Hotel Mercure Chartres Barjouville

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

To Sylvie&#8217;s in the French Countryside-Sylvie, who was an exchange student at the Harty&#8217;s back in 1970 lives and works right outside of Paris. We have reconnected with much effort from Adrienne Harty (Steve&#8217;s mom) and she invited us to dinner at her country home and also to spend the night. What a generous treat. The ride to Houdan was a beautiful drive through the French country (after we managed to ...

... 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&#8217;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&#8217;s adventures.

... for a bit (got 2 weeks left on it, but might be able to get more) but once that's up we're gonna have to come back home :- ( Didn't say anything before cos we still didn't know what was going on, but obviously I'll let you know as soon as we get more info.<br><br>I'll fill you in on the actual places we've been later - Jack'll be wondering where his croissants have got too!<br>xx

... 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 ...

... in towns today The cathedral has three large rose windows: one on the west front with a theme of The Last Judgment, one on the north transept with a theme of the Glorification of the Virgin, and one on the south transept with a theme of the Glorification of Christ. Statistics length: 130 m width: 32/46 m nave: height 37 meters; width 16.4 m Ground ...

... to the room for getting ready. Jude accidentally banged the champagne into the wall of the elevator, which we had forgotten about by the time we got to our room and I opened it (which I'm quite the pro at) and it exploded all over me. Then the hair dryer broke later, and we were generally just running a little late for the 2:45 rehearsal (so the bus could leave at 3pm for the chateau). Well, we jumped in a cab and ran in at 2:50 ...

... kept our collective cools and finally reached the Rue Periphique - the Paris ring road. We got to our exit and after several almost close encounters managed to get back to the train station where we had picked up our car in the first place. Arrived home to find the main pipe in the complex had broken and we were without water. Sydney's friend Teale has been in France for the ...