It's been a week in France now.
We arrived at CDG outside Paris the evening of May 5. Then 2 days in the city. It was hot, crowded and expensive.
Back out to the airport on Sunday to pick up the rental car. Then north to Arras and Vimy. Travel in the French countryside begins today.
It's been wet. Some rain or showers most days. We're in Dijon now sitting out a massive thunderstorm avec hail. Supper could be late tonight.
A few impressions....
Travel on the smaller "d" and "n" roads is quiet and picturesque. It takes awhile to get anywhere, though. But with no schedule, no problem.
Language issues have been minor. Most people will talk clearly and somewhat slowly, but seulement en francais. Plus, I have my personal translator avec moi. We are coping well.
Except in Paris, everything is closed on Sunday afternoons. Everything. So if you haven't stocked up on food... Too bad. Our first day out we had trouble finding food, a campground (3 hours searching)...our way around. Thankfully it's been getting better.
Beer isn't a big thing here. It's relatively expensive and the selection is poor.... Probably explained by the predominance of wine. Even the cheap stuff is good. Vin du pays is about 1.50 Euro/litre. And it's good. Whole rows in the supermarches are filled with bottles. Aperitifs for us are now wine, olives, cheese, bread and biscotti.
Birds are everywhere. Cuckoos, doves, grebes, swans, herons, and many other twittering, chirping oiseaux dans les arbes.
So far, WiFi access has been mixed. Here in Dijon, it's excellent in the campground office. Elsewhere? Meh.
Campgrounds seem to be mostly municipal. We have not seen much in the way of private campgrounds. Yet.
Small villages, so far, have nothing. No stores, no restaurants, no people, so far as we can tell. Honestly, we can't figure out where everyone is. Cities? Normal. Villages seem deserted.
Tomorrow we hope to bike along the Burgundy canal for a few hours.
The experience continues.
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