Several months ago, we signed up for an international petsitting site, with the express purpose of finding a place to stay for free in France over Christmas. This website pairs pet owners with pet sitters. In exchange for watching someone’s pets while the owners are on vacation, the traveler receives a free place to stay.
We were elated when we were finally accepted to dogsit 2 Cocker Spaniels in a small village, set amidst vineyards, in the south of France for 10 days over Christmas. 
However, when we arrived, the owners told us they weren’t going on vacation. The husband had recently been hospitalized, and the wife didn’t want to travel without him. But, she still wanted us to remain at the house to watch the dogs.
We definitely understood, as this is not something anyone can plan for, yet we were a little uncomfortable staying in the house and dog sitting when an owner was there. And we weren’t quite sure what we were actually meant to do, as she fed the dogs and let them out. Aside from taking them for several long walks each day, we felt useless.
The owner was very kind to us, the house was lovely and we loved the area and the dogs, but spending Christmas tiptoeing around a stranger’s home just wasn’t what we were envisioning.
So, we decided that Bordeaux sounded like a pleasant place to spend the holiday, and on Christmas Eve, we boarded a train there.
We went to Christmas Eve mass in a gothic church, carrying candles to the altar in a long procession, and listening to French Christmas carols.
Christmas Day was very pleasantly spent cooking, drinking wine, watching movies and Face Timing with family.
While in the city, we ate at an all you can eat cheese cave. We were handed plates and knives and given free reign in a cave full of fromage. In this cheese lovers dream, we sampled lots of strange types of cheese before filling our plates with the ones we liked. Salad, nuts and bread accompanied the cheese, as did the obligatory bottle of Bordeaux wine. We reloaded our plates a second time, but absolutely didn’t have room for a third plate.
A trip to Bordeaux wouldn’t be complete without a visit to wine country. We met one of my friends in St Emilion, a town known for its incredible red wines. He took us out for a fabulous duck lunch, and we sampled some local wines before wandering through this quaint town, which hasn’t grown in size because each sq foot of land is more profitable as vineyard than real estate.
The French have a reputation for being rude, but everyone in southern France was very kind. The weeks spent there were a wonderfully relaxing, enjoyable way to spend the holiday. Good food and good wine were enjoyed in excess (hey, it was Christmas). Although the dog sitting opportunity didn’t pan out as expected, it meant we were able to visit a different part of the country, which we absolutely loved.