There was a pottery market on Saturday and Sunday in Lauzerte. I did get a small dish, yet was hesitant to buy anything larger since our suitcases will be full as it is.
However, it was very nice to wander through and look at all the colorful pieces of pottery for sale in all different styles.
Moissac has one of the largest markets in the area. Today, we did some shopping at their Sunday market and then went back to the nearby abbey for a visit. The markets are the places to go for fresh fruits and vegetables.
Of course, that's not all they sell. You can also find pocket knives, tablecloths, or anything else you might need.
And, as you can see in the top picture, the Moissac market in particular has a great spice table.
On Saturday, the Tour de France went from Figeac down to Toulouse. Despite a somewhat rainy day, we packed a picnic and staked out a nice spot. We were told to get set up before the Junk Train arrived and soon realized what that meant as colorful vehicles promoting one company or another drove by, hurling free keychains, hats, and other knick-knacks to the bystanders. 
We watched the circling helicopters above, indicating the bicyclists' arrival. Then they turned the corner. They went by very quickly, all in one pack.
Within 30 seconds our viewing of the Tour de France was over as they sped past us, but it was quite a half a minute. In that short time, Chris was able to get some great pictures
Over the holiday weekend, we headed off to Provence. Check out the new
pictures that have been added to our France photo album! I'll be adding captions as soon as I can.
We went to Arles, Nimes, and Avignon. And we stopped at Pont du Gard, an amazingly intact Roman aquaduct. I think that was the height of the trip for me. It's breathtaking.
We also went down to the Mediterranean for a day to swim, which was a welcome respite from the heat.
And on the way, we stopped at Carcassonne. Here's a picture of us looking at it from a distance, before we headed into town.
We saw Roman ruins, walled cities, and beautiful vistas. It was a fantastic weekend and we were able to see a lot in a short amount of time.
One of the major attractions of Southwest France is the wine region of Bordeaux. It can be a little daunting to find which vineyards to visit and which parts of Bordeaux to explore, so research is a must. Just be sure you know before hand which vineyards you need reservations for to avoid disappointment.
To explore the vineyards by bike, stop by the Bordeaux or St. Emillion tourist office and rent a bike for a full day or a half day. Chris and I rented bikes for the afternoon and then we were off.
We just got back from a trip to one of the local markets. We went to the Montcuq Sunday market and came back with strawberries, peppers, zucchini, cucumbers, and meringue cookies. Also for sale was clothing and other non-food items, which we've only seen at a few markets. Each village, town, and city has its own market one or two days a week and each is a little different. We've been trying to hit as many different ones as we can.
I wish I had pictures, but I haven't brought the camera to one yet. I will soon. In the meantime, please enjoy this ferret in beret picture.
This weekend we kayaked down the Dordogne river, passing castles and towns along the way. It was one of the best excursions we've done since we got here. The river was moving very fast, so we just floated along and took pictures on the way.
We traveled into Spain last Saturday and went to San Sebastian, a beautiful city on the ocean. We had tapas for lunch and took a walk along the water. I'm so glad we made it into Spain and this is a gorgeous city to visit. However, I can't say I minded coming back to France where I can at least understand a little of the language. I'll have to work on my Spanish before I return.
A Gallo-Roman villa was discovered in the town of Seviac, dating back to the second century AD. While it is unclear who lived here, the family must have had a good deal of wealth, since the villa is quite large and had its own bath complex. It also had spectacular mosaics on the floors, many of which have been uncovered and can be seen today.
Normally, beautiful artwork like this would have been carted off to a museum. To see mosaics like this in their original setting is truly rare and impressive.
The day started with a mission: sight-seeing pigeons. Or at least scouring the French countryside for the structures built to house them. The tour guides say these pigeonniers are strewn across the Tarn et Garonne department, so we know they're around, but we can't find a map denoting where they're located. No problem, we decided, we'll find them ourselves. So armed with a road map, a camera, and a sense of adventure, Chris and I set off on a pigeonnier scavenger hunt.
