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France Day 1 - Tiny Punches

The past twenty four hours have been a series of tiny punches. Enough to be annoying, and even hurt a little, but no big match ending KO. 

Our Air France flight was delayed about 40 minutes leaning Chicago. NBD, because we got off the ground okay and the plane was nice. Mostly comfy (for coach), with a pillow and a blankie and each seat with its own video screen and lots of content to choose from. I watched The Perks of Being A Wallflower because I hadn't seen it and I couldn't sleep well because the elderly woman behind me periodically delivered a series of tiny punches to my back. Doling out little mini Mike Tyson speedball sessions, she'd get a wild hair up her ass every 30 minutes or so and go to town. Whatevs. Tiny punches. 

We arrived at Charles DeGaulle and got our BRAND NEW Peugot rental car (new car smell!) with only 7 miles on it and a soothingly British voice to the GPS and headed toward Normandy. Unfortunately, on the Peripherique, loaded with morning traffic, we were at a dead stop when BANG (or whatever the onomatopoeia would be in French) we were rear ended by a sweet faced French young man. Ugh. Not enough to hurt much, but there is a definite DENT in the back of the rental car. After a discussion on the side of the highway and a police accompaniment to a safe location (aka random parking garage near a gypsy encampment) we exchanged info and paperwork with the young man, who was having a really bad day. He had borrowed his dad's car. And, it was his first time driving in Paris. Clement (we think?) was very nice, took full responsibility, and he and Nate shook hands before we parted ways. His farewell: "Welcome to Paris!" Haha! Oh, Clement. Tiny punch. 

After this bizarre detour we trusted our intelligent SOUNDING GPS to take us in the right direction, which she did, but apparently the bitch is cheap. She avoided toll roads, taking us through lots of tiny French towns and about eleventy billion roundabouts, a couple of which she was confused by and we had to do some u-turns. At one point, having been awake for far too many hours, we saw a shining light at the end of a tunnel, an opportunity for salvation, a MAC DO (otherwise known as a McDonald's). Twice we tried to get to the Mac Do (I had to pee, Nate had to stretch, and I was jonesing for some cafè). Twice, the Mac Do was at the first exit on the roundabout while the exit we actually needed was the second. Twice we sadly passed the Mac Do, bladders full, depleted of all caffeine. Nate sang the theme song: Ba ba ba BYE BYE! So sad. 

Finally, we made it to Bayeux! Our hotel is comfy and has free Wi-Fi (wee-fee!). I got to see the amazeballs Bayeux Tapestry, nearly 1000 years old, woven to commemorate the triumph of William the Conqueror in 1066. We walked the town of Bayeux and had dinner. The waiter asked if I wanted a big Stella or a small. After all the tiny punches, it was time for a BIG beer. 

Now it's sleepy time! Tomorrow we have a big day of visiting D-Day historic sites and thwarting our overly frugal GPS system. 

À bientôt! 

S

Huge room. Haha!

Clement & Nate chit chat about bullshit Paris driving and such. 

Finally in Bayeaux!

Paris & Normandy Bound...

In just a few days we'll be off to Paris and Normandy...

Stay tuned!