We spent three nights in the Dordogne, specifically sleeping in the town of Beynac-et-Cazernac. The region is named after the Dordogne River which runs through it. We stayed at this great place called Le Petitee Versailles which, I’m pretty, sure we had the best room – when the large, wooden shutters were open, we had an excellent view of the countryside. Add to that the fact that one of the owners, Francoise, is an amazing chef and we’ll be going back there anytime we plan to be within 100 miles of the place. We’ll be talking about her breakfasts for years! (And, she made a beet soup that I actually ate, if you can believe it.) But, as usual, I forgot to take a photo of where we stayed. I blame it on the good food and the company of fellow English-speaking travelers at our hotel ( including Andrew, one of the best storytellers ever, and his very patient English, French, Italian, and Portugese-speaking wife).

Outside of the hotel, we also enjoyed the quiet calm of the region. After the insanity of Barcelona, we were happy to have a place without a long list of must-see sights, though we did have a general “see as many of the protecting castles as possible” mantra.

First, there’s Beynac, where we stayed and ate dinner our first night in town.

A view of the Dordogne, provided to us on a visit to Castle Nord.

I don’t really have photos of the castle itself, so here’s one of a group of French schoolchildren on a field trip. Never once did a fieldtrip include a castle visit when I was growing up!

The castle had its own little medeival village, mostly set up now to feed tourists and give them places to buy sourveniers. Visiting out of season meant only the museum shop and a single cafe was open.

Following a tip from our guidebook, we stopped just outside of town and got this excellent view of the Montefort Castle.

The largest town in the area was Sarlat, which we visited several times to have meals and attend the town-engulfing Saturday market.

I really enjoyed sitting on the Sarlat town square and people-watching.

We decided to partake in a super-touristy but much recommended boat tour down the Dordogne. I’m quite glad we did. This woman provided the French-speaking visitors an audio commentary where non-French speakers had an excellent audioguide provided via headphones.

Where our tour left from, La Roque-Gigac. The whole town is composed of a single street, facing the river.

We also visited Chateau Beynac but no photos were allowed (quite sad, really, it was my favorite castle – it felt very castle-like with no fancy exhibits).

I’d really recommend a visit to the Dordogne. It’s similar to Provence in its small town charm and yet not as touristed and absolutely beautiful. And, hey, it’s in the Perigord, so you’re bound to find menus full of duck and goose-based dishes like duck confit and foi gras (but no corn, locals think it’s crazy to give humans duck and goose-feed).

After visited Barcelona, we hopped on one of those discount European airlines to fly to Bordeaux where we (after some confusion about where to go) picked up a rental car that we kept our entire time in France. We wanted to stop on the way to our destination, Beynac, to visit the small, wine-loving Bordeaux town of St. Emilion.

Too bad our GPS decided, despite having European maps, that it didn’t want to accept addresses. Plus, the fact that you’re never quite sure how to enter in a town name like St. Emilion. Was it Sainte or Saint or St or St.? Also, Emilion has that pesky accent (which I am too lazy to type here) over it’s E. How exactly do you make that accent on an American GPS keyboard? Do you switch into French?

We gave up on visiting St. Emilion. We typed in the GPS coordinates for our hotel in Beynac (thank heavens they were provided) and went on our way. Then, we saw this little sign pointing the way to St. Emilion and decided to follow it. After a nerve-wrenching parking job involving a steep incline with an Aston Martin parked behind us and a tiny parking space, we went off to enjoy the town.

It had a lot in common with many of the towns we’d visit in France: small, on the side of a hill, and filled with shops for tourists.

We took the little walking tour in our guidebook which lead us to an overlook where we saw some amazing views. This one’s of an area just off the town square.

I really enjoyed the small, side lanes.

We went into a randomly selected wine store where we tasted two reds, only one of which we could afford and picked up a bottle to enjoy later in our trip. The gentleman pouring spoke perfect English and was excited to ask us for recommendations for wineries to visit in California. We gave him the name of three favorites near Santa Barbara (Lucas and Lewellan, Palmina, Brewer Clifton).

I’m glad that little sign pointed us the way. It provided a great introduction to small town France (and gave Matt a driving break in the middle of the 3 or so hour trip).

This was my first time visiting Spain although, from what I’m told, Barcelona is almost nothing like the rest of Spain, mostly due to the cultural differences that arise with its location in Catalonia. Although Spanish is spoken and all signs are in Spanish, you’re much more likely to hear (and read) Catalan. Just confusing enough for someone like me who took three years of high school Spanish though, really, all you had to know was that it’s “gracia” not “gracias” and “por fa” not “por favor.”

