Stiches in the Sud-Ouest

My father never had a passport. He has lived and worked his entire life in the same city and although he has traveled a fair amount, even to exotic lands such as Canada, he never felt the urge to venture too far from home.

Until now.

A sneaky hidden benefit of living abroad is that it encourages people to visit who would otherwise never make the trip. My grandfather's failing health kept my father from taking the plunge sooner, as he and his siblings took shifts providing round the clock care for Grandpa these last two years, but now that he's at rest, it has given Dad the time he needed to cross the pond.

October is the perfect month to visit Bordeaux. It's just after harvest time, so the wineries are abuzz with activity. The summer tourists have all gone back to work and the regular staff is on duty at all the restaurants and shops so you get a much more authentic experience. Probably the best part is that the weather is almost always good. The days are still warm but not hot and the nights are cool but not cold. Rain is rare. We have had visitors for three Octobers in a row and we have yet to get more than a light afternoon sprinkle (touche bois).

Mom and Dad arrived on Saturday the 17th and I took them on the typical walking circuit of the city. There was a rugby match on that night so we went to the Black Velvet to watch it with some friends, but mostly it was a ploy to keep them awake long enough to break their jet lag.

On Sunday we were off to the Portes Ouvertes in the Graves, the same wine event that we do every year when our parents come to visit. It's a great way to see a little bit of the countryside and try a bunch of Bordeaux wines all at once. Plus, there are some awesome châteaux in the region, which is hard not to enjoy. We drank lots of wine and brought a bunch to take home, too.

Château Cérons

Don't think that will fit in your suitcase, guys.

It was fall break at Kedge so I only had to work two days out of the week, which meant I could take my parents somewhere fun with the rest of my time off. Since Mom had already been to the dunes, we decided to head east the Dordogne Valley. We took the scenic route getting there because I inadvertently programmed the GPS to avoid tolls and it took us through every tiny little town between here and Sarlat. The countryside is beautiful, though, with rolling hills and valleys, winding rivers and craggy cliffs.

If I were a more confident manual transmission driver, this might have been an enjoyable drive, but alas, I am not and it wasn't. I don't know if I have ever been more stressed in my life. Why did I think I could do this? I was supposed to learn to drive stick this summer to prepare for this trip, but it didn't happen between all the weddings and traveling that we did. Dad took me out driving a few times but I just never got enough practice. I don't know why I thought meandering around rural France was the time to learn but we can't always choose these things, can we? We made it in one piece but my nerves have certainly seen better days.

We explored Sarlat a little and had dinner at a nice little place serving local specialties. This region is literally out of a fairy tale; the movie Ever After was filmed at several locations in the vicinity. The medieval towns are living history books and the castles will leave you gobsmacked. It's an absolutely incredible part of France, one that we find ourselves drawn back to time and time again.

The next day, we drove to Castlenaud, a museum/castle perched high atop a cliff, overlooking the Dore river. If you're in the region, you really should check it out. It's impressive both inside and out, and the views of the surrounding area will take your breath away. We ran into an American woman that has been living in France for 20+ years and she told us that it gets harder and harder to go back home the longer you're abroad. "After five years, you're settled in." My mother didn't seem to appreciate this comment. I suppose we will see about that when the time comes.

Château Beynac

With the previous day's 3.5 hours of intensive training under my belt, I was already feeling a bit better behind the wheel and I made sure to take the highway back to Bordeaux. Thank you, Dad, for being so patient with my terrible driving and never getting stressed out even when you had every right to be. 1000 Good Dad Points for you.

I left Mom and Dad to their own devices on Wednesday while I went to work and they had a mostly relaxing day of wandering around town and catching up on their sleep. We had been running around non-stop since the very first moment they arrived so I'm not surprised they were tired.

Thursday was tourism day. We took the Petit Train tour around town and learned about the history fo Bordeaux. They seemed to get a kick out of that. Then, we hopped on the BatCub and took a ride over to Lormont. We strolled around the park, saw some random goats, checked out the quarry lake and headed back into Bordeaux for dinner.

I had two classes on Friday morning but I was finished by noon so we all met Jason out at his work (where we had been parking the car for free) and hit the road for San Sebastian. This is quickly becoming our favorite weekend getaway spot. The food is good, the weather is perfect and it's simply beautiful. It's impossible to take a bad picture in this place.

We drove through St Jean de Luz and Biarritz on our way back to Bordeaux, both of which are adorable little towns in the Pays Basque. They really do have their own culture that is very distinct from the rest of France. And just think: all of this is about 2.5 hours south of home. Two hours south of Rochester will get you to... Corning. (Dat museum of glass, doe)

Mom and Dad had an early flight back to America on Sunday morning so we packed the car and I drove them out to the airport. (It's much less stressful to drive at 5am when there's no one on the road.) It was such a whirlwind that if you blinked, you missed it but could see in my father's eyes that he had caught the bug. He was not the same because that's what traveling does to you. It shows you things that you never knew were possible. Little things that you didn't even realize were a part of your culture are suddenly painful obvious. And it's weird and it's hard and it's confusing, but that's what makes it so good.

I already can't wait for them to come back.