Cows are now in Bordeaux! And miscellaneous sightings

I guess people never tire of seeing the cows!









I've noticed a lot of man purses over here. This is a man with his wife and child so don't jump to any conclusions. :)



A fabulous sunset over the bay in Arcachon.


Although my favorite is still from our second day when I captured the sun setting over the Atlantic so I will post it one more time.




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Bordeaux II

Bordeaux is just a beautiful city! Here are a few sights!



Grosse Cloche from 1500's






Altar at a small Dominican church, St. Paul










At 6:30 we met Ya-Y-ette Rachel Greenspan (Bonnie's youngest daughter) for a drink. Dennis said he couldn't turn his head for the picture and then just like that became deathly ill. Fortunately Rach has been studying French (to go along with her fluent Spanish) and was able to translate, get us an ambulance, etc. (The rest of that story is blogged below in a previous post)


Rachel and Baldy




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Bordeaux I

After our tour of Haut Brion we headed for the old center of Bordeaux. What a beautiful
City! First we had lunch in a Morrocan restaurant adjacent to the world heritage church and bell tower of St. Michel and we waited for it to reopen at 2:00 most of France closes from 12-2 as restaurants then open.










Only the birthday boy Bob ventured up the 217 steps for a world class view. Dennis and I pleaded height fear and Joan was still really bruised from a bad spill on Tuesday. (the laundromat incident - another story ).







Bob and his 75 birthday candles!




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Biarritz & San Sebastion (Spain)

Last Thursday we took a long day trip and went south from Arcachon to Biarritz. We drove through Bayonne and will spend more time there next time. :). We went on to Biarritz, the neighboring Atlantic coast playground for the rich and famous. It is really amazing. Everything oriented to the ocean. Casinos, ritzy hotels, charming winding streets and topless beaches. How French. ;). This is not a good picture. The good ones are on my higher zoom camera and must wait until I get home and can load into my Mac.
Maybe you can see that in addition to no top she is enjoying a cigarette. Between excess tanning and the chain smoking we observed it is probably safe to say she is not a health nut. ;)




Baldy was along and enjoyed his mussels called les moules in French.






A narrow street with the ocean in view. Joan and Dennis are ahead.

We also stopped in St. Jean de le Luz and considered it a little gem. The port there was darling.



We then drove south and crossed the border into Spain. For all of our travels, neither Dennis nor I have ever been there so now know we must return. Joan and Bob had been there before. It is a VERY cosmopolitan city. The pedestrian walkways and ritzy shopping were very Parisian. The views of the ocean and bay were gorgeous. I tried to remember I would be blogging and take some iPhone pics everywhere we went but apparently got going with my new 10x zoom Sony and forgot. :(

Baldy did acquire a new outfit from Basque country though. Adorable, eh?




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Wine country

Last Wednesday we drove north up the wine road as far as Paulliac where the Lafitte and Mouton Rothschild wineries are located. Unable to get reservations to tour even a couple of months in advance and the actual chateaus are being renovated. However we did two great tours and the views along the way were spectacular. First was Chateau Palmer. Fabulous wine from Margaux appellation. They gave us beautiful books and no charge for the tasting as is usual in Napa. We also ate in a beautiful old house overlooking vineyards for a delightful tasting of local wines and cheeses.







Bob and Joan have a special interest in the vineyards and tours because of they have their own vineyard and make their own wine, Cheval, on their farm in Waynesville.







Joan thought this all purpose vineyard machine might be the perfect birthday gift for Bob the next day. it even said "Bob".




Next we stopped at Chateau Aney for a taste and tour of a Medoc. Again great tour and wine although reasonably priced and not the qualilty of the Palmer.








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Arcachon

As many of you may have heard Dennis became very ill in Bordeaux Friday. Was taken by squad to the emergency room at the University of Bordeaux Hospital. Was eventually diagnosed with Vestibular Neuritis (thought to be some sort of viral illness).

http://www.tchain.com/otoneurology/disorders/unilat/vneurit.html

Was in hospital for 4 days and released yesterday. Excellent care and a surprising amount of English spoken by the medical staff although I surely could have used my French Canadian friends along on this trip! He is not allowed to travel until Friday so we have extended our trip by 3 days and are thankful we have medivac insurance! They are sending him (and me as his escort) home first class because he must be reclining.

We are glad we lit candles all over Southwest France and visited Lourdes or his outcome may not have been so positive!

While he does his R&R in the cottage here in Arcachon I thought I'd catch up on some of the travel blogs I didn't do before he got sick. Our friends Bob & Joan, who went home as scheduled yesterday, did a house swap for this cottage and the owners were very gracious in letting us extend.

The sand scuptures here are totally different than in PV. much smaller but using color and a different effect entirely.



















At home in the cottage. It rained most of the day. We just watched "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" complete with an almost perfect French Regis look-alike! Trying to figure out the questions in French.




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Gavirnie and the Pyrenees

After Lourdes we decided we didnt want to miss the Pyrenees National Park. It is only 35 miles away. Only. It is up and around the mountains and took two hours up! Although only one hour down. The view was so spectacular in Gavirnie we thought it well worth it.



On the way up we saw a gorgeous and fast moving rapids.
I have a video of it but not sure if I can load it from my iPhone. We found it because Dennis couldn't wait for a WC.....we pulled off so he could do his thing, not knowing this stream was there. Meanwhile before he could finish a tour bus pulled over coming from the opposite direction to point out the rapids and ended up pointing out Dennis instead! They all waved. ;).




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My iPhone