On the road again....

Time to leave Paris. We woke this morning to rain and got wet heading to breakfast - add umbrella to the packing list for next time. Our usual breakfast haunt was closed so a bit further to walk around the corner - but breakfast at the right price. Seems like where we were staying was a popular place for tour pick ups.  Lots of Asian tourists and their suitcases.

A couple of thoughts after our week in Paris. Firstly, what we have been seeing on the news at home about the rubbish in Paris, and the protests. We saw none of this - or once only saw a dozen or so protestors but no idea what the protest was about, and we saw no piles of rubbish lining the streets. And, no, we were not staying in an upmarket area where more care might be taken about presentation. The other thing we noticed was that prices have definitely increased since we were here 5 years ago. A glass of wine was 3 euro, and is now 5, and beer and soft drink are generally the same price 5 (maybe 4 for soft drink).

A taxi ride out to the airport to pick up the car. It is a Renault sandero Dacia. We should have got a bigger car as our 2 suitcases don't fit in the boot - never thought it would be a problem as in the past we have had a Peugeot 208 and no drama. So, the car is baby poo brown (though baby poo isn't metallic), and 10k on the clock.

We've made it to our first destination - a village called Sens. No dramas on the way though my new language goes something like 50 50 70 speeding 50 gutter speeding s**t - you get the drift. Along the way we passed through a forest area and at forest road junctions there was often a ford transit type van parked - aha, we said, the lunchtime ladies. Not too many had customers in the cold and rain. Our other challenge was finding somewhere for lunch. We found ourselves in a medieval village, Provins and had a lovely pizza. The parking was fun, round and round and up and down the very narrow one way streets. Dora tried to assist but we just had to follow along the one way arrows. My sister mentioned a birds of prey show in Provins but we hadn't allowed the time for this. 

Beautiful medieval buildings in Provins.

This afternoon we had a quick visit to the tourist office in the centre of town. This town, too, is filled with narrow, one way streets  - just follow the arrows. We enjoyed a coffee and pastry in the village square.

The cathedral in Sens.

I guess these owls are meant to keep the other birds off the ledges. 

Tonight we are staying at one of our usual chain hotels, Premiere Classe. Nothing fancy but means we can spend our money on food and wine. Dinner tonight at a chain restaurant next to the hotel - we often find this chain of restaurants in the same location as the chain of hotels.