Well we made it! Actually we we’ve been here a couple of days but as I get older jet lag gets harsher. We flew Air France this time round and I have to say it’s not too bad! Food was edible, not a guarantee. And the flight attendant presented the wine label when I asked for the Merlot. Though for red wine it was that or nothing!
I’m stuggling with the French language. The hearing part. I saw what I thought was the drink cart coming down the aisle so I went over in my head what to say in French to ask for the merlot and water. He rapidly said something and I responded with my sentence. He looked blank. Not a good start! I asked my husband if I got it wrong and he pointed out I was asked what I want to eat. Sigh. I actually said the sentence correctly but was answering the wrong question. Things haven’t improved much on that front but I’m forging ahead the best I can.
Driving hasn’t been too difficult. I went a bit overboard with printing out maps of our route because I don’t sleep on planes and it makes it difficult to do tasks. We only struggled a bit round Paris because given the fact that the roads here can have 3 or more numbered names some weren’t on our maps from Google. But we got it sorted. There was a comedy of errors at the toll booth when it was time to pay. Fortunately no one was behind us until the end, unfortunately not a soul to help us either. We pull up, as you do, and put the ticket in. Good so far. Tried to pay with a credit card, didn’t recognise it, tried another with same result. Eventually it spit out the ticket, just as the wind blew and it grabbed the ticket. For about five minutes we were scrambling to find it. We did just as a truck pulled in behind us. We decided paying cash was the way to go.
But other than that everything else was smooth going. I do love the rest stops on the motorways in Europe, you can find real food. And thank goodness we have air in our hire car. It’s ranging from 90F/32C to 100F/38C this week. The only saving grace is that the humidity is low. If it was like it is back home we’d be having 95% humidity. But it’s still a bit much.
We’re in a lovely gite. It’s in the middle of nowhere so it is very quiet. The villages are near ghost towns but I’m not sure if that’s because of the hot weather. We have struggled to find a farmer’s market but we have it on good authority that there is one in Noyant tomorrow and a good one in Samaur on Saturday. We’ve had to make do with the Super U. Not impressed with that! Can’t for the life of me find fresh herbs and when you buy produce you have to put them in individual plastic bags. I’m not giving up though, this is France! The good stuff is somewhere.
We did find a nice restaurant yesterday for lunch. I had a delicious salad with bacon and a soft boiled egg. The bacon was divine.
I tried for the first time duck confit. Oh my that was good. A bit heavy for the heat but worth having.
We did a bit of exploring today and went to the ChΓ’teau de Lathan. A small family owned one but they are doing a lot of restoration of the parks and gardens. I don’t envy them! But they seem to be getting through the large list.
I think we’re going to have a grand time here. A much needed break!
Oooo it looks beautiful, I hope you thoroughly enjoy your time in France π
Thank you! With the exception of the heat we are having a wonderful time.
I do hope you enjoy yourselves! I hasn’t been this hot in years! I do hope you find a nice market, as supermarkets in rural France are just horrible. And they hardly ever sell fresh herbs, I guess people just grow them. Living in a bigger city makes it much easier for me to purchase fresh herbs, but then I know where to look. I am afraid you are going to have to get used to plastic bags, the French just love them for some mysterious reason π
Have fun, and if you need any help, feel free to ask!
The market today was great and I could say non sac and not have to deal with the plastic. I also bought a thyme plant. I’ll get my fresh herbs! π
Have a wonderful vacation.
Thank you!
Beautiful – I love France. Wishing you a wonderful holiday!
Thank you. π
Persevere with Super U…we have a brilliant one in La Chataigneraie and you’ve seen my pictures of produce. Saumur will have a good market. ….by the way, all French villages are ghost towns because the people are either out doing the things they love or in doing the things they love…just not walking up and down the streets:)
We went to the Saumur market today. Fabulous! We are having a wonderful time. π
You’re very brave to do your own driving. I drove through spain and part of france once. never again. Even when I was driving 120 MPH people were honking at me!
Ah it would have been 120 Kilometers per hour. The speed limit in France, on the motorways is 130 kph. On the tiny two way roads it’s 90kph at times. That gets interesting! But where we are we don’t see to many cars on the back roads.
no, i seriously meant i was going that fast.
Yikes. We ran into that in Italy. They are insane on the road!
once we were all stopped in the Pyrenees because two trucks were trying to get by each other and there wasn’t enough room vertically because of the cliff, and people behind me were honking. we were all stopped. wtf???
Oh I know, you take your life into your hands!