Road trip begins - Saint Dizier

Saturday 22^nd March

Well today was the start of our road trip. Picking up the car proved to be no problem but there started the challenge of driving on the wrong side of the road. For those of you who have driven in Europe with the narrow roads through little villages I am sure you have heard it all before – get out of the gutter, watch the car, slow down. Get the picture? Anyway we have survived day 1 and hopefully we will both relax as we get into it.

We have headed basically east from Paris and tonight find ourselves in the town of Saint Dizier, about 200K drive today. We first headed to the village of Meaux, on the way and the first stop as we got the feel of the car and the driving. This town proved to be another ‘find’. We found a little café in the town where we ordered toasted Panini for lunch. Not a lot of English here but as we were paying the man in the shop told us the town had a new museum regarding the Great War (WWI) and another man ran and got us the brochure for the museum and a town map. Very nice people. It wasn’t on our planned itinerary but we decided to go there – a really well thought out museum with a lot of detail and explanations in English as well as French. This village is only 20 mins from Paris (if you know what you are doing) and it seems the Germans advanced to only a few K from the village.

Looking for lunch in Meaux

At the war museum

The drive across was through what appeared to be crop country and in some ways not dissimilar to the wheat belt in Victoria, but greener I would say. Canola was the only crop I recognized and a fair way off harvest (for you Margo!). Little villages every 10K or so – if you missed the church in one village, then over the hill you would see the next one.

The villages – roads barely wide enough for 2 cars and you really just need to slow down and squeeze through. The French drivers seem to be patient and just wait for you to get going. Cobblestoned streets just as we had imagined. In one little village that we went through (could have gone on the bypass road but hadn’t quite got the GPS figured yet) Rob spotted a quilt shop. Not a lot of fabric but I was able to get a French themed piece.

Quilt shop in Sezanne

Tonight we ventured into the town and went to a restaurant which said ‘restaurant traditional’. So, what did Rob order for dinner? Kangaroo! And very nice it was too he said, but hardly traditional french.

Now we are exhausted and having an early night. Tomorrow we move on to Belfort, south east from here and again about 200K.