Notes on a Day

 1. Driving in France

Driving a manual car on the incorrect side of the road, in a manual, where the steering wheel is not where it normally is found, and the gear stick needs to be moved with the other hand, is not as hard as it looks. 

Okay, the first ten minutes are terrifying, but then it gets to be alright. Reindert has been making me drive the motorways. I let him do the tiny towns, but the roads in France are great, the speed limit is 130 and our hired, manual, Nissan Qashqai is zippy, but not too intimidating. 

And I am very proud of myself. In a good couple of hours driving, I only stalled it once. And went around the roundabouts the correct way. And didn't prang. 

2. Bucket List Items

I marked off three bucket list items in the last 48 hours. 

• The Villers Bretonneux War Memorial was a thought-provoking place to visit, Tipped my hat to an uncle. We were there after the museum closed but had the site to ourselves. It's such a picturesque place. You can't imagine the atrocities that went on there in both world wars. 
• Amiens Cathedral is a gothic masterpiece. 
• Bayeux is an interesting place. The Abbey is yet another church Reindert got forced to look around (for our sins, it's raining today - first rain of the trip). 
• The Bayeux Tapestry is incredible - and it is a lot raunchier than you expect a cloth made nearly 1000 years ago would be. I remember studying it at high school. Nothing was said about the rape scenes and penis drawings. 

3. France does not do salad. Salad, to Europeans, appears to have a lot of meat involved. I have a hankering for fresh, interesting salad, with a lot of different fresh vegetables. I found something that equated to a poke bowl yesterday. White rice. That was about as good as it got. 

4. Hangry is as hangry does. 

It was a long driving day. Food was needed. St Malo is a very confusing place in which to drive, and the directions given were a bit strange, and yeah, somebody got a bit hangry. 

Also, after eight, in country towns, it can get a bit difficult to find open places. 

We stumbled into this little place in the St Malo old town. They said they were serving food, but not the big meals. There was fondue or raclette. 

We had raclette. 

I don't need to see cheese for another few months, but gee it was good. 

That will do. 

Today's song: