Welcome once again to the Furman weekly.  We have been very busy packing all we can in to our last weeks here.
 
Early in the week we learned that we would need to be out of the house sooner, rather than later.  Right now we are aiming for April 26th for the movers.  We will leave the next day for our two week vacation to the north.  We aren't sure that this will work as things move very slowly here.  We'll see.
 
On Thursday, the boys and I picked up three of Shahla's (the tutor) children (ages 15, 11, and 11 - yes, twins!)and headed off to a Zoo near here.  We have grown quiet fond of the family and wanted to spend a little more time with them before we leave.  The zoo was a miniature of the one we went to on our trip to Spain.  We drove through a Safari part and then walked through the zoo proper.  We even got to see a seal show.  We all had a great time.
 
That night, we had a baby sitter, so we went off to dinner in downtown Toulouse.  We walked a lot before dinner, taking in the sights, so we were very hungry when we got to the restaurant.  Good thing, too.  This was a Fondue restaurant - French style.  Oh my!!  Have we been missing out.  This was one of the best meals I have ever had!!  First, we had to figure out the menu, but the waiter was very helpful.  We decided to go with some Magret (duck) and Cheese.  What he brought out to us was a habatchi type grill with wood burning at the top.  On top of this was a grill.  This is where we cooked  the duck.  Below the fire (which was really hot) was a shelf.  We put some cheese in miniature skillets and placed them on this shelf.  The cheese melted under this "broiler." When the cheese had melted, we took out some potatoes that were on the bottom shelf (below the "broiler"), cut them up and dipped them in the cheese.  WOW!!  It all tasted so good.  It was certainly not what we expected, but we were very pleased with the results.  We have also gotten to know enough about wine that we ordered a very tasty one with our meal.  All this was followed up by a chocolate fondue.  After dinner, we strolled through town once more, marveling that we were walking on streets and by buildings that were older than the knowledge of the New World.  The world was still flat when Toulouse was built!!
 
On Saturday, we headed north for our last day trip.  Our first stop was the city of Cahors.  The main attraction here is a bridge that spans the river Lot.  It was built in 1360, and is a "feat of medieval engineering."  It is quiet a long bridge for the time.  The nickname for the bridge is the Devil's Bridge.  There are two legends surrounding it.  The first is that they ran out of money before they finished the third tower.  The Devil came along and said he would fund the project if he got the first soul that crossed the bridge.  They agreed, but when the bridge was built, no one would cross.  Finally, the people of the city thought of a plan.  They sent a dog across the bridge.  Understandably, the Devil was upset, and to appease him the put a statue of a demon on one of the towers.
 
The other story is similar.  The architect was desperate to finish the project, so he signed a pact with the Devil.  The work was finished very quickly, but the architect refused to honor the pact.  So the Devil tore the tower down.  Each time it was rebuilt, the Devil tore it down again.  Finally, the architect put a gargoyle of a demon on the middle tower.  This seemed to have pleased the Devil, because the bridge is still standing.
 
It is a very interesting bridge.  Two of the towers have crosses carved in them, but the middle tower has no crosses, only a little statue of a demon on the wall.  It is a very strange thing.
 
From Cahors, we headed farther north, to the town of Rocamadour.  This town is built right into a cliff.  The village seems to hang in midair.  It really is an amazing sight.  The history of this town is almost as impressive as the town itself.  In 1166, the body of Saint Amadour was found under the sanctuary.  The reason this is so amazing is he had died 1,000 years earlier, and according to legend was Zaccheus, the tax collector that climbed a tree to see Jesus!!  His body was moved into the church, where it began to work miracles.  Soon pilgrims flocked to Rocamadour.  They showed their penance by  climbing up the 216 steps ON THEIR KNEES to view the crypt!!  Believe me, it is a tough climb without doing it on your knees!  We climbed to the sanctuaries and looked around a bit, although many of the five sanctuaries were closed, as was the museum.  We did see the place where the body was discovered.  We then followed the Way of the Cross up to the top of the cliff were there was a castle and ramparts you could walk to take in the sights of the valley.  It was a hard climb (penance, you know) and what they forgot to tell you at the bottom, was that you needed to pay to see the ramparts and you needed exact change.  We didn't have any change with us.  We were very disappointed but consoled ourselves with ice cream when we got back down to the city.
 
Sunday was spent organizing the house to prepare for the movers this week.  We also went for a long bike ride.  Sunday night, I watched the results of the French presidential elections come in.  Because there are 16 people running this is only the first election.  There will be a run off later.  However, I was pleasantly surprised to find that I could follow the news reports.  Must be my French is getting better than I thought!
 
We are looking forward to a visit by Dave's parents on Tuesday.  They will be traveling with us for the first part of our trip North.  It should be an interesting trip.  We will have to see how the boys do for two weeks on the road.  Wish us luck. We will try to let you know what we are up to while we are traveling, otherwise, look us up when we get home.  Right now our flight will be on the 13th of May.