On the Road Again!

Superb start to the day. Yesterday's rain continued during the night and into the morning. After breakfast with accompaniment from Take That on cd we squeezed out of the parking garage. It was easier than I thought but the flooring of damp slippery cobbles would have defeated two wheels!  Even four wheels slipped and slid.  Once on the A31 the rain began in earnest, with spray on some sections demonstrating that maybe the French need to change their road surface to something like we have in the north that allows water run off! Our first stop was just north of Lyon for a pee and coffee. And still it rained. It was as we approached the Valence turn off it began to dry up and the sun made it's appearance. Just off the A7 we stopped for petroleum. With about 340 miles since the last fill-up I had to put in 38.86 litres at 39.72mpg. The best yet. Our first main stop was at la Garde-Adhémar, one on the Plus Beaux Villages. It was very scenic perched high on a hill top. The medicinal...

We were away about 0920 after breakfast in the hotel. This time we took the A26 toll motorway. By 11am we needed a loo break near Chalons en Champagne. Plus it was coffee time! This time only coffee! Next was off at Troyes to get petrol. The exit from the motorway was some ten miles to the north of the city and as is quite common, the N77 was full of slow moving trucks using the N roads to avoid paying the toll charges. We pulled in the Géant hypermarket and filled the tank. The price was about 15 cents a litre less than the service area prices. The first fill up was after a tad over 300 miles and the car had averaged 37.34 to the gallon. We bought lunch in the store, a bread item with chèvre cheese and melted cheese to keep it on and a couple of strawberry tarts. Once we had meandered around to get back on the A26 we found it had finished and the A5 had taken over. Dijon was still around 170kms away so we stopped in the next "aire" and found a picnic bench to have lunch. The...

The plan so far is: Day 1 - Home to St Quentin in Picardy Day 2 - St Q to Dijon Day 3 - Dijon to Orange Day 4 - Orange Day 5 - Orange to Epernay Day 6 - Epernay Day 7 - Epernay to Home. Not a bad trip up and down the east side of France.