Tuesday morning and both Diane and Adrien went to work and we had a day exploring on our own. To say we used the Metro is an understatement. We planned to re-visit the Notre Dame and so I saw a Metro station with Notre Dame included in the name so wrongly assumed this would be correct, and I was wrong. We did enjoy walking around that area of Paris though and explored the shops. With no French language and no knowledge then which station to go to it was "complicated" - we have taken on Adrien's saying when he couldn't explain any "it is complicated". Eventually about five changes of train later we were eventually in the right area and before us was the magnificent Notre Dame. Again there were heaps of tourists but we joined the shortish queue to enter and saw the magnificence of this huge church once more. Next stop was to repurchase a GPS for our travels commencing on Wednesday. Fortunately I knew the name of the Metro station to go to and we had no issues. For €7 per person ($A9.95 and $NZ10.50) you can travel all day, on and off, on the Metro within zones 1 and 2 which we were in so it is great value. Diane had suggested a different shop and fortunately we got an English speaking assistant and soon we had a new GPS. Instead of a French Mappy we now have a Garmin which we are more used too. Tuesday night we had dinner with Xavier and Sylvia - Diane's parents. Xavier met us back at the apartment and took us to their home and we met Diane and Adrien there at dinner time. We loved meeting up with Xavier, Sylvia and Nicholas again as we had enjoyed their company and hospitality during our visits in 2006 and 2008. Wednesday morning saw Peter and I collecting the rental car we will have for the next seventeen days. After a wait of over one and a half hours while the one assistant served two people before us it was our turn. All went according to plan as I had booked via the Internet until the question of insurance came up. We had chosen to take additional insurance for tyres and windscreen. Apparently the base cost we had paid did not include any insurance on the car yet this was not explained in the small print. We were not taking a car win no insurance. So €350 ($A500 $NZ540) later we had insured the vehicle with a €350 excess. We felt much more comfortable yet a little annoyed it hadn't been clearer on the website. We are now the drivers of a deep purple coloured Peugeot 208. First stop was back to the apartment to collect our suitcases, then around 2 pm we joined the mad traffic around the Arc de Triomphe and then along the river bank of the Sienne passing the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre and all the magnificent buildings (many of which we don't know the correct names of). The traffic was mad and I was so pleased I wasn't driving and of course it is driving on the righthand side of the road in a left hand drive car. It is bad enough being in the passenger seat let alone driving in heavy traffic. Once out of the city we left the freeway behind and called into a number of small villages looking for a shop that was open. It amazes us that you can drive through a village with no sign of life at all and no evidence of where they buy food so then we leave. We gave up on the villages and followed a rural road and came across a restaurant with vacant tables outside. Inside two men were sitting at the bar and a guy behind the counter. We were in luck but alas no. The guy serving had his hand bandaged and in broken English said his wife was not there and with a sore hand he couldn't cook. No food there! Better luck was soon ours at a truck shop further down the road. Lunch at 4 pm serving four courses (salad buffet, bread, choice of main for us omelette and lasagne, selection of cheeses, then dessert) all for €13 ($A18.60 $NZ20). Beautiful food in a very authentic French environment. We decided to stay overnight in Sezanne which is one of the bigger towns in the champagne district. We had hoped to stay in a "chambre" or "gite" and an attempt to book on airbnb didn't provide a quick response so instead we stayed at one of the hotels in the Main Street. We were not unhappy. Next morning we continued along the "Champagne route, stopping off and admiring the villages and the many champagne houses along the way. The surrounding area is nearly all grape vines and it was lovely to see the wild poppies growing - reminders to us of remembrance poppies. We stopped at one of the champagne houses for a tasting and of course purchased a bottle for later. Soon we arrived in Epernay and made our way along the canal to meet up with Heather and Tim on their boat Chamamé. It was so lovely to see them again and know that we have the next six days with them - thank you so much Heather and Tim for your hospitality.