Ted. Maybe it’s because Judy and I are very comfortable with the language but we find ourselves returning to France nearly every year. We love the food, wine and culture and still have long time friends there.
We decided a few years ago that each time we returned to France, we would try a new region. For 2025, we picked the city of Bordeaux and the nearby department (state) of Dordogne; named for the eponymous river that flows through it. The borders of Dordogne encompass much of the ancient province of Perigord so that is another name for this region (yeah - it's a little confusing).
Our plan was to stay in an Airbnb for four weeks in Bordeaux and then take a four day driving tour of Dordogne.
However, two months ago we were informed by our Airbnb host that she had to cancel the reservation that we had made almost a year earlier. Apparently an infestation of termites called for some major work. This close to our arrival meant options were limited. But then we thought, “What might this make possible?”
In the end, we totally changed our itinerary and decided to take a three week roadtrip of the countryside, followed by a week in the city of Bordeaux.
On September 14 we bid a fond farewell to Kaunas, Lithuania and drove to Vilnius for our long trip, via Frankfurt, Germany, to Bordeaux, France. Just before leaving, I messaged my nephew, Chris who lives in Frankfurt to say we would be thinking of him during our 90 minute layover. He immediately messaged back to say that he was dropping off his brother-in-law at the airport that afternoon so we should look for him while we were there. Funny enough, Josh’s gate was near ours so we were able to give our nephew (in-law) a quick hug before we boarded our next flight.
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| What are the odds?? Pretty good according to our daughter! |
After spending the night at an airport hotel in Bordeaux, we picked up our rental car and drove to our first destination; a gîte (holiday cottage) just outside the tiny village of Meyrals.
This community of less than 600 is nestled in part of Dordogne known as the Perigord Noir (Black Perigord). There are four regions of Perigord and each is known by a color. Our corner of Perigord is called "Black" because of the truffles that grow in its lush, dark forests. This area is most famous for the caves, many of which have magnificent prehistoric paintings. Here are a couple of snapshots of our house and our village.
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| Home Sweet Home (for 10 days) |
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| View from our porch |
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| Our little village, about a 30 minute walk through the forest |
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| St Eutrope Church (12th century) |
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| A lauze (stacked stone) roof |
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| Lauze roofs are typical of Perigord Noir |
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| The bar/restaurant/convenience store |
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