Le Vieux Logis 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 ...

... discovered that the town hall flew both the Australian and French flags. We were not sure of the address of the Australian War Memorial outside of VB. Grandma spotted a Franco-Australian museum, and so we parked the car and went in search of this museum. We found that it was, in fact, situated about a school that had been constructed with Australian funds following the Great War. <br><br>We only had 20 minutes to explore the ...

... 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 ...

... 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.

... was enough for me though. I can pull of my confident high head outside, but to pass the menacing security guards and then walk into one of these stores not speaking French and with a mortgage lingering over my credit card trigger finger wasn't in me. (Fodor's - not even funny Rick Steves' - says "Palatial old mansions now house embassies and boutiques, all with liveried doormen who will take measure of you and find you lacking ...

... took as via Fougeres, Mayenne and Le Mans and a stop at Chartres. The cathedral is huge and can be sen from 30 miles away. Yes I know yet another church but this one was particularly huge and beautiful. Seems it has been burnt down and rebuilt several times in the last 1300 years and some of the stained glass is from the 13th century and the crypt is even older. We lit candles and ...

... grow the corn only for the cows! The sheep around Normandy eat the salty grass along the English Channel as the grass is extra salty for automatic brine in the meat, making the sheep a delicacy in this area! The bus stopped after 1.5 hrs for a rest and as you can only imagine, the line for the women's restroom was enormous! This was one time that the women "shared" the men's room and quite frankly, did not care as we only had 20 min to pee and grab a snack before ...

Today, I went to several more places in Paris. With one day in Paris practically lost due to May Day (and the incident), I wasn't sure how much of Paris I would have to miss, but in the end I got to see most of the places I had set out to see. After going to the Gare du Lyon train station to book my reservation on a train to Switzerland tomorrow, I headed over to the Musee d'Orsay. It's housed inside a former train station, and ...

Since the shock of what happened yesterday is pretty much worn off (maybe those beers did help some after all), I'm back in the mood for exploring again. And the holiday is over, the populace (other than the hoards of tourists) are back at work (do they actually work in Europe, or is everyone just on vacation all the time?), and some more cool places are calling. The first such a place is Chartres. Chartres is a city about 75 minutes train ride away from ...

In Paris we felt we must cram as many things in as we could, it's Paris after all and so many things to see and do. The first and most obvious was a trip to the Eiffel Tower, which we also checked out at night for its lovely light show. We happily wandered down the Champs Elysees gazing in at things we couldn't afford and just soaking up the atmosphere. A visit to the Louvre was of course in order and we went in a side ...