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Published: July 14th 2015
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Fuel stop
Looks like a winery! "I love a good road trip. And I have been known to sing cheesy 80's songs at the top of my lungs on a windy road when no-one can hear." - Morena Baccarin
Haven't we all. After leaving Toulouse and eating our previously mentioned ice-cream for breakfast, we settled into the rhythm of a long drive. In France, this is punctuated by the Péage stops. Of all the toll booths we've been through, my range of credit cards has worked in only one of them, so Isabel and I have got used to grabbing tickets, feeding €20 notes into the toll machine and collecting coins, all while hanging out of the car window.
The upside of toll roads is the petrol stations. Some look like wineries, others quaint little wooden restaurants. Some we have stopped at have had major supermarkets, camping grounds and motels on the premises! We've learned which fuel to buy if we want a Paul bakery, and which places to stop if we want to make our own, healthier snack. Our first fuel and coffee stop today was a beauty. After filling up with 'gazole', we parked a distance away from the complex so that we
Fuel stop
This time with a Paul Patisserie for great baguettes and macarons could stretch our legs a bit. Scores of French families were stretched out on picnic rugs on a grassy area which overlooked a little lake with ducks, lavender hedges and one end of the modern building which was decorated grape vines. It really did look like a Red Hill winery. Once inside we could buy bottled wine, foie gras in jars, and other delicacies of the Perigord region in the little boutique. Of course there was a coffee shop as well, and the usual take-away booths, but it was gorgeous.
Later in the day we were looking for baguettes and macarons, so where else but Paul would you go? We sat at little tables outside for a while until it got too hot. At that point we decided to head for the car and eat on the run. Escaping the heat has been one advantage of spending many hours in the car!
The low point of these roadside stops has to be the toilets. No matter how gorgeous the venue, they are usually awful, no seat affairs, best avoided if at all possible. On a 6 hour drive, sadly that's not practical.
I have definitely got used
Here we go again
Always a bit of tension finding the cash lane and making sure we didn't scrape the car trying to get close enough to the ticket machine! to driving at 130kmh on the motorways, but someone needs to tell me just how much rain it takes before you are required to slow to 110kmh. Do a few raindrops on the windscreen count if a police car is in the area? I am hoping we are safe and I don't get any nasty surprises from Avis months from now, as it did rain intermittently as we got closer to Paris - not that it got much cooler. By the time we arrived in Versailles to drop off the rental car, it was hot again and after lugging suitcases onto the train, we spent the short trip into Paris shifting uncomfortably in our seats and wishing we'd worn trousers so our legs didn't stick to the vinyl.
On the subject of suitcases, I must say that Isabel has shouldered most of the load there on this trip, as I have been a bit gun-shy about lifting. I have no desire to spend next Christmas (or any time before!) recovering from more back surgery. In most cases it hasn't been too bad, but we had a change of train coming back from Versailles, and the metro station closest to
the apartment in Paris has lots of stairs, no escalators, and difficult unmanned exits with turnstiles. Poor Isabel lugged one case up the stairs then had to run down to collect the other on multiple occasions, and was very hot and bothered by the time we walked up Rue Molière!
Laurent, the charming apartment owner, was waiting on the street for us, and I was relieved when he insisted on carrying our bags up for us. He had filled the fruit bowl with beautiful peaches, apricots and melon, and been thoughtful enough to fill the ice trays and put big bottles of water in the fridge. What a lovely thing it was to be back in a familiar apartment. While small, and without the view we had up in the 16th arrondissement, everything has a place, and there is everything you could possibly need - right down to an umbrella on top of the fuse box by the front door.
By the time we got settled it was after 10pm, so we went for a walk to get supplies for dinner. As we walked past the Eglise St Roch, we heard fantastic singing and got waylaid for a
Eglise St Roch, Rue St Honore
We heard beautiful singing and decided to investigate minute listening to a great gospel choir - before our tummies got the better of us! We quickly picked up a few things at the local Franprix market before it closed and then ate dinner while enjoying a slightly cooler breeze at our little table in the window.
Tomorrow, Sarah arrives!
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