Pâtisserie

Having a pastry shop on the ground floor of one's building is a dangerous thing!

Sunday Walk

Sunday Book Market along the Saône

The Saône

Pedestrian Bridge

Mural

Gardens in the Courtyard of a former Convent

Cafe

Bang!

Good Morning Lyon

Breakfast on the Terrace

Gendarmerie

We had our first visit to the police station because somehow someone used Jorg's French debit card for online purchases at a video game store in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Our bank requires a police report, so the first trick was finding a time when the Gendarmerie was open and would take reports. After trying two different villages, we found an open station and luckily Jorg's French is good enough to carry out the conversation. Now on to trying to resolve the issue of the German tourists who somehow got ahold of our temporary insurance papers and are claiming an accident that never occurred...

A Vendre

The village bar/hotel is still for sale.  Two bedroom hotel with an attached two bedroom house and large barn with loft AND a class IV liquor license.  All for €140,000.  You even get the nice grapevine over the entrance!

  

Vide-grenier Finds - Saint Vincent de Connezac

Hit a couple of flea markets this weekend and made a few finds for the house.

Red metal umbrella holder

Sketches from the 1930's for the new bathroom

Loto or Bingo-like game

Max et Lili books to help with French acquisition.

German gondola

Thursdays in Verteillac

Thursday nights in Verteillac are market dinner nights during the month of August. They fill the square with rows of tables and local vendors and producers set up around the outside providing various options to make a meal (an idea that predates food trucks). We ended up with steaks topped with a big slab of foie gras, fresh crudités plate, and fries + a €5 bottle of wine from a local vineyard. They have rides and games for the kids and everyone from the surrounding villages comes in for the evening - we ran in to our neighbors, our banker, my swim coach, and just about everyone else we have met in the area.

Eating cotton candy while waiting in line for ice cream

Laundry

We had two evergreens cut down that had taken over the backyard.  I then cleared out a lot of overgrown brush so we can get some sunshine on the laundry (if the sun will only come out).  I don't know if any of the nectarines are going to become ripe before the birds and other critters eat them.

Guarding the Alley

Preparing for Fall

Kindling Collected

Brocante de Berneuil

Sunday is Brocante (flea market) day in many villages and towns across France. I drove to Berneuil, which is about 40 minutes west of Vendoire to check out their Brocante. It is in the Poitou-Charentes appellation, so instead of the fields of sunflowers and corn you find in our area, you begin to see rows and rows of vineyards. The weather was unpredictable, as I have found it often is in France, and after about an hour the dark clouds came in and a downpour started just before I got back to the car.

I also found a sure-fire way not to over-spend at the flea markets; don't cary cash. I assumed that there would be an ATM somewhere in the village, but forgot that you have to go to a "big town" to find an ATM (for my Big Sandy friends, this would be like no ATM in Big Sandy and you had to drive to Gladewater every time you wanted cash). Unfortunately, €10 doesn't go very far.

Vineyards and the village church

Wine barrels

Jörg is a fan of old stereos, so this one is for him

Keeping watch

I almost bought this for Crillon - Google translation: "weird dog"

Evening light back in Vendoire

Crillon getting some exercise

My favorite spot in the world right now

Foie Gras and Truffles

I guess I'll be back between November and March

Shed

After the morning market it was time to work on cleaning out the shed, which it looks like had not been done in a few decades.  There were thick cobwebs and other things I could not identify that had to be knocked out of the rafters.  The job is not done, but it was a good start.

Astarix standing guard at the street entrance.  Crillon has to stay inside, because he likes to terrorize the neighbors' geese and chickens whenever he gets out.

Appropriately names mouse trap found under layers of dirt.

Collapsable camp seat found in the rafters (after it has been scrubbed clean of thick cobwebs and grime)

Tasty!

But they do have more unusual flavors of chips than in The States.

Why???

Why is it the supermarkets in France have 12 different sizes of Nutella and not one jar of peanut butter?

Marche´ in Riberac

Friday is market day in Riberac (about 30 minutes form Vendoire) and it is one of the largest markets in The Dordogne.  Below is just a sample of the offerings.

Hôtel de Ville in Riberac

So many bread choices!

Fleurs

Poivrons

Saucissons

Peachy pêche vendeur

Savon

Ail

Macarons