Normandy is known as the land of the four Cs: Camembert, cider, Calvados, and cream. But I think Dordogne could easily be the land of the four Cs as well: castles, canoeing, caves, canard (duck), and climbing. Yes, that's five.
We've already covered castles (last year) and caves (this year) and canard (both years till it's coming out of both ears). That leaves canoeing and climbing. We also did those last year -- canoeing on the Vézère by the prehistoric sites and a ropes course called The Indian Forest, and this is the one absolute must re-do on the girls' vacation list. The girls love all the climbing and swinging, since they are part monkey/ part mountain goat. And now that they are taller monkey-mountain goats, they are excited to see what else they can do on the course.
A lot, it turns out. Gigi can do everything but the course meant for 15 year olds and up. She gives that one a try too, but it is immediately too big and hard for her. Pippa meanwhile, gets off the green and blue courses she did last year and is able to do the entire red course and part of the black course. Her greatest success, however, is not throwing up in the car on the way to the Indian Forest, and after we pass the infamous vomit spot and the store where we bought emergency clean clothes, she lets out a big victory cheer.
Even I can't do the whole ropes course, since there's one part of the black where the staff member -- who is taller than I am, naturally -- says he has to go on tiptoe. Only Anthony, who is part Tarzan/ part Spiderman, can do the whole thing.
We pack in two activities in one day: We manage to sneak in an end-of-day canoe ride down the Dordogne itself. This time we float by many castles. The thing that amazes me the most, however, is the amount of green, undeveloped land we pass. I can't imagine an American area in the shadows of a great tourist area with all this prime river-side land just sitting there, wild.
We've already covered castles (last year) and caves (this year) and canard (both years till it's coming out of both ears). That leaves canoeing and climbing. We also did those last year -- canoeing on the Vézère by the prehistoric sites and a ropes course called The Indian Forest, and this is the one absolute must re-do on the girls' vacation list. The girls love all the climbing and swinging, since they are part monkey/ part mountain goat. And now that they are taller monkey-mountain goats, they are excited to see what else they can do on the course.
A lot, it turns out. Gigi can do everything but the course meant for 15 year olds and up. She gives that one a try too, but it is immediately too big and hard for her. Pippa meanwhile, gets off the green and blue courses she did last year and is able to do the entire red course and part of the black course. Her greatest success, however, is not throwing up in the car on the way to the Indian Forest, and after we pass the infamous vomit spot and the store where we bought emergency clean clothes, she lets out a big victory cheer.
Even I can't do the whole ropes course, since there's one part of the black where the staff member -- who is taller than I am, naturally -- says he has to go on tiptoe. Only Anthony, who is part Tarzan/ part Spiderman, can do the whole thing.
Yes, our legs, backs, and stomach muscles are sore for days.
We pack in two activities in one day: We manage to sneak in an end-of-day canoe ride down the Dordogne itself. This time we float by many castles. The thing that amazes me the most, however, is the amount of green, undeveloped land we pass. I can't imagine an American area in the shadows of a great tourist area with all this prime river-side land just sitting there, wild.
No comments:
Post a Comment