The lead up to our departure was... chaotic. Stefani and I were preparing to head to France to pick up the girls and Tom, Nick, Maggie, and Ben were preparing for their parallel trip to DC for their history/geography/politics adventure.
I somehow managed to get some things in a bag:
We headed to the airport in a rush so Tom and Maggie would not miss their flight, only to learn the flight was delayed 3 hours... The DC crew found ways to entertain themselves (black sheep pizza, smack shack, etc.):
We also ran into the Thompsons on their way to a kid-free extended weekend in Colorado! Everyone was in great spirits.
Shortly after saying goodbye to the other travelers, Stefani and I hit the skies for our short trip to Paris (8 hours, no sleep). I tried out a few in flight shots to keep my in-flight-photo game strong:
As we were heading toward our girls, we received this update from their teacher (yes, they ARE laying in the fountain):
Stefani and I arrived, got our bags, and jumped into our rental car. When we realized we were going the wrong way in a one way parking lot, I had to reverse the stick shift Renault for about a block while being "chased" by an impatient Mercedes. Lesson learned.
Our decision to drive from Paris to our "hotel" just north of Bordeaux (5.5 hours according to google maps) was solid. However, we did not account for traffic or exhaustion, due to rush hour and the no sleeping situation. Our salvation? There are many fine establishments on the French highway system serving excellent gas station café au lait in plastic cups:
The machine said it took credit cards. In our sleep deprived state, we could not figure out how to pay with said credit card (the video footage of us trying to stick our credit card into any viable location of the machine has been permanently deleted). We found some Euros and got our coffee and have now mastered gas station coffee machines:
A few hours into the trip, we gave up on the gas stations and made a longer pit stop in Blois. It was charming. They also had a much better option for our caffeine needs:
Complete with a yummy biscuit. Mine was called Speculoos. It was delicious (or I was delirious, or both). Our next pit stop brought us to this incredible discovery: In France, Sour Patch Kids are known as "Very Bad Kids" -- there were many giggles regarding this discovery:
Also, we found some Tetes Brulees (I think this roughly translates as Burnt Heads):
Opting for a more traditional route, we stocked up on Spicy Pringles, Haribo, and Schoko-bons:
Our 5.5 hour trip lasted about 9 hours, the last hour of which included Haribo at 10 minute intervals to keep us awake.
We arrived at our charming Gites (French for a house hotel -- or bed and breakfast). We were starving and not quite ready to sleep (in order to ward off jet lag) so we headed to the food option recommended by our host (possibly the only option in the vicinity -- did I mention this was rural??). A private restaurant on a lake nearby. It was quiet and we were extremely hungry, so I can't fairly assess if the baked camembert and goat cheese salad, which we shared, was excellent or just food. However, the people watching was superb. Clearly, a place frequented by locals.
After dinner, Stefani and I decided a bottle of wine in the garden would be lovely. Problem? It turns out one cannot FIND a bottle of wine in rural Bordeaux on a Friday evening. After a few adventures with single lane, one way streets (was that grassly lane actually a street???), we gave up and headed back for bed sans wine.
We skipped a night of sleep and drove 9 hours (all "night" -- or mid-day on our new French schedule) to get within an hour of Bordeaux. We both managed some sleep -- despite the jet lag and the excitement of seeing the girls in the morning!
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