ok, so i am regretting already leaving carcassone and the dordogne off of the agenda.......we will have to have a show of hands on which itinerary to follow-

yet another scenario-

day 1 fly away
day 2 arrive barcelona; stay in neighborhood of gaudi church; walking tour of area
day 3 barcelona- picasso and gaudi
day 4 drive to carcassonne; stay in area
day 5- drive to dordogne- stay in sarlat
day 6- dordogne- rocamadour; cave paintings.....
day 7 drive toward spain via bergerac (it is really on our way..)
day 8 st. sebastian (in spain)
day 9 bilbao
day 10 drive back to barcelona (about 6 hours) via roman ruins in tarragona
day 11 fly home

i would give up madrid to see dordogne; plus car rental (no diesels.......) would be less than the combined train tickets....plus,we would get to visit a part of france that is not on the way to anywhere. one interesting aside- this area around albi is known as the last hold-out of a christian sect called the albigenians (sp) who were sought out as heretics- they were the original loyal opposition.......