The last days in France.

Well it's been a few days since I have done a blog post. Been tired from the trip home. So here here some pics from the last few days. What a trip!

A. The last winery visited. Also had the best wine.

B. Last menu, but not the best meal, unfortunately! Hope it is readable. In lower left corner you can see there is a 19.5% charge for service! NO TIPPING! I like it.

C. Pics of our rooms in the last hotel. 27 euros each! This is where the Spartans stay when in France! However it is better than paying 170 euros at the airport.

The trip itself was uneventfully, but long! 12 hours in one seat! A tight one too. At least they feed you, I couldn't do 12 hours on peanuts. Air France is very free with the wine too.

I hope to continue this blog with my travels in California wine country.
See Ya.

--ucharlie

Help, it's foggy and I can't see where to go!

Well, I would love to have a great picture to show you, but it solid fog
here. Have ben driving for 2 hours looking for a hotel near the airport
and it's so foggy we can't even find a town! Paris must get a lot of
left over London weather. Hope to be off the groung in 16 hours, if we
can find the airport.
--ucharlie

On the road again

Well the day of departure is getting near, so we are starting to move North toward Paris and the airport. Next stop should be the Loire river valley. Will see what we find there, no fixed plans.

A word about getting around in France. Gasoline, it can be hard to find a place that takes cash or has a live attendant! They do like to take credit cards but most of them need a special European style credit card. Looks just like any Visa or Master card but there is a little circle on the front with some gold plated contacts in it. I think there is a computer chip in the card! USA cards are rejected! On rare occations you will find a place that takes normal cards. Good luck.

Money; the dollar is OUT. Even most banks won't change them. The places that do exchange them are slow & don't give a very good rate. What works well is a Visa or Master card with a PIN number. You must have a PIN number! Most cards have daily limits on the amount you can withdraw, so it's good to have more than 1 card.

Also the banks are closed a LOT. But you can use credit cards at ATM type machines most anytime.

Friends have been asking if it is cold. Here are some pictures of the ice from last night. -10 C!

Also a pic of our cheerful innkeeper.

--ucharlie

Odds and ends

Had dinner at a hotel in Malaucene and the dessert was great. Chocolate
Gateau, and it looks exactley like the one that is served in le Bilig
French Cafe in Auburn, Calif. Rich chocolate cake with a warm runny
center. Decadent!

Also spotted an old Harley D by the curb. Big as some of the cars here.

Unrest in Paris seems to be running down.
--ucharlie

Wine makers lament!

Having met a few of the local winemakers I see a few common threads. They have much the same problems as we in USA. Bad weather and unreasonable government regulations!

Seems that the governments on both sides of the ocean are afraid the wineries will somehow make a profit that goes untaxed. Or that they have achieved too much freedom of operation. The weather is at least predictable to a certain extent!

--ucharlie

All the dirt.

For those who wonder what great soil produses the great Frence wines, here are a few pictures of it. Pretty much like a low grade gravel pit! Grape vines are like children, if you spoil them they will come to no good. Adversity makes good wine & children!

--ucharlie

Classic Farmers Market visited along the way.

One great thing about living in the country here is the great selection of Farmers Markets. In any given area there will be a one day market in a different village each morning and a really big one once a month. These are very unregulated, free markets unlike the ones we have in
Kalifornia. Anyway, here are the pictures.
--ucharlie

Seen by the side of the road.

As we are driving around these little back roads I kept seeing these little black people cutouts. About 5 ft high, made of plywood and mounted like traffic signs. At first I thought they were some sort of local KKK symbols! But no, they are installed by the government to show where people have been killed by traffic. They also show the age of the dead.

Very effective, something for MADD to think about!

PS: This is farm country and cows have the right of way!

--ucharlie