Bonjour!

Landed. Nothing like 24 hours of travel to make you feel completely not human. Two plane rides to get to Paris, 2.5 hour shuttle to the train station, almost missing the TGV on account of not reading "compostez votre billet!" Somewhere along the line I woke up in Bordeaux, saw the rows upon rows of vineyards out the window, and was grateful I'd made it that far.

From there, it was only one more train transfer to make it to Foix, a tiny medieval town underneath a large chateau on the hill. Foix is sleepy, with narrow, crooked streets and few tourists. But it's lovely here so far - like much of France everrthing closes between noon and two, to wait out the intense southern sunshine. I stayed at a small b&b, totally invisible from the street, but it turns out to be a gorgeous 3 story house owned by an incredibly kind British couple. The house is over 300 years old, with walls 3 feet thick. They were kind enough to talk me through my jitters, and do an hour-long interview about Foix. They're basically the English relatives you always wanted, who have an insanely beautiful house in the Midi-Pyrenees and feed you jam and croissants.

So far, speaking french hasn't been awful, though the real advantage of traveling alone is not really knowing how badly you're butching the conditional. The southern accent down here is a bit much - "demain" becomes "demanG" etc. But people have been patient with me, as I grill them about whether or not they take credit cards, and what the heck is that meat product behind the counter. Again, no shop really has hours down here, and half the shopkeepers seem to make them up as I ask. We'll see if Frommer's understands.

Dinner last night was forgettable - but today les halles - the farmers market - was open and i got to try some wonderful things - like Bethmale cheese - a local farvorite. Did I mention how beautiful the strawberries are here? Even the charcuteries are dead serious about food - whole chickens and ducks with the head on. My favorite one has pictures of the exact cows (alive, and standing next to their farmers) that they've bought on a poster outside.

So far, no truly outstanding croissants - but the quest continues...