This is q French keyboqrd qnd I qlreqdy lost 5 minutes off my ti,e while the guy tried to change it so here goes Larry qnd I took q cqnoe qll by ourselves dozn the Dordogne River for 7 Kilometers qnd it zqs greqt! Ze zent pqst cqstles qnd under bridges qnd Larry did all the paddling but the river runs about 3 mph anyzqy: 
The mqn ze renbted from came qnd picked us up at the right spot 2 hours later and drove us bqck to our car: Ze even hqd q conversqtion qll in French becaue he did not speak English: Dad zqs proud of me that is already the highhlight of our trip
The mqn ze renbted from came qnd picked us up at the right spot 2 hours later and drove us bqck to our car: Ze even hqd q conversqtion qll in French becaue he did not speak English: Dad zqs proud of me that is already the highhlight of our trip
We have eaten a lot of typical French food; Kim will knoz zhat this stuff is. We ate Foie Gras which is goose liver pate like liverwurst but milder, Dad did not like it at all .I thought it zas OK but very expensive and not worth all the hoopla: We also ate cassoulet, which is the big specialty around here: It's just zhite bean soup zith a chunk of sausage in it and a drumstick of goose leg; Nothing special; my bean soup is better; Ze also had Croque Monsieur which is an inside out ham qnd cheese sandzich and I LOVE IT: We had crepes for Heidi' banana and nutella made by the little guy right on the street and I loved it; We had soft boiled eggs for breakfast and It turned my stompach because it zqs runny; Goose is on my bad list; Chocolate is on my good list. Dad mostly likes bread and their real butter and jam; Ze live on bread and cheese.
After the canoe trip ze wound our way to the top of an old castle we saw from the river and had dinner at a little place overlooking the castle and the sun was setting over the Dordogne and all the grass is green so lovely: The picture is the little spot where we ate up by the castle. It is daffodil season in the Dordogne, but noz ze are further south at Carcassonne and it is lilac season and warmer here.
Yesterday was Sunday and ze drove dozn the autoroute to here and it cost us 20 dollars in tolls but is SO MUCH FASTER than taking the side roads like we did the first day!
We have been follozing the GPS for the most part and it has really saved us: It takes us all these zierd zays but ze actually end up in the right place: Dad got into the guts of it and changed the settings so now we can have U turns; and now ze like it better. "When possible, make a U turn" is lots better than going 20 miles out of the way! We have laughed and laughed at the crazy tiny little roads it takes us. I don;t think it can tell if a road is big or little.
Carcassone is a fortress city started in the 1200s; It has 2 walls around it; The inner zall is left from the Romans; Restored in the 1800s. If you remember the movie Robin Hood Prince of Thieves; it was filmed here.Amazing fact: during the 100 years war; there were over 1000 castles built along the Dordogne river. It zqs the dividing line betzeen the Catholic French on the north and the Protestant English on the South.
Most of them are gone, a few are restored, and the rest are in ruins; Dad and I have done a lot of thinking about how we are now where people lived and loved 1000 years ago; Its amazing!
We are staying in a tiny little room on the 3rd floor of a medieval building inside the zalls. It,s so cute! Completely decorated in golden yellow, good thing I like yelloz or I'd be sick. It's all yellow and blue prints of Provence and has yellow and blue dishes and yellow and zhite striped towels and the doors are bright yellow and so are the walls and the sheets too§ It's only 50 euros a night, by far the cheapest room inside the fortress.
The castle walls are lighted at night and ze zalked almost the whole perimeter 2 miles betzeen the walls last night at 10 PM and it zas really magical. They never had water in the moats but they did have jousting tournaments there on a regular basis.
That's Larry going through one of the gates. I will try to send you to a link so you can see what this place looks like: http://www.francemonthly.com/
There is a canal dug in the 1600s all the zay across France from the Atlantic to the Mediterranean; Today is Monday, which means everything is closed today: We wanted to rent a bicycle and ride along the Canal du Midi but the only bike rental place is closed and so are the tour boats. Dad and I found the canal, itùs right by a big supermarket Intermarche but hidden by trees and a tiny road from the modern world. Dad says the French donùt knoz hoz bad it stinks in here because of the fish market: Ze bought hot fresh baguettes and cheese and yoghurt and zent and went and parked by the canal and had the world to ourselves:
We walked along the canal and I found 2 green bottles and then a yacht came along and ze got to see the locks open and raise up the boat; I had purchased a box of 4 Magnum ice cream bars and ze couldnùt eqt them all so I tried to give them to a little boy zho lived in the house that runs the locks but he would not accept my ice cream. So ze just ate the chocolate off and threz the rest away: The sun came out and the zorld is glorious when it is sunny;
Tomorroz ze drive to Barcelona; Maybe ze zill go by way of Andorra, or maybe ze zill go along the Riviera coast; there are lots of ruined castles to see here.
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