Sunday 23 April
Heading north
Christiane and Pascal came over at 10am to see us off and take back the keys to the apartment. Christiane very kindly gave us a box of homemade cakes, which I thought was a lovely touch and much appreciated, They were a great couple and made our stay very comfortable and enjoyable.
I had been dreading today's journey as most of the trip north was on France's Route Nationale roads rather than the autoroute, and the estimated time was five hours. We headed out of Colmar, passing the Statue of Liberty on the way... yes, really! The man who designed the statue, Auguste Bartholdi, was born in Colmar so they've placed a replica on a roundabout! A lot of people had parked up and were taking pics!
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| No, we haven't been transported to New York! |
The road passed through thickly forested rolling hills, interspersed with small villages. It was delightful! We then headed for Nancy and stopped at an aire for petrol and a coffee. As we carried on, the weather turned rainy, and near Reims, we drove through vast open hills with banks of wind turbines towering above us. The route was a pleasing mix of single-carriageway roads, dual carriageways and motorways and certainly a lot easier than I had imagined.
As it was nearing lunchtime, we started looking for an aire, but we didn't see any. Typical! Sunday is a tricky day for restaurants in France as a lot open at lunchtime from 12pm until 2pm and that's it. Luckily, we came upon an aire and stopped to have a sandwich and a drink of bottled water. It was a dismal stop in the pouring rain, and the food was tasteless.
Once past industrial Reims (not as romantic as I had anticipated!), we took the N31 through beautiful countryside and saw the mistletoe balls in the trees again. Our stop for tonight was in the village of Trosly-Breuil, near the town of Compiègne. Trish took us off the main road and into a dense forest on a single-track road. She had managed to resist taking us on tiny narrow roads so far but was now obviously itching to send us on a remote track to what looked like nowhere!
We made a right turn and headed back to the village, passing several shabby caravans and decrepit shacks. Sophie started to freak out, and any minute I expected a motley band of banjo players to appear, as in the film Deliverance!
As we entered the village I turned too early and we saw a man standing outside a house watching us, which made Sophie freak out even more. It turned out he was the very friendly and helpful owner of the Airbnb who was expecting our arrival, timed at exactly 4pm!
We were able to park on the gravelled drive outside the house and were shown around by the partner of Mélanie (I can't remember his name!). There were four bedrooms, a large open-plan kitchen/dining area and lounge, a bathroom and a separate loo. The very end bedroom had a balcony overlooking the countryside and the garden. It was absolutely charming and the whole village looked lovely.
We brought the overnight bag up and Sophie said she felt very homesick and just wanted to be back in her own house. It had been a long journey today, under mostly cloudy and rainy skies, and it was yet another strange house to get used to. I made a cup of tea and we shared one of Christiane's cakes.
We knew there was nowhere to eat in the village so our only hope was Compiègne, about fifteen minutes drive away. We decided to head there, scout out any possible eateries and return to get changed. Driving out of the the village, we made the mistake of making a right turn when we shouldn't have, and a very helpful family made gestures for us to turn around! Oops!
The drive to Compiègne was easy and straightforward, and on either side of the road were hiking and cycling trails. It was still dismal and wet but the countryside looked beautiful. Compiègne was a lovely town, with beautiful old buildings and the Chateau de Compiègne right in the middle, surrounded by cobbled streets. We drove into the centre and we were delighted to see a Brasserie full of people eating and drinking. It didn't look like it was going to close any time soon and there was parking nearby. Perfect!
We drove back, Keith changed while Sophie and I freshened up, and then we drove straight back, parking outside the chateau. It was a short walk along the cobbled streets to the restaurant - La Brasserie Parisienne. We were seated by a young waiter and given menus. We all chose steak and frites with a chicken tenders starter. Sophie and I ordered a bottle of Cotes du Rhone wine, which at 28 euros was not cheap, but we intended to take it back to the house with us to finish later.
We never did receive our starters and were just given steak and frites with no vegetables or salad. Seeing as we had passed beautiful arable fields with lovely soil all the way here, I did find that strange!
Unfortunately, it wasn't one of the best meals we had on our trip. The meat was fatty and gristly, and Sophie was very angry that it was so bad. The wine was good and Keith drank a local beer, but the meal certainly won't stand out as memorable for a good reason! Sophie and I shared a dessert, a chocolate confection that you could hardly go wrong with, and we paid the bill which came to 122 euros. Outside, it was pouring with rain but still light, so we sloshed our way back to Trosly-Breuil hoping we could watch something on the television for a change.
We were able to access Netflix and we watched the Luther film again. Sophie and I half-watched it and sipped our wine, but Keith enjoyed it, so that was good. We weren't in bed late and wanted an early start tomorrow for the last leg up to Calais!
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