Trip to the Southwest of France, May 2004

Paul and Vicki

Just before hitting the road in May, 2004, our friend Taty Rybak came from Argentina and visited us in Paris:

Another friend, Gary Hoover, was around to take this picture of all three of us:

Paul and Vicki then met up with friends Alfonso and Ines Saenz, also from Argentina.  The four of us took the TGV high-speed train from Paris to Bordeaux and arrived safe and sound:

Our priority was wine-tasting, first in the Medoc and then in St. Emillion.  We saw the famous Chateau Figeac in St. Emillion, below, and toured the Pomerol region nearby:

The beautiful town of St. Emillion, dating back to Roman times, lies on a steep hill overlooking vineyards:

After Bordeaux we moved on to the Dordogne, also called the Perigord region, where thousands of English, German, Dutch, and even Americans have retired to in the past decade.  We stayed in Le Bugue, with this view from the picnic roof of our hotel:

Here are more pictures of the Dordogne region:

The most beautiful town in the Dordogne is Sarlat, the capital:

Only an American would wear shorts in France, here's one in Sarlat:

After the Dordogne we went to Condom--presumably where the condom was invented?--near where our Norwegian friend Dag lives.  These were the views from our hotel room:

By this time we were on the "Chemin de St. Jacques de Compostelle," the famous pilgrimage trail that ends up in Santiago de Compostela in northwestern Spain.  In the first picture Alfonso and Ines were on the trail itself:

We ended our trip in Bayonne, the capital of France's Basque country, with its gothic cathedral (what other architecture, in France?), colorful shutters, and hams hanging from the ceiling.

Finally, here are shots of the two of us:

Back to the Paulvic Table of Contents