*(I will not have pictures to accompany this post and most likely the next post, there are roughly 400 pictures on my ipod that I will not be able to upload until after I return. I will offer you the best that I can in literary illustrations)
And so as lunch ended, Alexandre had to return to work and Nathalie offered to show me around town a little bit before she had to return to work. As we walked through the beautiful cobblestone streets amongst the limestone facades that reflected every ounce of sunlight that touched it, Nathalie explained to me that the government of France has required that small towns like this which have traditional limestone facades comme ça, are required by law to clean them to their original cleanliness. I will have the pictures for you as soon as I return; but the city was the most futuristic Ive ever seen. But seriuosly, they have made such an attempt to fortify their history with laws that they have even installed a tram way, which makes no sound, (personally I think it floats) and looks totally awesome.
...Wait here is a picture. So you see this beautiful thing comming towards you and I swear I almost got run down I was just staring at it sort of saying, 'its soooo preeettyyy' before I realized that the driver was french, and thus wouldn't be stopping for any pedestrians anytime soon. Thankfully he was on tracks. Cars had been limited to side streets and for routes leading in and out of town, but other than that it was covered with these trams and buses. We walked through what is known in France as the Artisan part of town, basically the zone of kitch and local decor. When my mother reads this, she should note, that interior design is huge in this part of France. Unfortunatley, its all French country style, go figure! So walking through the streets, the sun tries to hide behind the 2 and 3 storie homes but always leaves a little beam behind and its hard not to want to plant your flag as you stand their and just live the rest of your life waiting for the next shadow to cross the street. Truly beautiful. So we stopped by Nathalie's office, which was beautifuly laid out in a 200 year old building with french windows (they're just called windows in france) and soft sanded planked floors and glass desks; just three in the flat each with a chair and a mac. Trés cool! She brought me to the center of the town and showed me a cathedral zith a tower that had a viez of the entire city, so for 3 euro I took another trip the stairs. (When I was in Paris I walked up the 700 steps of the Eiffel Tower and took pictures, you can find those pictures, which are not completly loaded on flickr in 'PARIS pt. DUH' towards the end) the steps were once again smalls and extremely high for steps, maybe a foot and half between each step.
I know that doesn't seem like much but after 250 steps, everyone gets a little tired. So finally I made it through the mouse hole they had managed to carve out of the top of the stairway which I had to remove my day bag, jacket to fit through. But the view was amazing and though I can navagate the city like Jason Bourne where I just look at the map and the bench across from me and I know zhere I am, the breeze was amazing, the clouds breathtaking, and I had a nice little moment by myself. I made it down the stairs and across the village just to explore. I was to meet Nathalie at the train station across from the river at 7 so I took that time to walk around and see the village. I made my way through the Grand Theatre plaza, and over towards this huge fountain in the middle of the town. There are two actually one on either side of a larger obilisqe. One is dedicated to the philosopher and former Mayor of Bordeaux Michel de Montaigne. The other one is dedicated to Charles Louis de Montesquieu, one of the architects of the "century of the lights". He was not only an intellectual, but also a winegrower, which of course goes hand in hand with spending time in the region, there must be wine consumed. Directly besdie the fountain there is a large flea market housing not only the best in French artifacts from the past century, but also there is food. They make these doughnuts the size of my head seriously filled with none other than nutella. So of course I had one, which I almost couldn't finish. Seriously, I can eat, but that thing was huge. Of course I had a local proveyers jambon and rilletes sandwich before that. I also grabbed a bottle of some local Bordeaux superior, for 5 euro and headed to the Jardin de Public (thats the Public Garden) and consumed myself solid quarter of a cup of nutella before falling asleep in the grass. I woke up and met Nathalie at the agreed upon stop and found that she and Alex lived right around the courner, and more importantly she had a dog. I tough and rough little dog with no personality...(not true!) The dog was called Meg; a little springer spanial, pictures of which I have on my ipod and have not been able to get to an apple which when I do I will be able to download, but trust me she is gorgeous. With long eyelashes, and a big floppy ears and a coat almost chestnut brown, her skin too big for her aging body that she often times needs a good roll on the floor to get the kinks out. I followed Nathalie and Meg up the stairs of their building to find that the inside of the building was a remarkable limestone cave, that nathalie explained was once used as a cellar for Porto. Alex and Nathalie had to go out to dinner that night, so I was on my own and was fine with that because I wanted to explore a little bit.
I found my journal and hat and made a tour of the town only stopping for a little bite to eat at a local taven. Nothing wonderful to report other than the fact that I had the first good nights sleep in a while.
The Next day was May the fisrt and what is called Fete de Traville and the custom is to give everyone these little white bell shaped flours called Muguet
Because there was not work, Alexandre, Nathalie and Meg had agreed to take me along with some of their friends one of which spoke perfect English, to St. Emilion. Aparently, they grow wine there?! We made good time to Brita and Christoph's house, just on the outskirts of town, where we exchanged pleasantries, but Brita and Christoph had found a little spot, which I have pictures of, and had carved out a little love nest and their happiness was clear and present. It was so lovely to be surrounded by such lovely people on such a perfect afternoon. We made haste to get to St. Emilion, and before I could say anything, the garge door was opened to reveal this little beauty, apartently a gift from Brita's father. Her name was Guilia. 
She was loud as shit and no radio, but I can tell you it didn't matter. The sun was out and we made a day out of eating and drinking. I did not take pictures of my food on this day only because it didnt last long enough. I was hungry. We walked around the old wine village and Alex and I even found an old abandoned wine cellar deep underground, which is along with the other pictures from that day on my ipod. But the weather could not have been better and after that day at the vineyards we all headed back to Britas and Christoph's and while we sat by the pool the afternoon slowly walked towards the horizon into dusk and we decided to stay for dinner. I asked if I could make dinner, and everyone was kind enough to oblige my musings and after an hour or two and a couple of drinks later we were all eating. I decided to make a cassoulette with tomatos, mushrooms, white asparagus, onions, some cream, and goat cheese. The oil I used was so spicy that I had to, (had to mind you) crack an egg over the top before it came out of the oven to add a little more texture. That was accompaning, some grilled pork shoulder, and a couple of duck breasts. All well and good, and the wine Christoph selected from his own cellar which was absolutly fantastic. I donùt remember if I took pictures of them, but I will update all stories as soon as I return to the states. The evening ended in great conversation, more wine and another great night of sleep for yours truly.The following day was for me to prepare for the next part of the journey. Which you will all get to hear about later this week. I have been sitting at this terminal for a few hours now and need a little sunshine. I will leave you with this for next week's post. I have been spending the last couple of days in Biaritz surfing with some new friends, but this is what it looked like last night as we caught the tide on the way out. Think Keanu Reaves and Point Break
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