What 'The Other Side' looks like.

My oh my! Just when you think you have everything sorted and it's safe to 'lift off' as I said in the blog yesterday, curve balls get thrown left, right and center.

We have sold our car to another  Kiwi couple who are arriving this weekend. We went into the DMV/DOT/Tax Office this morning (one hour later...) to make the change of ownership, and of course we couldn't find the Title. We think it is in a container sitting at the port! Hm...No problem, just ask for another. Sign a few papers and they produce another. Good one.
The State of Florida does not issue temporary license plates, so our buyers will have to stick around until Monday morning, when they will have to appear in person to complete the process of change of ownership. She is registered as SOLD in the records, but not changed ownership. Sigh!

The other day when Waz was running the engines and starting everything up to make sure it all worked, the port engine took it's time starting. Hmm.. investigation told him that the starter battery was probably original - meaning it was already on the boat when we bought her 5 yrs ago. Not impossible that she had been on the boat a lot longer than that.

After sitting at the Tax Collector's office and completing (or not) that process, we drove a short way to the Auto store to purchase a new starter battery. These are hulking great things, and we had to get one of the male neighbors to help lift it out from the lazarette...up the stairwell. The store had ONE such battery, but it's date was 2014. It was also dead! A call to their 103rd street branch revealed that this store brand does not sell many of these truck/boat batteries, and their dated battery was also dead.

Plan C. Sam's club. As we had already forfeited our membership at this store a week ago, we asked there for a day pass. This has a 10% up-charge on any purchase, which we agreed to, just because we know they sell a lot of batteries, and a new one there would be just that...new.

Of course nothing is that simple, right!

There is always a buy back for batteries. We replaced the Inverter batteries just last week, and purchased them at Sam's Club, getting a sizeable return on them. Nice!
This time there wasn't, and they could not put the purchase through without us paying a joining fee plus the up-charge. We agreed to join, as it was the simplest solution, with all the people offering their 2 cents, at the register, by this time, and then went to the service desk to get a refund and cancel the card they had just issued us. WOW! This took us ALL morning!

Home with the new battery, some more oil for the gear box, which is now topped up, and neighbor kindly helped Waz put the new battery down the hole. Port engine started straight up, so we are good!

I am taking the car to be detailed in a few minutes and going to find some more Dayquil/nightquil meds. The swallowing razors (two weeks ago) turned into a dry cough which almost breaks ribs/asthma, and yesterday I developed sneezles and a runny nose. Others on the dock are suffering similar upper respiratory ailments, so I'm in good hacking company. I just dont want to be sneezing and hacking on the plane to NZ.

So, I'm hoping that the 'Other Side' looks a whole lot better than this! We havent found it yet, but I will remember to tell you when I do! How's that for a promise?

Oh, I forgot to tell you about breakfast...Running out of food creates some interesting meals. Also, only having one pot/pan, makes for some interesting cooking arrangements. I have to decide what is the nicest to eat almost cold, while I cook the last item to go on the plate.
This morning I cooked a can of baked beans, toasted some grain toast in the micro/grill, and because I didnt want cold beans while I cooked the eggs, I cleared a space in the pan for the eggs, and broke them in. I guess you could say that they poached in the tomato sauce. They tasted good, but the beans overcooked and stuck to the middle of the pan in the process, but all in all, if you closed your eyes it would taste good...just dont look at the mess while you eat, lol.

Time to get the car detailed for the new owners and fill up with gas.

Another day down! Two more to go.

We have Lift Off!

Cool mornings and evenings are most welcome after the heat of the day, right now. After a few days of rain we welcomed the sunshine with glee, especially as we finished off our packing. As I said last post...What does one do on a boat when it is raining? We couldn't go to the Storage Unit as the rain would have driven straight in the roller door.

Two days ago we opened both our suitcases up and managed to sort through the summer and winter clothing we are taking with us to both NZ and then home to France. Fall/Winter for NZ, but friends there tell me the weather is warm and lovely right now. Let's hope it stays that way until we are finished with our business there, and we dont have to break out the winter clothes.

