delicious moules frites. Why is it that the mussels in France are so much better than those we get at home? A glass of wine for C, a beer for B, and a soda for D rounded out the meal for a reasonable total bill of 35&euro;.

While we would have loved to spend some time at the festival, exhaustion set in after a couple of long travel days. Happy and full, we went back to the hotel and to bed.

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Old Aug 1st, 2007, 06:09 PM
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A link to our photos in Albi:

http://www.kodakgallery.com/Slidesho...rigbu&amp;Ux=1
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Old Aug 1st, 2007, 06:42 PM
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Sunday, July 8th – Albi to Conques

Had our morning coffee in the garden courtyard of the hotel before setting off for Conques taking a meandering scenic route. The area is stunning with many neat villages, rivers, and gorges along the way. We stopped in Ste. Eulalie for lunch and a stroll. It is a “Most Beautiful Village of France” (aren’t they all?). We loved the profusion of flowers, the calm river, the old stone buildings and the 11th century church. Our lunch was at a simple, friendly caf&eacute; overlooking the main square and church. D and B had a salad with magret fume and I had a salad with tomatoes, cheese and walnuts. We finished by sharing a crepe nutella – yummy!

Back in the car, our next stop was Estaing … a charming village with nasty public toilets (the worst of our trip). That notwithstanding, the town was truly exquisite – we had only been walking around for a short while when it started to thunder and got very dark. We proceeded quickly back to the car and got under cover just as it started to pour. Still, we got some postcards and nice photos before the storm.

Note: This was an unusual July in the region – it was quite cool most of the week and had been a very rainy summer. You will notice we are wearing jackets in most of our early pictures. The last day before we left for Paris was warm, but D only got in the pool once the whole week which is amazing for him. It was comfortable for walking around, but it did not feel like July.

After passing through more quaint towns and stunning scenery, we arrived in Conques and checked into our hotel for the next 2 nights. Thank you, ira … Moulin de Cambelong was a delight. We knew when we reserved back in the fall that it would be a pretty property and was known for its good food, but were pleasantly surprised to find out shortly before our trip that the restaurant had received a Michelin star . As we were on a MAP plan with breakfast and dinner included, we couldn’t believe our good fortune to be dining there for 2 nights. Needless to say, we looked forward to our meals.

The setting of the hotel was beautiful and the hotel was charming and cozy. Our top floor room had steeply slanted ceilings, wood beams, and a terrace over the river. There is no lift and little English spoken, and a longish walk down a garden path from the parking lot (another good reason to pack light).

Our late afternoon arrival meant that we had a couple of hours to relax before dinner. I took a brief swim in the chilly pool after being “egged on” by 2 French couples we were chatting with – my pride made me get in, but my good sense and goose bumps (it was a chilly day) made me get out after just a few minutes. The 3 of us read by the pool until it started pouring again.

Dinner that night was unbelievable. I wish I took better notes and was a bit better at describing meals, but I’ll give you the general idea. Amuse bouche for all. The wine was a Burgundy (sorry, I love good wine, but DH is the knowledgeable one – he does the wine ordering and has the memory for it – I think we had a Gevery-Chambertin??). To start, D had a tartine a l’oignon with onion glace (ice cream – sounds weird, but was delish). Unfortunately, he wasn’t counting on the “unspecified organ meat” that came with it – he tried it, but did not care for that part. B had foie gras in a croquet with poached egg that he thought was spectacular, so much so that he got it again on the second night. I had a trout with caramel sauce, lavender infusion, and a quinoa-type grain. For our main courses, B had lamb with mini eggplants. D and C had pork with sausage gnocchi which was amazing. The cheese course had 5 fromages on a tray to be eaten in a clockwise fashion around the plate. Yum. Dessert for B was a pineapple assortment – like 3 different pineapple selections. D and C had biscuit au chocolat (like a chocolate mousse souffl&eacute; cake) served warm with fresh mint ice cream (wow – we had the again the second night). Coffee topped off the meal.

Another full day of fun, beauty and fine food – this is definitely a theme in France.


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Old Aug 1st, 2007, 06:53 PM
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Link to Photos from that day:

http://www.kodakgallery.com/Slidesho...kpabd&amp;Ux=1
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Old Aug 1st, 2007, 08:09 PM
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Fun4all4,

So far so good. Thanks for the pictures.
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Old Aug 1st, 2007, 08:32 PM
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Love your trip report so far, and the pictures are great. And the Moulin looks and sounds like a wonderful place to stay!
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Old Aug 1st, 2007, 09:05 PM
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Good pictures and good report.

