Fortnight in France -- Partie Trois

Day nine of our tour started in Carcassonne, which is a fascinating ancient fortified city. with two outer walls with 53 tours and barbicans to protect it.

From there we headed to Lourdes in time for the first rain of the trip. While many of our fellow travelers attended the nightly candlelight procession, we availed ourselves of a pre-dinner drink instead. The next morning, many of our fellow travelers went to a grotto for blessings. We used that time for an extra hour or so of sleep. We have no photos of either of these events.

After leaving Lourdes, we traveled to the Bordeaux region. The scenery was stunning. You can't imagine the landscape filled with grape vines as far as the eye can see. Our tour manager told us that while the entire state of California has 2100 wine producers. the Bordeaux region has 6800. We had a nice stop in the town of St. Emilion and partook of yet another wine tasting. During our free time, we explored an ancient monastery with cool modern murals and enjoyed the scenery.

Next stop: Bordeaux. Both Will and I really loved this city. It is just beautiful and quite walkable. We had a group dinner in town and then a walking tour the next day. Since we had Saturday afternoon free, Will and I had lunch with Suzanne and Philippe Boudeau who live nearby. Suzanne was an exchange student who lived with my family back in 1965-66. We are so fortunate to still be a family, even after all these years. Still giggling at shared memories.

That evening, our group had a winery tour and farm to table dinner in the countryside outside Bordeaux. We had a great time at this winery which has been in one family for five generations and is currently managed by a woman.

The following morning, we went to Cognac. And, yes, the tour included a tasting. Then we were off the the Loire valley. We spent a few hours at Chateau Chenanceau, which spans the River Cher and is surrounded by gardens. The floral arrangements inside the chateau were stunning. This was the first place that felt like there were a lot of visitors. It got a little crowded inside and I was more comfortable outside. There were several balloons flying as we left.

On our last day, before heading back to Paris, our tour manager was able to get us some extra time to visit Chambord, another Loire Valley chateau. It was nice to be there early and have the place basically to ourselves. Beautiful.

After a festive dinner in Paris (Latin Quarter) with our group, we enjoyed one last sparkling and headed home the next day. In the Uber on the way to the airport, we went past the Arc de Triomphe one more time. By now the Christo wrapping was nearly complete. I got a bad picture of it out of a rainy car window so I have also included a better photo of the finished product. It opened to the public last Saturday and will be open until early October. It used 270,000 yards of fabric. I loved it and think it illustrates Paris's love of art. There is a good article about it in the Washington Post today (September 21).

One small note on our arrival back in Portugal. As we neared our building on the way back from the airport, we both commented on how we really felt like this is our home. It's a good feeling.