Katy and I said a few good byes at breakfst and set off right on 10am. I had broken the journey into three chunks which were Lumieres to Lyon, Lyon to Dijon and Dijon to Reims, each just over two hours long. We stopped for fuel early on but didn't quite follow the schedule as there were tail backs from a few kilometres before Lyon right until the very long tunnel that runs under the city. 4 hours after setting off we were only onto the second stage. Lots of changes then happened. The roads gradually got clearer, the clear blue sky became dotted with pretty fluffy white clouds, which got bigger and darker, and the temparature got noticably colder at each service station stop we did. We also had a small panic just a few miles from the hotel as the Sat Nav lost control and thought we were heading across country fields. Reims has had a new autoroute built it seems so Mum will have to fork out for a new update next time I want to borrow her Sat Nav!
Reims is a beautiful city with a well known cathedral but from the Etap window it resembled the area of Northampton known as Sixfields. The view from the window included numerous chain restaurants (including a KFC), a bowling alley and some large superstores, each an island surrounded by a sea of car parking places. Instead of the expected football stadium there was a large IKEA. We had a look first at the restaurant featuring food from the Alsace region but failing to find anything on the menu I liked we opted for the Belgian place next door. They served mostly mussel dishes but the one meal that did catch my eye was the one I went for - Goat's cheese salad and chips! It went down really well (anything and chips tends to be the best overall) and I am now refreshed and ready for bed. The orchestra members who travelled by train will be home by now but we still have a fair chunk of the journey to do. Another 2 and a half hours to Calais then a quick hop through Kent, rush through London to drop Katy off and back home to Papworth in time for tea. I wonder what culinery delight Chris will create for my honorary arrival home!
A demain!
No comments:
Post a Comment