Tour de France - Day 3

Our drive from Biarritz to Brantome took longer than expected due to the real Tour de France's close proximity.  The scenery was wonderful though, especially once we got to the country roads past Bordeaux.  I was so excited to see the endless sunflower fields.  The kids all shouted "sunflowers!" when we passed another and another and another field. 

A short ways from Brantome, we stopped to peek at the 15th century Chateau de la Cote.

After arriving in Brantome, we couldn't find our hotel so took a break to stretch legs and explore the village.   Absolutely LOVED this picturesque little town on the Dronne River.

The kids' highlight?  The beaver-ish animal in the river, swimming and perching on a ladder.

The old mill -turned hotel

Can you hear the snorts and giggles?  Giggles are good, but just as there are different cries, there are different giggles.  Theses giggles mean trouble.  Maybe too long in the car, I don't know.  But when they get in these moods, they are beyond control.  The giggles prod more silliness, which then returns with uncontrollable laughter, which then demands a higher level of entertainment which usually comes with bad judgement and someone getting hurt.  So there you have it, I'm foreshadowing.

More pictures of the village as we walked around attempting to burn off the giggle energy.

Left:  Abbey founded by Charlemagne in 769, rebuilt several times post wars, but still has one of the oldest bell towers in France.  Right:  Caves and little shops carved out the side of the mountain.

Finally found our hotel.

The kids chasing the hotel dog, still WAY too much negative energy.

With stomachs rumbling we headed back into the village to forage for food.  Foie gras or pizza?  We joined the line outside this little pizzeria apparently missing the last table by moments.  As people fell into line behind us, we watched as mouth watering pizzas and pastas were placed on tables close enough that our drool could puddle beneath the lucky beneficiary's feet.  We waited and waited with not a word from the hostess/waitress.  More lined up behind us so we assumed we had a good chance of eating as we were the next up.  While Brett and I waited and waited, so did the kids.  However, they were much less quiet about it.  It took about 2 minutes before I actually uttered the words "Guys, go play out in the street".  Um, did I really just say that?  But in my defense it was a quiet little street that we hadn't seen a single car or moto use.  Their play turned crying, he said, she said, and us, lowering our heads mumbling "where are their parents?".  But we were hungry, and gosh darn it, we were going to eat.  So, after about 30 minutes (seemed more like a couple of hours) with still no word or employee eye contact, we couldn't take the giggle, hit, cry cycle anymore.  We were out.  Walked to the car, drove to a park, made the kids get out and play (it had just started sprinkling), while we made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and grimly discussed how many days we had left of our trip.  After being so close to satiating satisfaction, eating pb and  j's in a car while it rained...well, it wasn't fun.  The two culprits ate only bread and water.  Pb and j's at a park would have just been a reward.  We made sure to eat as many desserts as we could to reinforce the bread and water punishment.  We are mean.  But tomorrow's going to be better.