A little tour through France for what became a group of six. We rented a big van, plugged in the GPS and took off stopping briefly in Nancy for a quick lunch. We arrived at our bed and breakfast in Beaune, the wine capital of Burgundy in the eastern part of the country, and spent the next day on bikes exploring the vineyards of Beaune and its surrounding villages. Reluctant bikers at first, but in all rode long and hard in beautiful sunny weather. Ah, summertime!
Katarina surveying the road ahead.
Water break for Charlie and Gabriel.
Ella earning her keep.
A needed pit-stop at a winery along the way.
Another essential stop, ice cream, soda and water.
Ella, post-ice cream.
Biking through the vineyards was beautiful and peaceful, the perfect contrast to a day of driving.
Carmela all cleaned up and ready for dinner in town.
A little dance before we go.
The victorious bikers.
The morning after, girls having their own private breakfast.
After a one night stop at a hotel (of sorts) which we all found unfortunate, a rainy day tour of the cave paintings in Lascaux and a walk through the village/shrine to WWII, Oradour-sur-Glane, we moved onto a chambre d'hote we found on the fly. It was great, complete with a delicious meal, two very friendly kids and their rambunctious puppy. Katarina and I took a big walk the following morning through the countryside and then we were back in the car and on our way to l'Ile de Re.
Our chambre d'hote.
The cutest hosts in all of France.
We drove that day until La Rochelle where we made it just in time to meet Jorrit's train from Luxembourg via Paris. A quick check in at our hotel in La Rochelle and then the adults went to a special restaurant. I think it was a reward for actually making it to our destination as opposed to ending up in Romania or some other country by mistake. Yes, despite the GPS Katarina and I have a bad reputation when it comes to driving, directions, distractions, etc. ) It was delicious and appreciated.
