Kohunlich

Wednesday the 29th started with a yummy breakfast of coffee and P's delicious baked goods before we got on the road around 11:30am for the hour drive to Kohunlich, a ruined Maya city. The drive was uneventful and we arrived before 1pm at the site. The next threehours was spent wandering over the ruins and enjoying the jungle. The temple of the Masks is not to be missed but neither are the views from the 27 Steps Building.We saw a pair of toucans on the way out which was a treat as they are quite shy. After our trek through Kohunlich, it was off to Chetumal (the big city!) for shopping at a grocery store in the mall! A bit surreal to go from the wilderness of the Yucatan to the bustle of the city so quickly ....

Tacos for breakfast

After a night of catching up with C&P (and a few drinks perhaps), the next day began with a leisurely coffee and excellent Patricia oat cake. We watched the birds and planned out some things to do while here before the four of us headed off to the local roadside taco stand.

It was the best taco breakfast ever. The men each had four, the women three and some coca cola was shared. The tacos were excellent and the bill came to $15.

Adventure in Mexico!!

We decided to do a little something different this year for the annual birthday vacation. Christos brought me to Mexico. We came down to see friends that have been living down here for the past few years - Crispin and Patricia (also known as C&P). we arrived in Cancun on Monday nad spent Monday night at a hotel close to the airport. On Tuesday we got up early, picked up our rental car and began the four hour trek to Bacalar..


View Larger Map


We arrived in good time after buying some 'speedbump' Pina and oranges roadside from a group of Mexican women.
The weather is perfect and we settle in quickly to the slower pace of life in a little Mexican town..

Stay tuned, more adventures to come.

Sancerre and Owls

From the hilly Auvergne we drove north to the plains of the Eastern Loire. We stayed the first night at a charming B&B near chateau La Verrerie and the second night in Sancerre itself. The weather was not co-operating at this point with intermittent rain and cool temperatures. After dinner the first night at a small commune style restaurant (only one menu choice; take it or leave it!) we settled in to our room when Lisa suddenly noticed movement at the window. Peeking through the curtains she spied two Barn Owls perched on the window ledge. The next hour was spent watching them fly through the night and perch on the window/porch or barn across from our room. What nutters us city slickers are for wildlife!

The next day it was off to Sancerre with a quick stop at a local chateau (Henry IV of France spent a night in it according to our guide) and visit to marketday at a small town (where we purchased an entire grilled chicken!). We wandered the town of Sancerre for a few hours under cloudy skies. We tried a few wines, buying two bottles, but at this point we were a bit "wined out" so when we discovered a Pub that served Guinness we stopped for a pint, returning after dinner for more pints of the same and some watching of the local Saturday night action. The next morning it was off to our next and last European destination ... Paris.

Chateau De La Vigne - Snails and Ruins

We drove from Ferme des Soulies up to Chateau de La Vigne in the Auvergne near the pretty town of Salers. After a stop in Bergerac we arrived at the chateau in the early evening and were a little surprised as to the actual state of the chateau (a little rundown) versus the appearance on the website (shiny and new!). The couple that ran the chateau were also a bit odd, while the lord of the manor was quite nice, convivial and engaging there was just something a bit off about his wife. Nevertheless we put our misgivings behind us and decided to stay three nights. The first night we had dinner at the chateau with two other guests; food was decent but nothing overwhelming. Our first full day was a bit of a waste, we visited the town of Salers but it was a cold and rainy day so after lunch we retreated to our room, lit a fire and watched TV on the computer all night as it rained. The next day the weather improved and we went for a visit to a snail farm which was awesome. We learned all the facts about snails (such as their two day cycle of mating and that they are hermaphroditic) and then bought more snail victuals than should be permitted! Lunch was at the snail farmer's recommendation; a tiny restaurant up on a hill overlooking the valley; nothing fancy but a real locals place and the beef was the local Red Salers beef; suffice it to say this lunch happened to be the best steak we had all trip! After lunch we drove to the ruins of Branzac castle where we puttered about for a bit before returning to the chateau for our last night ... although the Louis XV room we had was a bit odd, for some reason we had the best sleeps of the entire trip at Chateau de La Vigne; whether it was the bed or the bordeaux we were slurping back is hard to know!

Sylvie and Ferme de Soulies!

Our next stop was a farmhouse in the middle of nowhere! (Actually close to the town of Casteljaloux) The farmhouse also had a pottery studio; Sylvie was a potter. They had two dogs, (Nene and …), three black horses, two cats and three chickens that wondered freely around the farm. The farmhouse was fabulously decorated and our room was great. Saturday night the B&B was full but we were the only ones for the rest of our time. Our hostess guided us to a good restaurant for dinner and afterward we took a walk around the little town. We came upon the town pub and the live music of “L’histoire d’a”, a local band. Their families – the wives singing along and the kids all dancing and sporting band t-shirts – made up most of the crowd. We really enjoyed the performance!

The next day at breakfast it became apparent that Sylvie was fabulous!! She served carrot/orange juice and lots of home baked goodies. Everything was organic and tasted great. We had lunch in town and then lazed around for the rest of the day, feeding horses and chasing the chickens. Another great meal on Sunday night in the cave of a castle where we were one of three tables in the whole place. Surprisingly, the service was fantastic!

Monday was pottery day!! Sylvie taught us both to do pottery, it was a long and tiring day. Lisa loved it – working the clay on the pottery wheel was much harder than it looked and managed to complete two pieces. Ctos had a harder time getting the hang of it but managed to create a fabulous bowl. That night we ate dinner with Sylvie. She was alone most of the time at the farmhouse as her husband worked on an island off Spain and was rarely home. Dinner was great – Sylvie took great care in the food she prepared.

On Tuesday it was time to leave, after a brief visit to the town market where a fine selection of veggies and veal stew were acquired. It was kind of sad to say bye to Sylvie, we enjoyed her company so much and I think she enjoyed ours. But… another adventure awaited us!

St. Emilion and beyond…..

We ventured from Camarsac to St. Emilion to explore more of Bordeaux. St. Emilion was nice but very touristy and pricey. We climbed the tower in the middle of the town square. The tower was quite high and the stairs skinny and worn. Probably why there was no one else in the tower! The view form the tower was amazing in all directions.

We decided to leave the actual village in search of a better deal on wine. It was Saturday so many of the wine chateaux were closed but we managed to find one. The proprietor was hosting a tasting for others and didn’t have much time for us. However, he had a young American that was working at the winery who was helpful and walked us through a small tasting. We bought only one bottle – tres cher!

We drove through a smaller town called “Montagne de St. Emilion” and stopped the only person we saw to ask if she knew of any wineries. She said she’d make a call. After the call she gave us very clear directions to a winery that we should visit. Turned out the winery belonged to her parents! They were absolutely delightful and were trilled to have us visit. We did a tasting and then they gave us a tour. Their vineyards were very small, only about 4Ha. We bought a few bottles and they gave us a bottle and a wine opener to remember them by. The wine wasn’t the best so we decided we would drink it on our travels. (We are currently drinking the last bottle!)



We had a long drive ahead of us so we said goodbye and headed to the countryside!