We decided to try something different for the holidays this year since we were away from the rest of our family. Roy had signed up on Trustedhousesitters.com earlier this year so we looked around at what was available and found a place in SW France that met our time frame.
We set out on December 20th heading north through Vic to Besalú, Spain to visit the Wallace’s. They had moved from Seattle to start a bed and breakfast in a 400 year old farmhouse earlier this year. It is a huge stone house a few kilometers outside of Besalú. You can see the Pyrenees from their front yard.
Besalú is a medieval village with a population of about 2000, a Romanesque bridge dating from the 12th century and a Michelin starred restaurant.
The next morning there was snow forecast for the mountains so we decided to take the coastal route through Figueres and Perpignan, France. We arrived at our destination, Larroque-Saint-Sernin by late afternoon. Driving through the countryside in this area reminded us of NE Iowa with its rolling hills and ridge-top roads. There were not as many vineyards as the Languedoc-Rousillon region around Perpignan, but the farmhouse where we stayed was surrounded by vineyards. This area is known for the Armagnac it produces. The property also ran a gîte, or vacation rental.
We met Ken and Angela, the caretakers of the property who wanted to visit relatives for Christmas. They filled us in on what chores needed to be done and then graciously fed us a wonderful dinner of grilled magret de canard. This part of France is known for foie gras production and these duck breasts come from these ducks. 
The chores were pretty easy, feed the cats and the chickens and water a few plants. So we had all day, every day for a week to go exploring the area. One day we went to Condom (pronounced Cōndōm with the accent on the second syllable), where there is a statue of the 3 Musketeers and D’Artagnan in front of the cathedral. The author, Alexandre Dumas is reported to be from this region of France, as was the man whom D’Artagnan was modeled after.
While on the topic of regions of France, let me say that I am very confused about this! The French government recently reorganized the regions from 22 to 13 and the new name for the part of France we were in is Occitaine. The regions are divided into departments of which there are 96 with an additional 5 overseas. Then there are historical and cultural regions. So, the part of France we were in was previously known as Gascony or Gascogne in French and is now in the department of Gers in Occitaine. Some maps show it in an area called the Midi Pyrenees. Confused yet?
One day we went to St. Emilion in the Bordeaux region. This was definitely wine country! There were château after château with road signs up for sales and tastings. Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately for us), most were closed for the season. But there were many wine shops in St. Emilion open and we stopped in one to learn a little about the region and it’s wine production. We learned that there are 7,375 chateaux in the Bordeaux region that produce over 10,000 different wines! There are 60 different appellations in Bordeaux and 125,000 hectares in vineyard cultivation which is about 500 square miles. I think it would not be possible to try all the different wines made in France or even the Bordeaux region in a lifetime.
Our hosts were so generous they gave us a gift of Christmas dinner at a nearby restaurant in Castera Verduzan. Ordering was made a little easier because it was a set menu that limited the number of decisions we had to make. Our waiter was from Ireland so that made things easier too. It was all wonderful! This village also had a thermal spring spa which I would have loved to visit. Unfortunately it was closed for the week that we were there.
We drove around a bit after our dinner and visited another little village by the name of Lectoure. There was not much open but people seemed to be heading to the church. We wandered over there to see what was going on and it wasn’t anything church related. It was a small luge set up for the children with artificial snow. There was also a huge antique market open that was fun to poke around in. It was such a nice sunny day when we got back to the house we went for a walk up the road where we could see the Pyrenees off in the distance.
Our hosts had provided a comprehensive list of all the markets, restaurants and anything we might want to see in the area. It even mentioned the ambiance of the local markets! So we visited the local Irish pub one night where they were having an ugly Christmas sweater contest. There was live music ranging from traditional Irish jigs to electric guitars cranking out an Irish version of Purple Haze! The bartender even had his beard lit up with lights.
Another of the days we visited Château de Cassaigne where they produce Armagnac. After a self guided tour we got to do a tasting. We noticed there was a gendarmerie car (French national police) parked outside. The host told us that they had lost their breathalyzer and were looking for it. I don’t think they were looking very hard because they never got out of their car!
Our last day of house sitting we visited Toulouse. We drove to the outskirts of town and parked the car, then got on a tram to the old center of town. We found a big market and had a lovely lunch at a little cafe. About the time we finished the rain started. We walked to the central plaza just as the sun and a rainbow came out momentarily.
On our way back to the farmhouse we stopped in Auch.We had been told to see the Christmas lights in Auch and they were pretty spectacular. Ken and Angela returned later that night and we left for home in the morning. It had been overcast and drizzly for days but as soon as we crossed into Spain, the clouds started breaking up and letting in some sunshine.