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Well it's day four and, as I write this we're in another hotel room. Rain has washed away pretty much any chance of being able to camp anywhere, but when we did last night, everything got covered in mud, and it was all a bit loud overnight, so the accommodation budget for this week has now been used by Thursday. I've even used one of our 'lifelines' and on our second night we stayed at the very French chain "Le Holiday Inn" using the points earned through work in the last year.The staying is contributing my conversational French no end, and I can now request a bed for the night in three languages.
Another budget we've been entirely hammering is the Petrol budget (we've gone over that already!).We've covered pretty much all of the important parts of North West France (H2 to K4 if you have the Michelin France 2007 map like we do) including main ports such as Calais and Dieppe, and some pretty out of the way places such as Compiegne, Montreuil and Honfleur.Most were reached on their first attempt and without swearing or inconveniencing other drivers, and we've learned some important key French on the way - Peage means Toll and it's going to cost! - Better to go the scenic route anyway.Highlights of the trip so far probably have to go to the smaller places - Montreuil had a lovely citadel to walk around and work off breakfast, and Honfleur was a gorgeous sprawl of restaurants and stalls and sea, and also a lovely old Carousel, which we didn't have a go on.Honfleur also has a Lidl........
Next stop is an obvious one...we hit Champagne in style tomorrow (The budget for hotels will be out the window...) and plan to stay in Reims for the weekend, before hitting Epernay next week.This will then lead into Chablis, Beaujolais and Bordeaux as planned.We've stayed pretty much on track this first week with where we wanted to go.Some of the bigger towns have been a bit of a let down by the fact that they are just huge shopping and people watching opportunities, and we've not factored that into our budget, but these early places were the stepping stone to the wine regions and the South anyway.Things generally need to be open longer as we roll in just as they are due to close for their Siesta, or the rain prevents us from doing so.
It's amazing how we have just been able to switch off from work.Sickening.......but easy.
Darren & Jo
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