We have all kinds of odds and sods...mostly odds, packed this time. Things we will need in NZ to complete our inventory of packed goods, and to successfully ship them out. The documentation needed for these shipments has been a bit daunting, to be honest, and I have fretted over it somewhat. Our Florida shippers are a bit lacking in the communications department, and I have felt annoyed that I have had to ask for information constantly. A timeline might have been useful, and I have told them so. Now I will have to ask for tracking information if they dont supply that tomorrow. We wont have the luxury of communicating with them on Monday...we are outta here!

There is the odd reminder of why we like this part of the world...Apart from the water everywhere in this city, there are the lovely sunsets after a glorious day, friends dropping by the boat for a chat, seeing familiar faces in the supermarket and being recognized at Panera...the latter perhaps not so good, lol.  We favor Panera for 'fast' food, over other brands, and have their loyalty card to prove it.:) They aren't particularly fast, but they do produce a good hot latte and we enjoy the soup and sour dough rolls.

 We have had a long list of must-do's of course and they are eventually being done. The small fridge on the fly deck needed replacing, not because it didnt work, but because it has rusted underneath during the five years it has been there. It served us well for keeping the wine and water cold, and occasionally the salad fixings too. We have a new one sitting inside the boat that wont be installed upstairs until absolutely necessary. Fortunately they are light enough for Waz to single hand them up/down the stairs.

Our friends Kris and Dan have been fabulous - meals at their house, taking our left over stuff off our hands, finding buyers for some of it and gifting others to those who need it most.

Kris started a community garden in the park opposite their house when they moved there a year ago, and they have some wonderful veg growing there now. I dont think I have ever seen a Pink Strawberry blossom before. Have you?

She is going to have a lot of tomatoes this year and I am reminded that we have missed the main growing season in France, this summer, but I will have some time to contemplate what Fall and Winter veg I am going to plant.

Today, Thursday, is the day we have been waiting for. The packing guys arrived at the storage facility at 9am, and they set about writing up an inventory. We have provided an inventory of our own, but they apparently had to do theirs too. This meant he was still at it when the container arrived at 10.15am. The container is 4 1/2 feet off the ground, and these two men manhandled all our stuff up that height and into the container. Waz helped as much as he was allowed to but they objected to him doing anything. We kind of helped sort things and put them where the fella packing could see them, and make some judgement calls about placements.
As luck would have it, and with us breathing a sigh of relief, we, or rather they, fitted everything in with room to spare...about 1/3 of the 20 ft container, actually. We were sure we would be throwing some things out, with a loaded container, lol.

 It did tell us that we will probably need a 40ft container for all our stuff in NZ.

This is the end result...everything was packed...two sofas, chairs, dismantled tables and chairs etc, behind that bed mattress. We just hope it doesnt all come crashing down in transit. We will be VERY careful how we open those doors when they arrive in France, if customs havent been there before us.

The Truck driver (container) gave us a Seal to install. We were also given the option of putting a padlock on the door, but were told that the ports may take that off if customs US want to get into it.
We thought it best to just put the seal on the door.  That's the Yellow thing.

This was all over by 12.30pm, and we were on our way home...well, via Publix supermarket where we picked up a sandwich and salad and some fixings for the next couple of days aboard, and came home famished. Our bagel breakfast didnt last that long today. Who knew you could use so many calories just anxiously watching all the goodies being packed on the container! Phew!

Kris and Dan stopped by the boat on their way home. We were in the middle of lunch, but happy to see them, as we may not get to say Au Revoir, on Sunday. They are taking their little run-about up the St John's River for the weekend. They are having so much fun in her!

The boat looks empty, finally. Our two large suitcases take up considerable space in the salon, and we dance around small piles that have yet to make their way into the same cases.

We had the Air-con gassed this afternoon, so that is another job done and dusted.

While we have enjoyed being back in some ways, we know we have made the right decision in purchasing our home in France.
We wont miss the train crossing the bridge up the river a ways, at ungodly hours. Because of all the rail crossings in these parts, it toots it's horn all the way down highway 17, a couple of blocks from here. Because the land is flat, we hear everything! We wont miss being cheek- by- jowel with our marina neighbors, as much as we like them all. It will be nice to live where the neighbors cant check on our every movement.

