On Saturday, we packed up for another excursion.  This time we headed northwest.  Our first stop was a town called Gaillac.  Because we are living in the Gaillac wine region we thought this might be a good place to learn about the wine of the region.  We learned a lot and purchased three bottles to share when we get home.  We also checked out the Benedictine abbey that was there.  This is where they perfected the making of Gaillac wines in the 10th century.
 
From there we headed to Cordes.  It is one of the best preserved fortified villages in all of France.  It is also at the top of a very steep hill.  When it is foggy, it looks like the town is floating on the clouds.  We spent a lot of time walking around the streets.  There were many craft shops including one that sold the most beautiful tapestries.  Amy found a dress coat here.  She had been looking for one in the states but never found one.  This is a cloak that is traditional to the region.  It was frequently worn by shepherds.  We ate lunch in a restaurant that looked like it was in a castle and had the best meal yet.  There is a picture of us at the restaurant on the home page of our web site.
 
After Cordes we headed towards Albi.  This is the town that Toulouse-Lautrec is from.  It has an impressive museum with a collection of 600 of his works.  It also has a huge cathedral with some very impressive 16th century artwork.  However, we have been doing so much traveling that we are all very worn out, so we drove through the town and will be going back another day.
 
On Sunday we decided to take a day off and stay close to town.  Sunday is market day in Tournefeuille, so we checked out the open air market.  It is a very interesting place.  Anything that you could want is available there from cheese to eggs to meat or bread, from plants to clothes or pottery.  You can even get a rotisserie chicken.  It was very crowded as it seems most of Tournefeuille goes to the market every week.  We spent the rest of the day napping or bike riding through town.
 
We hope that you all are doing well.  We miss all of you and wish that you could share in our experiences.  We hope that these letters help you to feel a little closer.  Talk to you again next week.