The pigeonnier is a slender tower that was built in the middle ages in southwest France. It is essentially a dovecote, a structure first built by the Egyptians and brought to France by the Romans. Pigeonniers are roughly the size of a garage and are usually two stories or one story built on stilts. They come in all shapes and sizes, from square to round to octagonal. One can recognize a pigeonniers by it's pigeonholes, usually located just below the roof of the building.
Pigeonniers were built, as one might guess, to house pigeons. Why would they do this? It was an easy way to raise meat on the farm without taking up a lot of space. The droppings were also collected for fertilizer and were sometimes saved for a dowry. The pigeonnier was a privilege of the rich and only they could build the structures. The pigeons fed on local produce, creating a nuisance for peasant farmers in the area and was one more source of tension between the lord and his vassals. Shortly after the French revolution, the privilege was abolished and the pigeonnier dropped from a practical chateau building to a picturesque roadside curiosity.
By winding down quiet farm roads and scouting from ridges, we were able to spot more than a few pigeonniers. Many have been turned into British vacation houses, offering a small retreat that is part historical, part charming, and part kitchy. The name "Pigeonnier" has been used for wine labels, hotels, neighborhoods, and restaurants, emphasizing that they are a staple of the region and give the area some of its character. For us, they were a great way to see the landscape in a different way and pay closer attention to our beautiful surroundings.
Today, we took advantage of the sun and went for a hike in a beautiful spot called the Aveyron Gorge. We started at St. Antonin-Sur-Val, a pretty town at the bottom of the gorge.
It was originally a Roman settlement. During the Hundred Years War it was taken over by the English. It was later taken over by the Protestants and by Louis XIII. We hiked up the side of the gorge across the river from the town up to an area called Roc d'Anglars. It is called that because it was the cliff the English retreated to when they lost the town. It makes sense because they had a great defensive position up on the ridge.
It was a steep climb but the destination was well worth it.
This is where we live. :D We took a walk in the valley last night and Chris took this picture looking back up the hill at our town as the sun was setting.
Months ago, when Chris and I were planning this trip, we bought a bottle of wine from the Bergerac area to try. It was specifically from a place just south called Montbazillac. As we enjoyed the wine, we looked up its location on our newly acquired map.
Today, we went through Bergerac and stopped at the Chateau de Montbazillac. The chateau has been pretty much left alone with very minimal updates of any kind and is in exceptional condition. It was like stepping into a ferry book.
Not to mention a great view.
Over the last few days, we have done a lot of wine tastings. This region of France has, of course, Bordeaux wines, but also quite a few other wine producing regions. Currently, the Bordeaux region is just a little overwhelming due to far too many options, however I will venture over there eventually and have, in the meantime, greatly enjoyed trying and comparing some of the other regional wines.
Gaillac
The area is northeast of Toulouse and known for its white wines. It is said to be the first place in France ever to grow wine, in the sixth century BC and they still have many hundreds of hectares of vineyard along the Tarn river. My favorite wine of the region is the Perle which is a dry white with a slight natural carbonation. The wine is also very reasonable as we found at Chateau Lastour.
Cahors
The wine of Cahors is centered on the Malbec grape. This deep red wine, called the black wine, is very strong and goes very well with all the duck eaten in the region. The price ranges greatly from LaGrazette's Pigionnier at 90 euro a bottle (and we got to try some!) to Chateau Noziere's "loose" wine that makes absolutely fantastic vin de table and can be purchased for a little over a euro a litre. The Cahors wine is a bit strong, even for a red wine, but quite good. And there are some vineyards, like the Clos Traguedina, that still makes wine the same way it was made in the Middle Ages.
Moissac
Although we have gone to Moissac already, we did not stop to taste their sweet wine, made from chasselas grape. It is supposed to be a beautiful white grape that is almost translucent and the wine is supposed to be a French treasure. But that just gives us the perfect reason to go back there. :)
We'll have to return to these great wine areas and vineyards after I learn to drive stick shift so that Chris doesn't have to be the designated driver all the time.