Driving in a big city with 14/16 lanes across the highway, at times ,wont be missed. We also wont miss the arrogant drivers who appear fast out of nowhere, criss-crossing lanes, and frightening the bejeezes out of everyone. I must be getting old!!! I'm a confident and careful driver, and like to get from point A to point B in one pieces. Driving defensively is taken to the Nth degree at times on these roads.

Our car buyers will be picked up on Saturday, and after that we will be on foot everywhere. No need for a car any more. Happy it is going to another home with Kiwis.


We have a few more days of cleaning out the fridge  - both the food (to eat) and to clean/defrost, and last minute laundry etc before making our way to the airport hotel of choice for our last night here, and flying out before lunch time the next day.

We have three flights to get to NZ. Not the best way to get there, but the only ones available when I booked. Relax, breathe, go with the flow!

Looking forward to seeing our family in NZ, and getting that part of our process sorted as well.

Ciao for now, and we will see you on the other side!

What to do when it's raining?

The day started badly. I guess, in the scheme of things, it is a good thing for us. We need the break from the hard work of finishing off our packing and distributing of left-over bits and bobs.

It is raining cats, rats and elephants. Yes, sometimes it just rains, and then it deluges...hence the elephants, if you follow the drift?
It is doing the latter, right now, and I just remarked to the wazster that if we were in our house, we would be moving between rooms doing 'stuff' and it wouldn't be a problem. On the boat, there isnt much you can do on a wet day, other than catch up on paperwork or read a book. Both are fine in their own way, but there are other things we NEED to be doing on the boat, but they are all outside.

Having finished all the packing (except the large furniture which cant be accessed until things start moving out of the storage unit) and completed the inventory list in two languages and placed quantities and valuations on the same, for French customs, we have little else to do on the storage unit front. I am sure I have all the required documentation, so I have no further need for paperwork at this point, but I do need to be out polishing/waxing the boat.  I have started, but it is an ongoing activity, I'm afraid.

The salon on the boat is a bit of a mess to be frank. We have two large suitcases on the floor taking up space, a couple of small carry-on bags, 'stuff' on most surfaces, ready to be packed, and assorted other that will either find a more permanent home in storage, on the boat, or will be given to people who can use it. It is easy to trip over the bits and bobs, but there is nowhere else to put them.

We are living almost day to day with food supplies, though the fridge is full today, after our visit to the supermarket last night. We needed ice-cream, and Talenti Gelato was on sale...2 for one! What a deal! We are making the most of being in close proximity of a store where we can buy most things (Publix supermarket), and remind ourselves that we wont have that ability to just trot along to the grocery store, when we return to France. Pas problem!

My sore throat that felt like I was swallowing razor blades abated at the end of the week, to be replaced by a stuffy nose. Waz definitely passed on his lurgy, as he experienced the same symptoms last week. I'm hoping it disappears during the week so that I'm not flying with blocked eustachian tubes, this time next week.

Waz did a run down to St Augustine with left over boat things with friend Dan, yesterday. There is a Mariner's Exchange there that buys or gives store credit, which is more valuable that the cash he gave Waz for the items he 'bought'. We dont have them in our possession, so that is a good thing and we need to move on in that respect and have no regrets.

While he was doing that, I re-registered the boat, got a new driver's license (at the Tax Collector's office) and did some final packing at the storage unit. Two more items off the long check list.

No photos to share, sorry. Life is a bit boring for those looking on, and I am otherwise engaged, and not looking for photo ops.

We have long flights coming up, and while I would love to change the routing on our Jax to NZ trip, it looks like we will have to remain with the three flights to get there. We wont have much time, once we hit the ground in NZ, to get over Jet lag, and the 8 hr time difference is a bit of a shocker, to be honest.