New cars are becoming more and more incomprehensible to me. Just like your Passat, I had a Renault Sc&eacute;nic recently with the brake button on the dash. Didn't find it until the second day (because the brake would release itself after 10 seconds if you did nothing and would set itself automatically when you parked). More frustrating was the electronic card instead of a key. I am still not sure if I ever locked the car properly, because the car would unlock itself automatically whenever I got within 10 meters of it.
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Old Aug 2nd, 2007, 03:32 AM
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fun4all4

Thank you for sharing with us your experience. Looking forward to further instalments.

s

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Old Aug 2nd, 2007, 03:57 AM
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Thanks for the kind and encouraging words!

<b>Monday, July 9th – Pech Merle, St. Cirq la Popie, Conques</b>

We were up and out of the hotel early this morning as we needed to be at Pech Merle by 10:00 for our 10:30 am reservation. The early hour meant we were missing the regular breakfast, but we thought we had arranged for coffee and croissant before we left, but a misunderstanding left us without it before we had to leave. It didn’t really matter since we were still full from the night before.

The drive to Pech Merle took about 1 ľ hours. The final approach to Pech Merle made us wonder how anyone ever discovered it! It was treacherous, narrow and steep to say the least. We made our reservations in advance; the website is
http://www.quercy.net/pechmerle/engl...roduction.html.
Our 10 am arrival meant we had time to get our tickets and watch the introductory film which is in French with English subtitles. The tour was in French (our French is limited to 6 years of middle school and high school classes a long time ago – good enough to get around and get into trouble, but not really enough to follow detailed information; I’d guess we caught about 1/3 of her talk), but they provide a written guide in English upon request.

The cave is large with many spectacular formations as well as drawings from 20,000-25,000 thousand years ago. It is truly amazing to contemplate. Standing in the same spaces that early man stood and trying to figure out the meaning of the images was a special experience.

It was a short drive to our next stop of the day, St. Cirq la Popie. Parking the car was quite a challenge for B! The parking lot was at the top of the “mountain” and the entry into the lot was really steep. Our cars at home are automatic so he was a bit rusty on the standard car – he stalled out several times going up the final hill into the lot, much to the amusement of D, C, and the many passersby. Note: Third gear = bad for going uphill from standing position.

By this time we were quite hungry and stopped at pretty much the first place we came to – the food was decent (salads) but not memorable, and the proprietor was rude and grumpy. At first we thought he was snarly towards us because we were Americans, but it soon became clear he didn’t like anyone – he got into a huge row with a French woman over a confused order. He seemed to have gone to the same charm school as the “Soup Nazi” of Seinfeld fame. Truly, though, this was our only negative encounter of the whole trip. Perhaps he was having a bad day.

We climbed up and explored the ruins of the old castle and church, we strolled along through some of the shops and galleries, and we stopped at a caf&eacute; across from the Visitor’s Info Center for some coffee and a pastry dessert. It was a friendly place – I’m sorry I have forgotten the name.

Then, it was back to the car. Our original plan was to stop in Figeac on the way back, but we were tired and wanted to get back. However, we had not explored Conques yet (about 5 minutes from the hotel), and I pleaded with the guys to stop there. We are so glad we did – we loved Conques. It is a gorgeous town with a spectacular cathedral. It was an important pilgrimage stop. There are magnificent treasures and relics stored there. The town was really picturesque. It started to pour so we took refuge in a toy shop before going back to the hotel for a short rest before dinner. It was too rainy and cold for the pool.

Dinner that evening started with an aperitif – a Kir Maison which was champagne with walnut liqueur which was very tasty. B and D had the foie gras to start while I had the snapper. B and D had a really delicious duck for their main course while I had a codfish in a simple, but tasty sauce. We all repeated our desserts from the night before. This is partly because they were so good and partly because the menu varied very little from the first night. It was another fantastic meal and the service was exquisite. It would have been nice, though, if the menu had changed a bit more between the first and second night – there were only 3 choices for each course. Only one appetizer and one main course changed. Since there were one or two things we didn’t care for, it made our second night selections a bit limited if we didn’t want to reorder the same dish. Luckily, everything was so good, it didn’t really matter. Plus, it was a Sunday and Monday night so I wonder if the same is not true on other nights. Again, just a little picky point, but not a real complaint. It was after 10:30 by this point, and we were bushed. It was great just to walk upstairs after a great meal with wine and head to bed.


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Old Aug 2nd, 2007, 03:57 AM
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&gt;Thank you, ira … Moulin de Cambelong was a delight.&lt;

Glad you liked it, F.

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Old Aug 2nd, 2007, 04:02 AM
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PS,

Did the horse show up at the little pasture on the other side of the river?

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Old Aug 2nd, 2007, 04:10 AM
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Photo link:

http://www.kodakgallery.com/Slidesho...gq0ky&amp;Ux=1
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