For the summer, we have leased a Peugeot. 
We call him zombie lion because of the symbol on the front, which unfortunately I do not have a good picture of yet. I will make a point of adding that.
So far zombie lion has been very reliable and with it we have traversed windy, narrow roads and covered many kilometers. And it's only been a week. Sadly, he has already lost a hubcap, but bravely travels on. Chris insists that our car needs a theme song, since it's the first car he has ever named, but so far we haven't come up with one.
We are accepting submissions if anyone has an idea of what zombie lion's song should be.
One of the fantastic elements of southwest France is the castles. Between the Hundred Years War and the War of Religion, every little village and bastide needed to be able to defend itself from attack. Some were more successful than others. Many of these castles are still around, although they are in varying states of restoration or disrepair.
Sunday was a day for exploration. Despite a little rain, we went out to Castelnau to find the windmills. We found two out of three despite a terrible lack of signs, so we were quite happy.
And Chris felt the need to tilt at windmills.
Then we found lunch. ;)
After that,
we went on to see the St. Martin Collegiale in Monpezat with its spectacular 16th century Flemish tapestries.
Lastly, we hunted down a dolmen. It wasn't quite as impressive as we had anticipated, but we found it, finally.
On Saturday, we headed down to Moissac to see the St. Pierre Abbey. This 11th century church and cloister is the main attraction in the town and is a highlight of the region. 
In particular, the cloister columns are decorated with beautiful sculptures of various scenes from the bible.
The church also holds a number of 14th century wooden sculptures of note. 
The monks at the abbey were known for creating beautiful illuminated manuscripts, however they are no longer displayed in Moissac and have been moved to Paris. We toured the church, the cloister, and the house of the abbot, which is now a museum. We also stopped to watch some men of the village playing petanque, French bocci, and then headed home for dinner. Chris cooked some spectacular maigret de canard (duck breast) in a cassis sauce with roasted potatoes and aoli and a side of warm spinach salad. Tres bien!
Our first guest is leaving early this morning and our next guests arrived last night. Today I think the plan is to visit our local market and perhaps go sightseeing a bit around the area.
Yesterday we went up to Gourdon to see the Grotte de Cougnac. It was just amazing to think that people had actually stood there 25,000 years ago and drew these pictures that are still there today. Our particular cave had paintings of mammoths, ipex, and deer. In addition, it had a strange painting of a person stabbed with spears, which is very rare and not quite understood. There were also fingerprints that were unexplained, put there 12,000 years ago, well after the rest of the cave paintings. I'm so glad we went to see them. These caves are true treasures in our region.
We also tried to go on a dolmen walk that would have taken us by neolithic structures. We walked and walked down a dirt path in the woods, but never actually got to see dolmens. The lack of signage posed a significant problem. The guidebook let me down and this makes me a bit hesitant to continue to trust it. We shall have to see how it does during the rest of the holiday weekend. Fortunately, on our way, we did get to see beautiful villages and towns and came home to an absolutely amazing dinner last night at the restaurant owned by our neighbor.
Chris got up early today and walked down to the boulangerie for bread and croissants. While he was out, he took spectacular sunrise pictures.
Fortunately, we found out where the boulangerie is on our tour of town yesterday.
This evening we wandered around the village, toured the Pilgram's Garden, and gave our camera a workout. I find it incredible that all these buildings are so well cared for and preserved after all this time. I was a little cold on the walk, although it was warm earlier in the day when the sun was out. We came home just in time to catch the beautiful sunset out our window.
I didn't stay up until midnight on the 31st, but somehow the new year came anyway. I am greatly looking forward to 2008. It should be an adventure. Why? Well, I am pleased to announce to anyone who may not have heard already that Chris and I will be living in France this summer. You read that correctly. Here's a picture of where we'll be.
Pretty cool, right? I'm sorry it's taken me so long to post this month. We've been wrapped up in our summer planning as well as figuring out if/when we want to go through the process of selling our current home and buying a new one. Lot of big, exciting things are going on.
