World Cities Tour 2014 Summer Edition - Day 12

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Day 12 - Driving Again, or Don't Buy A Citron Automatic

4AM is really very early. Topping it off with a 2+ hour drive in a jerky car with poor GPS through Paris, trying to shop in a grocery store in a language only one of you kinda understands, and a late check in time makes for a very long day. We survived all of that with some good humor (except for Michelle, she just fell asleep as soon as we left the airport) and some good music. We can now say we've driven in Paris, not that we know where we were or what we saw but we did drive there. We have no desire to do it ever again 😊. The speed limits in France seem to be much slower compared to England, which was a bit faster than the US. We did finally get to our hotel in Connelles just in time for the rain that we missed in Salisbury to catch up with us. It was too early to check in so we went to grab some lunch and the reception desk was able to give us a couple of recommendations on driving routes in the local area. Armed with a better GPS system (Anne's phone) and about 3 hours we headed off to explore the area. One note about France, there is a mandated 35 hour work week in much of the country and everything closes for lunch between 12:30 and 2:30. It seems nice, but that was when we arrived. Between that and the weather the towns all seemed deserted. The region is very picturesque and not at all touristy. We drove all over the valley and surrounding hills. Our place is right on the River Seine and, thanks to the rain, everything is lush and green. The rest of our day was spent unpacking, relaxing, and planning our trips over the next few days. Tony wants to see the D-Day landing sites on the north coast, Anne wants to check out the home of Monet, and Michelle wants to go swimming. We plan to go to Paris at some point while we are here but still need to figure out the best way to do it. Tomorrow we'll be taking a look at our options, waiting out the weather, and relaxing in the beautiful countryside.

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Photos

Sunrise... at 3:45 AM
We woke at 3:45 AM (to catch our 6:50 flight), and we were greeted by a wonderful London Summer sunrise!!

Pressing Need?
It took us some time to figure out what this thing was in the closet. It had wires and a button.

Hamster Porter
The Hamster offered his help, but all of our luggage has wheels, and he ended up riding in Anne's purse.

Make Energy When You Can
At 4:30 in the morning, you need to do whatever you can to stay awake. GROWL.

Driving in Paris
The navigation was completely confused, so we drove around a while before Anne and Tony (simultaneously) realized that Anne's IPhone has a map program with directions.

Lunch in the Car
We couldn't figure out where restaurants were, or a deli.. and everything was closed except the grocery store, so we improvised.

Our Hotel
Our resort/hotel is along a spur of the river in Connelles.. this is a shot of the adjoining restaurant from the footbridge near our hotel.