Day 181, 10 December 2014, Paris to St Lo, France. Travel Day! I've had a routine lately and over the last few days I've been working James into it... no alarms and wake up time is about 8.30 am. This morning we needed an actual alarm - thankfully woke up just before 7 so didn't have to endure it actually going off. Final odds and ends into the bags, leisurely breakfast then a cab to Gare St Lazare. With just our wheeled backpacks we could have made it via the Metro - but we're carrying a bit of extra weight right now in the form of Australian and New Zealand wines - so currently in possession of a throw-away bag - an extra 20 kgs. It was definitely worth a cab. Being naturally cautious travellers, something you develop early on with non-refundable/non changeable tickets, we were there and settled with an hour to spare. We call that the HSM - Hardie Standard Margin. Which would have been fine today - but about 15 minutes before departure time and there was still no platform message on the board. 10 minutes... still no platform message... 5 minutes - no train, no platform message and, oh no! "Retard 5 mins" - a delay. That changed to 10, 20, 30 40, 50 and finally, one hour late, we were on our train and pulling out of the station. North to Normandy at last. I turned into a messaging fiend and bombed our dear friends in St Lo - "We're late, We're late - via email, skype and SMS. In the end, connection missed, they collected us in Lison and it was off for a gourmet lunch extraordinaire prepared by Annie - roasted guinea fowl with foie-gras and fig stuffing, chestnuts and carrots, french bread, local cheeses and a fresh apple tarte tartin to finish. Phew. Compulsory afternoon nap - for digestive purposes only of course. We saw the Christmas lights of St Lo by night. Then pollock fish from the deep freeze. Lee is an avid hunter and fisherman - so there is a fair representation of the animal kingdom in the freezer at any one time. Digestion and a good night's sleep definitely awaits - So lucky to have such wonderful friends. We've been so busy today travelling, eating, more eating - using a photo from yesterday's jaunt to Sacre-Coeur.