Decisions, decisions. Rouen or Paris? We decided on going straight through to Paris to leave us with plenty of time to meet Jake & Sam when they fly into Paris. Paris traffic proves to be the worst we have come across so far - 1 hour to travel 5km!! And that was on the expressway!!! Calamity strikes at the 11th hour!!! After we booked in we logged onto the internet to check our apartment booking for Paris - nothing! No booking confirmation or anything!! A...

Today was to turn out to be a real treat. On the advice of the lady who owns the hotel, we decided on a sightseeing trip to visit the abbey of Le Mont-Saint-Michel Words can't really describe the sheer scale of the abbey and the village surrounding it. Suffice to say that its big, and grand, and imposing, and beautiful. It's easy to see why it was listed as a world heritage sight by UNESCO. If you get the chance, go and see it.After our evening meal (anothe...

Today we leave Orleans and the Loire Valley to head for Brittany & Normandie, our destination being the seaport town Saint-Malo . A long drive is ahead of us so we get an early start, opting for breakfast on the road rather than at the hotel.The drive across the Loire Valley is uneventful and we make quick time. The sun is shining and the skies are a clear blue which makes for a most enjoyable trip. Large open flat expanses of land under cultivation (luc...

Today we leave Burgundy and head for the Loire Valley and Orleans (http://www.tourisme-orleans.com/en/orl eans-jeanne-d-arc/12-orleans-jeanne-d-a rc.html). A definite change in scenery becomes apparent as we head across the Loire Valley - (http://www.westernfrancetouristboard.c om/loire.html) a broad flat landscape, with the main use being livestock instead of grapes. A couple of coffee stops are needed to break the journey and keep from falling asleep. sp...

Today we head down to Dijon, the capital of the Burgundy region. Attempted to do the trip using backroads to travel thru small villages. No go. The route we mapped out took us into the high country where it was starting to snow quite heavily, so we had to backtrack to the main Autoroute. Temps are still freezing (-1 to 3 degrees, even in the middle of the day). Even traveling through the low flat valley areas of Alsace and down into Burgundy, there us still...