![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.frenchbychoice.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/09\/cahors-market-fish1.jpg\" "\\"cahors")
<\/a>Fish in the street market in Cahors<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>The French love their flowers<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>How about some fresh vegetables?<\/p><\/div>\n
We elected not to tour Cahors, since it is on the Lot River and we can visit the old city in detail by boat next week.<\/p>\n
We decided to find LeBoat, located east of Cahors in the village of Douelle to see if they had a place we could place our luggage while we wait for our boat to be ready and while we go to the store to provision our boat.\u00c2\u00a0 The office was closed, we saw some boats moored at the dock, including one of the type we will rent. Across the river we saw a lock in operation.\u00c2\u00a0 Many of the bridges over the Lot are vehicles in one direction only and we crisscrossed across the Lot River several times in search of Cahors wineries.<\/p>\n
<\/a>Grape Vines all in row...a common sight in Dordogne<\/p><\/div>\n
We headed toward Puy L’Evique, a medieval town recommended by some Canadians we met in Cahors.\u00c2\u00a0 Long about 1 PM we were in Albas and decided we should find a restaurant to dine, before it ended up being too late.<\/p>\n
<\/a>This was the view from our lunch spot - not bad!<\/p><\/div>\n
We parked in the center of town, walked down the hill to the esplanade and found an open air bistro, in the shade of high stone wall overlooking the river, named L’Esplanande, where we had pizza – both red and white.<\/p>\n
<\/a>A ladybug in the street in Albas<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>Was this a school art project? Very cute!<\/p><\/div>\n
The roadway had been paved with river stone and someone had painted ladybugs out of some of the stones. So cute!<\/p>\n
<\/a>Blue skies over Albas<\/p><\/div>\n
Back in the car, we found a couple of wineries, obviously family run wineries with a host of definitely French characters. Previously we decided Cahors wines were not well suited to our palates, but after further exploration, we decided that their blends were us!\u00c2\u00a0 But, their malbecs were not.\u00c2\u00a0 At the last winery Chateau Grand Chene, Grand-Mere gave us a taste of malbec, we obviously did not care for it, she laughed and she wrinkled up her nose too.\u00c2\u00a0 She did not care for it either. We purchased three bottles of her 2007, which had won the Gold Medal for Independent Wineries. The family has been in the wine business since before 1895.<\/p>\n
<\/a>Along the driveway to a winery, grapes awaiting the harvest<\/p><\/div>\n
Back on the windy roads, we set Frances for home.\u00c2\u00a0 Her directions seemed a little off, and after a little research we figured out why.\u00c2\u00a0 There is more than one Puy Calvel and Frances thought we were headed to the wrong one.\u00c2\u00a0 We arrived home, saw Simon getting out of the pool, parked the car. When we got out of the car, we noticed a hissing sound coming from the left rear tire.\u00c2\u00a0 The guys changed the tire and we called EuropeCar to report the problem — now we had no spare. The woman at EuropeCar replied that a mechanic would be dispatched within an hour! We replied we only need another tire; she said they may bring another vehicle! How’s that for service?\u00c2\u00a0 Within in hour, the mechanic called and said he was in Lemothe-Cassel, a nearby town.\u00c2\u00a0 We told him we would meet him at the intersection of N820 and D13.\u00c2\u00a0 When we got there, he took the tire and said he could not repair it – he would need to replace it. We are to call him in the morning to see if he had a replacement and we could pick it up on our way out.<\/p>\n
Simon offered to let us use his internet access to update the blog and get our e-mail. Mike actually helped him configure his network, Simon had lost his password.\u00c2\u00a0 Clothes on the line were dry, as were the second batch. We ended the day on the rear terrace!<\/p>\n
Powered by<\/em> Qumana<\/a><\/small><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Another bright, clear day in the Dordogne! Hung clothes on the line to dry in the fresh air! Headed out to the weekly market in Cahors! We found figs, peaches, pears, strawberries – which we had a choice grown in … Continue reading