Day 113, 25 October 2012. Saint Lo - Caen (automobile). Caen to Paris (train), Paris to Charles de Gaulle Airport (automobile) and Paris to Cork, Ireland - That's right folks, it's travel day and officially "Planes, Trains and Automobiles!" Today was the first and only hiccup in our French travel plans... a train strike. Why we asked? Who knows - pay, conditions, holidays, possibly the weather... couldn't be the fabulous infrastructure they have at their fingertips. In any event, we made it to Caen railway station with 10 minutes to spare... only to find that the 8.58 am train had been cancelled from lack of interest. Next train 10.08 am. Pas de soucis.... no worries - time for a coffee and a final farewell. We met a couple of great American guys on the train and spoke English for 2 straight hours (had lots and lots of words!) Having planned to take the train to the airport we were foiled at the first turn when the ticket machine decided not to take cash and turned it's Parisien nose up at our non-French credit card. We gave in and decided to treat ourselves to an actual taxi to the airport - our first and last taxi in France, it cost twice as much as the train and took a third of the time. But the sun was shining in Paris and what better excuse to see the last of the city. At the airport in no time flat we were foiled again... some numpty had left a black suitcase unattended near the Aer Lingus check in counter. Now they take that caper pretty seriously here - there's even a €450 fine for leaving luggage unattended. So we were all pushed back to a sheltered part of the hall until they finally found the case's owner (or took it backstage for a controlled explosion... ) Finally checked in we snooped around the duty-free and almost died of shock in the wines section. Under lock and key, in a snazzy wine storage fridge labelled 'Grand Crus' we saw a bottle of Chateau Lafite-Rothschild for €8000+ And that was just the first to catch our eye. The most expensive in the fridge was €22,000.00. Incredible. Last time we checked you could pick up a holiday apartment on the coast of Spain for €30,000. Hmmmm. In any event, with our eyes glazed over we quickly spent €11 on 2 bottles of very (very) cheap Bordeaux and headed to the departure gate. Aer Lingus to Cork, off we went - to be sure, to be sure. Au revoir France and hello Ireland. Yay! a rental car and on the right (that is left) side of the road. On the short drive from Cork to Blarney (yes - with the castle), Ireland was already living up to expectations, tiny stone houses, folks with red hair and gray, gray, weather - and green, so very green. Just like the colour of the stamp in the passport. Lodgings tonight are the Ashcroft B&B in Blarney - wonderful choice and happy as clams... splurged on good Irish fare for dinner. Burger and chips. Off to the Castle and the woollen mill in the morning - then on to Dingle and the Ring of Kerry.
Oíche mhaith agus codladh sámh. (Good night and sleep well in Gaelic... and no, I'm not even going to try and say it.)