The Dordogne - St. Andre D'Allas and La Maison Grise

Gentle Friends I've been organizing my thoughts, so scattered, and snaps, so many, into coherent thoughtful posts - hopefully.  At this point it looks like there could be quite a few travel log postings - just a heads up for those not interested in my trip report......  do remember as I go along if you have any questions about anything please feel free to ask.  Here goes......

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I left on a Friday for my overnight flight to Paris connecting to Bordeaux.  I did the usual thing and scheduled a Van pick up with Super Shuttle.  Always dependable and really quite quick.  After I had checked in and dropped off my bag and was sort of wandering around the airport I had a couple of hours until the plane left so I found a cafe and .......

... bought a magazine, coffee and a Pain au chocolate.  The boarding gate for my Air France flight was just downstairs from were I was sitting so I didn't have far to go when they finally called for boarding - and the herds of folks flocked to the Gate.  I was way back in the plane in what I call "slave class" but I had a bulk head seat so I had plenty of leg room. 

 The flight was non-eventful - which is a good thing - and we got to Paris.  I had only a short window of time to make my connecting flight to Bordeaux and after making my way through CDG and two checkpoints of security I arrived at my next gate as they were boarding the flight so no wait time there.  This was another non-event flight.  I met up with my friends in the Bordeaux Airport who were there to pick me up.  The drive from Bordeaux to St. Andre D'Allas took a couple of hours, but eventually we made it back to the house they had rented.....  La Maison Grise.  Built in the 18th century and restored by the current owners, it was a great jumping off point for the whole region - we were within and hours drive or less of all the major things to do and see.........

... a shot of the house from the street...

... the front gate...  here a some shots of the house and views....

... the Tower from the orchard....

... a better view of the tower...

... at the foot of the tower is the fish/frog pond into which two of the three springs on the property flow.....

... a shot from the top of the tower looking towards the village...

... the lower patio looking out over the landscape....

.... the covered patio were we ate dinner with a view of the pool....

... my first dinner in France, grilled Pigeon and Pommes de Terre Sarladaises - potatoes roasted in goose fat and garlic - with a green salad.   The next morning I got up early and took a couple of snaps from my bedroom windows....

and this was my wake up view...... quiet as all get out with light cool breezes.......

.....  while we were there the weather was bright and sunny, and in the middle of a heat spell.  Everyday got into the low 90's, and since I'm used to the high 60's here in SF,  I was a sweaty mess for the whole trip, but I persevered and was just resigned to being hot and sweaty.  But the early mornings were lovely and cool.

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There you go sports fans, setting the tone for the rest of the Travel Posts.  

Thanks for stopping by, more to come!!

Take care,

edgar