Anyway, we really only went to Barcelona, if I’m honest, because it was one of the cheaper places to fly into. We arrived at 10 am on Friday and left early Sunday morning. Although we weren’t there for very long, we tried to squeeze in as much of the culture as possible. We ate pinxtos which are Basque-style tapas where you pay by the toothpick (used to hold the topping onto little pieces of bread) and traditional tapas, drank cava, visited the Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya (showing off frescos taken from small village churches in the Pyraneas), and tried churros con chocolate (yes, you really can stand the churro up in it, its’ so thick) – none of which I took photos of so you’ll just have to trust me.

Our first touristy visit was to the cathedral, a gothic style masterpiece with buttresses on the inside because it allowed more room for side chapels – decorated by the wealthy trying to earn God’s favor and, you know, show off a little.

This chanedeliers amused me, probably first lit by canles but now electrified.

The choir was beautiful and I almost missed seeing it because I wasn’t paying attention to the signs. They’re working to restore the outside but, from what I could see through the scaffolding, it was equally ornate.

I really like the combination of the cold stone and the bright stained glass.

After the church, Matt took a random turn down a dark alley and I thought, for the first time ever, he was lost. But, no, there was a purpose. A tiny little sign gave me a clue to our destination.

See, inside of a normal, modern apartment building are these Roman columns. Three of them, standing where they always were (though one was reconstructed).

Made me wonder if the ammenities list on the apartment says, “Column View!” Probably tack on an extra 200 Euros for the privelege of having strangers walk through your courtyard.

Then, there was my absolute favorite part of our Barcelona visit: the Sagara Familia. Designed by Gaudi (after taking over for another designer), the place is a site to behold. Started in the mid-1800s and not expected to be complete until 2030, it’s a forever construction site. They’ve actually only been holding mass for less than a year. I completely forgot to take photos of the outside but, trust me, it’s amazing. Each entrance very different from the others – only the one completed side entrance has what our book described as Guadi’s “cake in the rain” appearance.

When finished, there will be stained glass EVERYWHERE. Beautiful, modern stained glass.

Then there was the building itself, based on some sort of a node and honeycomb idea that was explained in an exhibit which only an architectural student could understand. I just know I liked it.

A better view of the columns.

All in all, I’m glad we visited Barcelona. It was a bit touristy (though everything was targeted to Spanish day-trippers, not people like us) and had a sort of gritty feeling to it. I can see why others love it but I think I’m fine holding off another visit until the Sagara Familia is complete.

Things have been quiet around here but, for once, I have a reason! A real one! See, we were out of country from 30 September though 17 October. This was my big woohoo-you’re-graduating trip. It was planned in February and gave me something to cling to when I wanted to quiet my senior design project. And, later, it gave me something to look forward to after the stress of starting a new job and, you know, buying a house.

Anyway..over the next 10 days, there will be a post a day auto-publishing itself about a place that we visited during our time away (plus, a bonus post on the 26th because I forgot about a post when scheduling them). Every day, around 6 pm, the next one should appear. If you don’t care about my travels, just came back in November and things should be back to my usually scheduled programming. (Oh, and you’ll see all of these photos again on the scrapbooking blog once they get put onto pages – but that’ll be at least a month away.)

In case you’re curious about where we specifically visited, here’s the highlights:

• Barcelona, Spain
• Dordogne region of France (stayed in Beynac-et-Cazernac)
• Carcasonne, France
• Provence / Luberon / Cote de Rhone rgions of France (stayed in L’Isle-sur-la-Sorgue)
• Venice, Italy
• Florence, Italy
• Milan, Italy

And some photo spoilers, I guess you could call them.

This weekend was the first of what we’re all hoping is a new tradition of an annual family reunion of Matt’s family. Nearly 50 Aunts, Uncles, Cousins, and Cousin’s kids (plus his grandfather) gathered at the “big house” in Deleware for three days of food, talking, board games, and more food. I could say all sorts of things about this weekend but, instead, I’ll just leave with a few snapshots.

Merritt Island is, well, an island located just off the East Coast of Florida from approximately Melbourne to Tittusville. On the very northern part of the island, you’ll find the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge. Although I grew up pretty close by, I’d never even heard of the refuge. Thankfully, my parents knew all about it and took us there our second full day in town.

We chose to do the wildlife drive which takes about 30 minutes if you don’t stop. We, of course, made lots of stops so it took about an hour overall. You see all sorts of different habitats and animals, guided along by a free guide available at the trail head.