Saturday, May 12, 2012

The Tourists'Adventure Continues....


One last tour of Gourdon for the tourists on Thursday, the 10th May 2012.


We enjoyed another alfresco lunch at a favorite spot with our tourist friends at "La Promenade Café".


Today the starter was “Tartine Fraicheur” – toasted crusty bread drizzled in olive oil with grilled red & yellow peppers, sun-dried tomatoes topped with delicious goat cream cheese and buffalo mozzarella all sprinkled with herbs, dill and others (secret recipe of Chef Franck)  …sorry no picture, use your imagination and to my family and friends I will recreate my version of this for you sometime!

Main course was Veal Provencal with baked potatoes and salad, and of course we finished our meals with dessert...two of us had the walnut tart, Miss Donna had her favorite, Crème Brule and “Honey” went for Chocolate Mint Ice Cream.



After our two hour lunch, we went to the “Papiers a PÁrt Exposition”…an Art Paper Exhibition at the Cordeliers Church, a decertified church which provides a phenomenal venue for exhibits, concerts, etc.



The interior of this building is probably one of the most beautiful that I have ever seen.


Honey and I have attended three different events at this Church during our stay in Gourdon.
There was the Ancient Book Show and Sale, the Antique Fabric/Linen Sale and now this Paper Art Show.

Next week, the Toulouse Orchestra is playing here and near the end of the month a Latin-American evening is scheduled.
At the Paper Art Exhibition, there were at least two dozen artist’s works on display and for sale…and all the works are made of paper.
Amazing what you can create from paper.



Fly with me
The exhibition runs May 6th- May 13th, 2012...another visit may be in order!






















We then needed a refreshment stop at the Café Divan (a café we have never visited before) which gave us a different view. 




We then visited the “Chapelle du Majou”; a 16th century neo-gothic chapel dedicated to the Virgin Mary.
During the Wars of Religion and the French Revolution this small chapel was damaged, and then restored in the 19th century.




This evening we had a light snack for supper and went to the Promenade for an after dinner drink and a surprise for our visitors - Café Gourmand.

I had mentioned to Miss Donna earlier during their stay that she had experience this at least once before leaving France.
It is not a menu item at our Café, but I had made a special request of the owner and also the chef and they said no problem. 
As you can see from Miss Donna’s expression she enjoyed this very much.



“Café Gourmand” – an assortment of petite desserts…the Chef treated us to... profiteroles with chocolate sauce, apple tart, chantilly and chocolate biscuit, walnut tart, crème brûlé, and an espresso coffee delicious.




>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Friday, 11th May 2012

Taxi, taxi! Is there a taxi to the Train Station?

…the tourists are off to Paris today.

We walked to the station with a stop at the Bellevue Café for coffees.

The walk is all downhill going there, the walk from the station home is more taxing as it is all up hill. The walk is easily done in fifteen minutes under normal circumstances.

When I took this photo of John (below), we were about half way there…and he says to me, “I just had an idea for the title of your next post; you could call it …”Dead Man Walking”

Our dear friend, John had some surgery done on his big toe 5 weeks ago and this has caused him severe difficulty and pain when walking and was of constant concern …”Don’t step on my toe!”. I know his friends, children and grand-children back home will know what I’m talking about and don’t worry we didn’t step on his foot.

We shared "Hugs and Kisses in the French style" on the platform, got them on the train and away they go onto their next adventure to create some special memories in the City of Lights. 





By 5:40PM they will be in Paris, and soon be seeing the sights.

 
Bon voyage!








Friday, May 11, 2012

Farewell Picasso!!!

Wednesday 09th May 2012


 Farewell Picasso!


Today, it was time for Picasso to return home after serving us faithfully for 5 weeks and 3032 kms and we will now get back to daily walking.
Picasso drove us to Cahors and we returned to Gourdon via train.

A lovely day was spent in Cahors, the former capital of the Quercy region.

We strolled through the Market Square and the surrounding lanes and streets.















We also wandered thru the underground parking garage and showed our guests the Roman Amphitheater that was discovered during the construction of the garage.



An al fresco lunch was enjoyed at the Bistro Gambetta in the square overlooking the fountains and commanding statue of Leon Gambetta (the 19th (1838 -1882) century statesman who was born in Cahors, one of the founders of the Third Republic and briefly premier of France *1881-1882). We all enjoyed seafood today ...Risotto with a duo of Salmon - smoked and fresh for Graeme & Donna, I had Dorado fish, and of course, Mr.John was the exception and had Pasta with tomato sauce,Tagliatelle.





On our walk to the train station, we viewed the “Pont Valentre” and enjoyed the views from the fortified bridge which was built in 1308 to keep the English out of Cahors and apparently it worked. 


The bridge is one of Europe’s finest medieval monuments, a wonderful example of military architecture and one of the most beautiful in France.

There is a legend (folklore) that the Devil himself helped finish building the bridge on time. 
The Devil agreed to deliver all the materials necessary in return for the architect’s soul.
When the bridge was nearly complete, the architect told the Devil to bring him water in a sieve.
Not surprisingly, after several attempts he failed and in revenge he broke off the top stone of the central tower and every time the stone was replaced it would fall off.
During the 1879 restoration, the stone was fixed firmly and a carving of the Devil trying to dislodge it was carved into the stone and is still there.









 Farewell Picasso!



Train station in Cahor from whence we returned to Gourdon.