Chambre d'hotes

Train station in Montauban

Yesterday was a long day of travel, starting with the departure from Amboise, with many sad good-byes from our beloved Madame Sylvie. Then it was off to the train station. I took 3 trains to get to the small town of Cahors, finally arriving around 9pm. Tired from traveling and feeling a little homesick for the first time, I spent the evening catching up with friends online.

Quite a bridge.

Today, I got up and wandered around the city, seeing the important sights. The first was Pont Valentre, a medieval bridge with towers that spans the Lot river. I climbed up into one of the towers to get a panorama of the town below. After that, I walked into the main part of town and visited the Cathedral St. Etienne, which was built in the 12th century. While walking towards it, I heard classical piano being played from somewhere. As I turned the corner, I saw a guy playing an upright in the middle of the square! That's serious commitment from a street musician.

Look at him go!

Touristy things done, I wandered up and down the main street window-shopping. I had lunch at a cafe on the Place Leon Gambetta (named for a political figure during the Franco-Prussian War who was born in Cahors): tomato mozzarella salad and pasta carbonara. I usually wouldn't order pasta in France, but the price was right and it was tasty.

After my wanderings were through, I picked up my suitcase from the hotel and walked the short distance to the train station, where William and Rosalie came to pick me up. We ran some errands in town, drove through a few tiny villages and out into the wilderness, finally arriving at the Domaine du Haut Baran. William and Rosalie, a couple from Cincinnati, have been running this country inn for about 15 years. The property is gorgeous, with a terrace, swimming pool, pond, beautiful rooms, a full-service kitchen that turns out great food, and William's guided tours of the area's history, which goes back pretty far: this region, near the Dordogne river, was inhabited by prehistoric man.

My room is the third window over on the top floor.

As far as I'm concerned, I'll be helping out with the diverse tasks it takes to run a small inn: cooking, cleaning, watering plants, doing laundry, running errands, etc. They have some other help as well, but they seem to be pleased to have another set of hands. Since they've had a few cancellations for this month, it should be a little quieter than May, when they were slammed. But since they've been so busy, a few projects have been put on the back burner. I'm sure I'll figure into this somehow, but I won't know more until tomorrow.

Meet Bisou!

Once we arrived, I helped Rosalie water some flowers, after which she and William both took a nap since they had been up very early to drive their most recent guests to the Toulouse airport. I finished up with the plants, which certainly need water in the 90 degree heat, and got settled into my room. Since they told me that pretty much everything in their many refrigerators and extensive pantry was fair game, I went ahead and made myself some dinner: a basil omelette, sauteed garlic potatoes and a green salad. I had a little adventure with the stove, which is an industrial strength behemoth of an appliance and the kind of gas stove you have to light with a match like a Bunsen burner. I was impeded by my fear of blowing the house sky high, but I finally got my burners lit and escaped with all my fingers intact. I ate, cleaned, and put everything away, and skipped back up to my room to catch up on some emails. I'm excited to get a clearer picture of my day-to-day work tomorrow, but for now I will settle in.