Revisiting - Part Quatre

Or as John Hiatt would sing... Drive South. This is one of the few pics of our adventure with the Aveo.  It was by no means a highway car but it did get us where we needed to be. I don't remember when the last time I drove a stick was but this was a crash course in refreshing my memory.

We hit the road to Southern France not having the first clue where we were going other than we had a good route scouted out on Google maps and we had the advantage of the afore mentioned GPS (thanks again anonymous Mademoiselle at the rental car place).

We experienced our first French "Mac Doh's" and discovered that, Pulp Fiction was accurate in that they really do serve Royale w/ Cheese in lieu of a Quarter Pounder with Cheese. Check that price - that's in Euros my friend. That's about $9 bucks for that puppy. Now I have no idea how much they are here, but  that sounds like a lot.   

Please Note

The French are coming!
The French are coming!

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Revisiting - Part Trois

After leaving Port en Bessin we drove down the Normandy coast.

Mont St. Michel - completely indescribable. 

We spent that night in Saint-Malo - an ancient walled city with ruins of battlements just off the coast. We walked the streets until we found a small place called La Cabane and fumbled our way through ordering dinner which was the best meal of the trip at that point - once we arrived at out hosts we discovered the joy of still-warm baguettes from the bakery served with brie, cornichon, and pan aux raisin - all of which became our new favorites.

 

The following day we should have been dropping the car in Renne but instead we hit the road for Southern France. Let me mention again about the GPS and how fortunate we were to have it. Tres fortunate!

Revisiting - Part Deux

Once we determined which train we needed to get on, thanks to a very patient non-english speaking rail worker and a random volunteer interpreter, we left Paris and headed West on the train to Bayeux.   

From there we rented a top of the line Chevy Aveo to tour the Normandy Region. This is where the story really hits its stride, and the tone was set for the rest of the trip. We knew many of the French were on strike and were, we thought, prepared for whatever might result. What we did not anticipate was not being able to take the overnight train to our final destination at the home of our friends in Southern France, where we were to stay the rest of our trip. Had the lovely girl at the Hertz counter in the Total Station in Vaucelles not told us that the "Lunea" trains were not running due to the strike we would have taken the short trip back to Paris and been stuck at the station on a Friday night with no hotel. There is no way I can express how grateful I am to that woman, I didn't even get her name. I hope that kindness comes back to you seven fold mon amie. The 90 minutes you spent helping us contact our friends, rebooking the car for a one way rental to Pau, and even rewriting the rental contract a third time to add a Neverlost GPS when one was returned literally as we were walking out to get in the car  saved us untold hours of sitting, and perhaps sleeping, in the station in Paris. All I can say is  merci beaucoup, and it is woefully insufficient. 

After that bit of drama, the incredible charm of Port en Bessin. Behold:

This protected port lies between the D-Day Beaches known as Omaha and Gold and was my very first glimpse of the Atlantic. As we left and drove between the American and Canadian cemeteries, it was hard to associate a place so beautiful with such a sad, albeit honorable, history.   

This ship was the first fishing vessel I'd seen, apparently the French fish - who knew?! Later that night we would enjoy some of the best fish I've ever had at a small bistro in Saint Malo, which was still several hours up the road at this point.