Best Western Grand Monarque Chartres

... a ltr bottloe of Vin rouge and a bottle of water. Not only excellent value but terrific quality and service. The atmosphere was friendly and relaxed and it was difficult to tell we were foreigners abroad.

Well fed and watered we got tucked for the night ready for an early morning START!!....

... playing a nighttime game of darts (Steve and Sylvie won) and sharing some American whiskey and the chocolates we brought. Finally, they led us through their beautiful home to our beds and we fell asleep quickly after what Rachel called the best meal and the most wonderful day ever.

Sylvie, Jean Mi and Helene were fun to be with. They provided us with
Champagne, an amazing meal of a Crete salad, pork ...

... as there seemed a plentiful supply of wine in their restaurant. We had a lovely meal, the whole shebang, which was not only expensive but delicious -Andre informs me we will be having a cheaper meal tomorrow :P. The mango vodka cocktail for starters and a bottle of 2005 Red Wine (Cabernet Franc) certainly didn’t go astray either. That may explain why Andre is fast asleep next to me at the moment. After a lovely day I think I may do the same until tomorrow’s adventures.

... waiting nearly a week to hear from the garage exactly what is wrong with the car - the AA Euro breakdown cover have been liaising with them & put us up in a hotel for a couple of nights before we had to move on. The garage are saying that there's 6,000 euros (£5,116) worth of damage which means my insurance won't pay for the repairs - I only paid £2,350 for it in the first ...

... incredulously at the human wasp pushing up what must be a 20 percent slope (with me trying desperately to look cool - dressed as a wasp? - and equally desperately trying not to fall over). But the view was worth the effort (Oh really?!) and I sat in the cathedral gardens checking that my heart and lungs were still in my chest and not back on that dreadful hill! After a quick snack and singing happy birthday to me, I set off for my next big stop: Orléans on the superb River Loire.

... day the wind was kindly behind me. As the scenery constantly unfolded, my eyes feasted on chateau after chateau and petit village after petit village; all picture postcard perfect. With almost no traffic I made good progress, snacking along the way. But it was a long haul and so with aching back, knees and shoulders I was pleased to pass the sign announcing my arrival in Dreux. An unremarkable town, in spite of its long history; it has worked ...

Well, it's getting towards the end of our first day. We arrived at Portsmouth at 7pm last night - 4 hours before we were due to sail. We left booking too late to get a cabin or a sleeper seat so they told us to turn up early for a chance of any cancellations or no-shows. This was duff advice. The reception staff inside the port weren't old enough to manage a cancellation list - that was the job of reception on the boat. Meanwhile the boarding staff were busily ...

... here. They also seem to sleep late. Most mornings we were wandering around waiting for something to open. We headed to the Montparnesse area to take a train to Chartres to the see the cathedral there, about 70 minutes through the countryside. We've both always wanted to see Chartres (pronounced like "shart" or "shart-RA" if you're French) since seeing slides of it in art class. Both the ...

... snow. Beautiful! OK, we were cold again and had another hour before our return train, so we stopped in a cute little shop for hot chocolates and a yummy chocolate tart... mmmmm! (http://www.ville-chartres.fr/site/inde x.php) After the train back, we stopped by Boulangerie de Papa down the street from the hotel for quiche and went back to the hotel to eat. Once again the combination of cold and exercise wiped us out and we settled in for some reading before saying good night.