The following is a sort of ‘photo journal’ of the past few days including some views from my running route, the town of Les-Eyzies at night, and out gathering rocks (minus views of the rocks. We’re sick of rocks, right?).
Sadly, I have been confined to an elliptical for the past year due to a hamstring injury. In the past couple of weeks though I have been able to get out running again, spurred in large part by the amazing views I get to enjoy along the way. I’m slowly making my way back up to my old running distances/times, and find nothing more inspiring than running along the Vezere river, past a number of rock cliffs and caves, horses, chickens, ducks, and random cats creeping around in ancient cemeteries. The photos below were taken on a walk with Alex to show him around the areas I had discovered.
Nothing is more enjoyable than walking around the town of Les-Eyzies at night after a fine dinner at home. The street lamps, the sound of the river rushing behind you, and the caves looming overhead make for quite a romantic scene.
On our multiple journeys across the country of France we have happened upon many exciting sites. The most recent trek out into the wilderness passed through the town of Brive where signs for the Musee de Chocolat were advertised extensively. I of course requested we stop. Unfortunately the museum portion of the shop was closed for the day, but we were still able to enjoy samples, view the “Chocolate Mona Lisa”, and purchase tasty treats (almost as good as Nichols in Gloucester) for the remaining duration of our stay. This is a view of the inside of the chocolate shop.
Our latest trek to obtain rock was particularly muddy. It had been raining for several days straight, and was sprinkling on and off while we were out and about. To make matters worse, several of the best flint sources happened to be in a river. Below are some lovely shots of Alex mucking about trying to get rocks.
In addition to keeping my eyes peeled for flint, I’ve also been taking note of the wildlife around the area. Sadly, I’ve yet to capture any of the 30 odd cats we’ve seen roaming about, but I was able to get pictures of some other animals recently.
This is a picture of a goat standing on a horse. Alex did not believe me when I screamed "It's a goat on a horse, and we had to turn around for him to confirm it"
The story behind this is that we thought it was a beautiful bird in the distance, and used the camera to zoom and take a picture of the magnificent creature. Upon inspection of the photo last night, however, we realized it has a seam down the middle, and has no legs....
Our quest for the perfect house has been further complicated by the discovery of these two castles. Alex likes the spire in the first while I am partial to the second.
Finally, at the end of a long, muddy day, nothing is as beautiful to two weary travelers (at 10pm when every other restaurant/store/market is closed) than the Pizza Kiosk and the Chevre pizza (that’s chevre cheese, mozzarella, and olives).
In other French news, there appears to be a cheese thief amongst us. Our precious Epoisses had been butchered, and several significant wedges had been demolished. Further, our salami had actually been opened, eaten, and hidden in another area of the fridge. Our market cheese had also been hacked into (and hidden), and my yogurt had also been eaten! Alex has posted a sign in the fridge which reads "Manger pas" (or Don't eat) with a picture of skull and cross bones next to it. He insists this will deter future cheese thievery. I insist it will only provoke the cheese thief. We will keep you abreast of all breaking cheese thefts.
