Sebastien's Home

Our last stop was visiting Sebastien's family.  

Sebastien was our French exchange student last year.  

His family lived in Aubanas in the center of France. We visited their weekend home, 

which was in the mountains an hour away of Aubanas. Below is the one lane bridge 

that we took to get to the weekend home. 

 

Sebastien relaxing in the living room.  Donna Genia and Gary getting warm on the sofa. 
The home was heated with a small wood stove. 

One of the many great meals that Gerard, Sebastien's father, prepared for us.  This meal was a casollette. It included duck, pork, and beans.  So much for being vegetarian! 

 

Sebastian and Gerard giving us a tour.  Below is Sebastien on the bridge behind
one of their weekend homes (they had two right next to each other).

 

The outside of the house, with the sundial on the corner halfway up.

 

The cellar of the house, which is being remodeled into a living space.

A swimming pool with natural springs which Sebastian and Gerard built.
The potato garden is below.  They had to be very creative to keep the wild boars away.

A storage area behind the house.

This was the first weekend house that Gerard and his father bought many years ago. 
It was a wreck when they bought it, and they have lovingly rebuilt it.

All the roofs are redone with rough slate.

Genia at the entrance to the first house.

Sebastian with his mother Marie and Genia.

The first set of stairs (wooden) to the bedroom.

The stone stairs to the kitchen on the top (third) floor.

   

The vaulted kitchen.  When Gerard bought this with his dad, this room was completely open. They hired a German stonemason to completely redo the ceiling.

 

Sebastien's sister Elise, who is studying to become a doctor like her father.

For Gerard's 50th birthday, he got this yurt.  They brought in a tribal person from Mongolia who specialized in assembling these.  They slept in this for 12 years while the house was being remodeled.

Nimes, Christmas Eve

We arrived in Nimes on Christmas eve.  We toured Nimes itself on Christmas day. 

Below are some pictures from our visit to the Maison Carree, which dated from
Roman times and was an inspiration to Thomas Jefferson for Monticello. 

 

We visited the Roman coliseum, which is still used today for special events.  This was built at the end of the first century AD, and is one of the best preserved of its type. 

Gary loved exploring all the hidden passageways.

This was our Christmas day lunch in front of the coliseum.

We saw these funny Santa's hanging all over France.

The day after Christmas we left Nimes and headed up to the Pont du Gard, a aqueduct that was constructed during Roman times to transport water to Nimes.  It was a very impressive and beautiful structure.  There was a museum next door that was very well done and very informative.

Can you spot Donna, Gary, and Genia? 

We close with some shots from our Ibis Budget hotel room.  An open floor plan with a frosted glass shower next to the beds.  The beds were very comfortable.

Carcassonne

We had an early Christmas celebration so that we could leave on our 10 day trip to the south of France.  We left Monday December 22nd.  Monday night we stopped at Brives de Gaillard, which was near the caves of Lascaux.  Below is a picture of the group at the hotel "Le Coc D'or" (the golden rooster).  Unfortunately we were not able to take pictures at Lascaux, but it was beautiful.

After Lascaux, we visited the castle of Beynac, which was built 492 feet above the river.  We drove up to the castle and toured around. 

Another castle was built right across the river from Beynac. 

While driving around, Genia found these rock mushrooms and had to stop for a pose.

Our next stop was in Carcassonne, a beautiful midieval fortified city.  We were actually able to stay in a hotel that was located within the walls.  It was an amazing experience.

Genia and Gary at the entrance to the walled city.  When we arrived by car, we had to drive over this wooden bridge, which we did reluctantly.  We were only allowed by car after 6 pm, and only to quickly unload our vehicle.

The group within the tourist center at Carcassonne. 

Genia, Gary, and Donna inside the Carcassonne cathedral.  While we visited, a quartet of Russian men sang beautiful Russian folksongs below.