The weather in Jax has been stunning, but the light is harsh and we dont want to stay out in the hot sun too long. One day it's 87F and the next is it 67F. Crazy place, as we are affected by the lows that sweep across the country up north. We are glad to have a sweater back on today, and are looking forward to the cooling temperatures in NZ, when we arrive. They have had cold weather with some snow in places, already. This is early in the Fall season to be getting that, but worldwide weather is pretty crazy.
France has been enjoying record highs for this time of year, and we are missing out on some lovely days in the mid 20's C. We cant wait to return to our new plot and enjoy the greening of the vines and the outdoors there.

Time to make some lunch, so ciao for now.

We are doing this WHY?

If you ever need a reminder of your age and the state of your body, try flying with a 6 hr time change (backwards), a rush to pack storage unit contents for shipping, another flight half way around the world with an 8 hr time difference...forward...packing up ANOTHER storage unit full of your past life, and then flying back (a different way) to your destination with a 12 hr time difference...cant remember if it is forwards or backwards, at this hour of the morning!

Are we nuts? Yes!

Why put ourselves through this?
It would be so easy to not do it, but we have ours and our kids precious memories packed in boxes in NZ, and our more recent memories and nice things packed in Florida. We have donated so much, sold so much, and retained only those things we want to move forward with, in our new lives in France.

Yes, they are very special things, and while they are just things, (we know from experience that you can do without things), it is REALLY nice to have familiar things around you.
We have been 'told' by every other person we come across, that we should have just sold everything and moved forward without all those 'things'. That's all they are!
Well, yes, we did that already, but guess what? We WANT those things around us.

They are the special gifts our kids and parents gave us. They are the special gifts we gave each other. They are the memories of a lifetime and a work history that we loved and enjoyed, and want to enjoy further.


We cant wait to have our own tools at hand. Waz in the workshop, and me in the sewing and craft room. I want the boxes of photos (not digital) of my children's growing up years so that I can put them into a book for them each, and they will be able to share their own memories with their new families and children.

Before we moved aboard the boat and after selling our NZ home, we stored all that was left of our lives that we wanted to keep, in a storage unit in NZ. It has been there for five years now. We have, over those years, opened the storage unit door, sighed heavily and shut the door again, not knowing when the time would come for us to give it all daylight again.

We are excited to be able to do that now:)

With medical issues making boat living challenging, we moved, 18 months ago, into an apartment here in Jacksonville, Florida. We had nothing in the way of furniture, so we acquired some...new. We lived fairly sparse lives there before being 'hurricane'd' out by Irma, when she swept through the area.
Again, our belongings were put into storage (here) and we set off to do a couple of house sits in France.

Not wanting to live aboard the boat full time anymore, we felt a bit 'homeless' to be honest. With an uncertain future, the boat for sale and no other place to call home, we set out to find one.

Having looked at homes for sale in Jacksonville and further away, we not only didnt find something we wanted to live in, we felt more unsettled. Apart from the water surrounding this city, which we love, there isnt much we like about being in a big city, and Florida isnt a pretty state, in our opinion. We like green. We are Kiwis, and it is in our souls, this green.

We really didnt know until we arrived there (France)...in the coldest part of Winter...that we would want to stay. Our internal dialogues were that if we still loved France in the middle of winter, then we would look for a house. Sounds simple, right? lol.

It took exactly one week for us to look at each other and say "I like it, let's do this!"

So we did! You will have read the process and the ups and down, but now that we are on the other side and far removed from our new home, we cant wait to return.

There isnt much we really like about returning to Florida, or the States, for that matter. We have become much more critical of everything on our return.  I'm sure that's a sign!:)

We live with the ups and downs wherever we live, all of us. There is good and bad in all countries, and we dont have rose colored glasses on. We know what we like, we know how we want to live and where and will make the most of it, just as we have previously. When we feel we cant do that anymore and our physical needs change, then we will make changes for that reason, but I dont want to get ahead of myself there either. We have NO idea what the future will bring, other than we are happy with our choice of home and country and look forward to our future there, whatever time that may be.

We have just finished our bagel with strawberries and raspberries for breakfast. My body doesn't like the change in diet or the time changes. I might invest in some prune juice today!:)

Time to get back to work! We are probably half way through repacking and securing our load.

