Chteau D'Esclimont Chartres

Tres bien...<br><br>Drove down from Dover and pulled in at the Relais Beaucoeron Hotel and restaurant which is actually an upmarket truck stop. 10E for the nigh unless you dine in and then camping is free.<br><br>What value...for the grand total of 13E pp we were treated to a three course meal ...

... This was the first time for Dad to drive on the right hand side of the road, and so we drove around the car park for a while for familiarisation. It certainly was a challenge to drive a strange car in a strange country with signs in another language on the &#8216;wrong&#8217; side of the road! French drivers proved to be much more aggressive compared to English drivers, and Dad managed to suffer three or four shaking fists and ...

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

... well aware of the difficulty of having the stick in the wrong place, and while trying to concentrate on driving on the opposite side of the road, the last thing you need is to be looking for your gear stick. A quick car change and we ended up with a cute little Mercedes automatic, which was much more to our liking. For the rest of the day we have been wracking our brains to give it a name but yet nothing good has come to us, so for now it will remain nameless (feel free to ...

... sign. Jack was driving behind a people carrier so he didn't see the signs but the car in front had gone down a road other cars aren't allowed down so the security bollard was down for him &amp; when we went over it it came back up onto our engine. After a whole lot of fuss &amp; commotion (passers by called the police!) the car was towed to a nearby garage. We've since ...

... walk into the village (thanks to Google Maps or we would have been lost).  We came across the Victoria School (Ecole Victoria) which also houses the Musee Franco-Australien.  The school has a plaque (both in French and English) explaining how the school was a gift from Victorian school children who lost fathers and brothers on the Somme.  The museum itself was quite nice with a lot of memorabilia and photographs and being there only 10 days after ...

... impersonal. It's not like the Toledo Cathedral or St. Peter's Basilica, for instance, which, while incredible, are so huge you could run a marathon in and around them. And since during World War II all of the stained glass were taken down for safekeeping, it hasn't been impoverished by copies or, worse, contemporary designs. The Cathedral offers something different on each side. It's probably thanks to the decades it took to build the thing that one can attribute ...

... penguin suit (tails, ascot, and all... I'm SO ready with the camera) to meet the boys downstairs shortly at 11am. I will then head out in search of that "Chanel outlet" ;) I referred to earlier. Seriously, there are supposed to be some neat consignment shops and stuff not too far from here that I will probably check out, and/or maybe head to Luxembourg Gardens or something. I won't have tons of time before I have to come back and ...

We attempted to wake up early, but it was just too cozy inside and too dark and dreary outside.... when we finally did get to the window - it was snowing! AND actually beginning to stick to the ground. Still on for a day in the country? You bet! We found our way to Gare Montparnasse which was very overwhelming: several stories high and signs everywhere. As was the case for all of Paris, though, all we had to do was take a deep breath and follow the signs and our instincts ...

... on the cost, would be the better option next time. After visiting the Petit Trianon we walked to l'Hameau de la Reine, at least the parts that weren't being restored. When we got to the pond next to the little hamlet we decide to sit down until all the school kids left, however it was so comfortable laying down on the hill in the sun that we both ended up falling asleep for about 20 minutes (don't worry we had all our stuff strapped to us, actually I was ...