On the Road Again

 

Hi –

 

This is Robert.  Margaret has had a tiring day, so I am starting the blog.

 

Today was moving day, from Lyon to Carnac in Brittany.  After the train trip from Paris to Lyon a few weeks ago, we scrapped the original plan of taking the train back to Paris, picking up a car and driving to Carnac. Instead, we got the car in Lyon and drove across France to Brittany.  The GPS route timed out at 7½ hours or so – a long day but not unusual for us.  That, at least, was the plan but plans sometimes do go awry.

Getting out of gray Lyon!

Still gray!

LUNCH!

BLUE SKY!!!

 

We picked up the car at 8:30 and set off but getting out of Lyon was not easy.  (MB here:  The car is a lovely, roomy Peugeot that drives very well!  It has the “key fob” entry, which I am not used to at all!  I would like to say that picking up the car in Lyon was the easiest rental we have ever had!). Like many European cities, the freeways do not go into the city but instead go around – kinda like Tucson.  So, plowing our way out during the morning rush was a slog but we finally reached the autoroute (French for toll road/freeway), heading west.  (MB here: Wow, that was really an understatement of the first degree!  In Lyon itself we had cars, buses, electric buses, trams, bicycles, along with razor scooters, pedestrians and assorted other modes of transportation!)

 

After several hours, it was time for lunch and, not wanting to spend a whole lot of time, we headed for – are you ready? – McDonalds!  While there, we noticed a big, bright object in the sky that we hadn’t seen for weeks – the Sun!  It was actually clearing and traveling a bit more to the west, it was absolutely clear!  (MB here:  It was WONDERFUL!  SOOOOO nice to be out of the GRAY!!)

 

Bad news.  As we approached Nantes, the GPS and the road signs announced that our autoroute was closed ahead and the GPS gave us an alternate route that took us into the northern part of the city.  Not good.  In the old days, when I navigated by map, I would have found rural back roads to get around the blockage but this time, we blindly followed the GPS.  (MB here yet again:  It was downright awful, considering that we had to leave Lyon in morning rush hour, and we hit Nantes at the beginning of evening rush hour!). 

 

The combination of Lyon traffic and the Nantes detour resulted in a 10-hour trip, with Margaret doing all the driving.  I know this sounds one sided but she is a better driver (especially in Europe) and she claims that she can’t navigate (not really true).  That’s a hell of a lot of driving; no wonder she’s tired.  (MB here: But recovering quickly!  It’s just that arriving at a strange location is NEVER easy when it’s pitch-black outside!  And in this case – a very small town right on the edge of the ocean.  It is now 7:28 am (still pitch-black outside) but I am greatly looking forward to “seeing” Carnac-Plage in daylight!!) 

Dinner!

Excellent pizza!

No shower door!!

 

Found our apartment in Carnac, unloaded the luggage and headed out for dinner.  We weren’t much in the mood for fine dining so we just drove up the street and spotted a small restaurant.  It looked OK, so we went in, only to be told they had no space.  As it happens, they serve pizzas, so we bought two and a bottle of Bordeaux and went back to the apartment.  The pizzas, wafer thin, were just what we needed and the wine helped, too.  

MB here:  Great dinner!  Aurelie, our “local person” was at the apartment when we arrived.  It’s rather odd – we’re in a building one block from the ocean, and downstairs is, I believe a chiropractic clinic. According to Aurelie, we are the only “residents” overnighting here, and it’s at least 4 stories high!  You enter through a door that is never locked, and head upstairs one flight, and here we are.  I have to admit that arriving at night it was more than a little creepy!  The apartment, however, is nice, spacious and seems to fit our needs very well!  Again, though – it will be nice to see it in the daylight!). 

 

MB now writing:  I think I collapsed and burned about 8 or 8:30 pm last night, and got up around 7-ish.  Still black out, but I am heading into the shower – it is, interestingly enough, a shower with no shower door – it’s in a corner of the spacious bathroom, and the tile floor is tilted to drain.  We’ll see!  Then we’ll be up and out!  First thing this morning is to find breakfast – croissants would be fine!  And get in some groceries!  Then we’ll be out and about, exploring the region around Carnac, which apparently (according to Rough Guide) “…is the most important prehistoric site in Europe!  In fact, this is thought to have been continuously inhabited longer than anywhere else in the world!  It’s alignments of 2,000 or so Menhirs stretch over four km with great burial tumuli dotted among them.  In use since at last 5,700 BC, the site long predates Knossos, the pyramids, Stonehenge and the great Egyptian temples of the same name (Karnac)”.

 

So!! On that note, I’m signing off!  More later!

 

m

xxx