Okay...next day and a little more rested. Again, I stayed up reading until around 4 a.m. but slept until 10 so at least I got a bunch of sleep...just not exactly when I wanted it.

We just got home from an adventurous day visiting a flea market in a neighboring town and then to another town that was having open studios. It has been very cold here and since I was trying to downsize the number of shoes i brought I was walking around all day in my rain boots....might have to do some shopping! The town, Sauve, is a mass of small winding stone streets and seems to be a bit of an artist enclave. Many of the studios and other shops are in these amazing stone, cavelike rooms. It reminded me a lot of the Czech Republic.

Now I have to fill you in on the Gite, like I promised. Blake and I visited there when we were last here 3 years ago and we have been talking about it since. A Gite is like a b&b that is accredited by the French gov't to help preserve these amazing old structures in the countryside. This one in particular is way up a tiny road on the side of a mountain and consists of 5 or 6 200+ year old stone buildings. The owners are old friends of my friends and seem to live a very traditional French life, raising and growing much of their food. Their kitchen is amazing with a huge open fire and beautiful dark wood everywhere. This time Joel was busy working with the sheep and had already killed 2 geese for the holidays and was a bit heart broken over it. I know that I am not quite tuff enough to live like them, but it sure is fabulous to visit.

Well, we are about to celebrate our last dinner all together so I should be off. I don't want to speak too soon but it looks like my mom might be coming to meet me in Paris at the end of my trip! I am crossing my fingers...you do the same! xoxo