Waz and our friend Dan are making the trip to the Marine Consignment store in St Augustine on Thursday, to offload some of our marine supplies now superfluous to our requirements. Dan and Kris have also relieved us of our many pantry supplies which they are donating to their Church food drive today. Our friends have welcomed us back, and we hope to see more of them before we depart these shores...hopefully with a boat sale behind us! Keep your fingers crossed, folks!

A bientot!

Driving Insanity and More

It all began on Saturday at 1300 hrs. Our driver picked us up at the house to drive us to Merignac, Bordeaux Aeroport, to pick up our rental car for the drive to Paris the next day.

Being a young man (comparatively), and French, (and dont forget that he is familiar with the roads, having grown up in the area) we did some 'low-flying' on the way there. It is a good thing I couldn't see the speedo, sitting in the front passenger's seat, a place I wouldn't normally choose to sit, but because our driver's Franglais is about the same as mine, and Waz isnt a conversationalist at the best of times with those he doesn't know, there I sat, and Waz took note of the speed being reached, without comment.
French drivers, in our experience, dont follow the recommended speed. No police around but plenty of speed cameras and it is comical to watch the driver's speed drop for the cameras and then off they go again at breakneck speed! WOW!

We arrived safely at Merignac, had to wait a couple of hours before picking up the car, because we only want to pay for ONE day, and know that we wont be dropping the vehicle off in Paris at an early time.
We walked around the slightly futuristic terminal building, found the Hertz desk eventually and signed on with all the insurance we could buy (going into Paris, who knew what lay ahead) and found the car. In the rain, of course. Not impressed with the very basic little (1200cc?) Opel car which needed a 6th gear on the 130kph Autoroutes.

Waz sitting in the capacious Terminal 2, at Merignac, Bordeaux.

 Looking from outside, in, but seeing only reflections.

 The control tower behind the concourse for drop-off, on the 2nd level.

 Rental cars near, and parking far. Of course it was raining.

 So you think you are in Wine Country??? THIS is Bordeaux Baggage Claim.

 Of course they would plant grape vines in between the various terminals. These all had rose bushes at the ends of the rows.

Off we drove in this little car in torrential rain, all the way back home. Trucks on the highway spraying the car with so much dirty water that the car looked like we had been off-road driving, even before we left home the next day. We invoked the Weather Goddess for some fine weather for our Sunday drive north. I think she listened!

Back home, we set about preparing the house for our house sitters, who will be there until our return. They arrived in time for dinner. They are friends of the previous owner and know how the house works. Great!

All packed up with everything in the car the night before, we crept out of the house at 5.45am, and on the road at 5 mins to 6am. We bought a book of laminated maps of France last week, and Waz had worked out the best route in the days prior to our leaving. He had it all set up on our GPS, prior to starting the car. No GPS came with the car! This vehicle is pretty bare bones.

I'm not a fan of driving in the dark or we would have left at midnight.
We had started a long (ended up being 12 hrs) journey in 2016 from Rennes, Bretagne (Brittany), to St Jean de Losne in Bourgogne (Burgundy),at 4am I think. Not again. Not only did we miss out on seeing the countryside, but we were on unfamiliar roads and it was more stressful driving.

Thank goodness for the cover of darkness however, as we did a couple of roadside stops for a pee,  and then it was skirting Limoges, just an hour after kick-off, and onto the N 20 AutoRoute.

Only refrigerated trucks are allowed on the highways in France on a Sunday, and they were few and far between. Traffic didnt get anywhere near busy until we hit the large centers, and even then, it wasn't bad. In plenty of places we were the only vehicle on the road as far as the eye could see in both directions. Bliss! Certainly made for a pleasant trip and we could slow down somewhat. Some of the Auto-routes are 110kph, but the A10 was 130kph. Waz clocked me doing 125kph in the little car. This is when I needed that 6th gear:) This photo is 1kph lower. I did hit the 130kph a couple of times, but the car sounded as if it was about to 'take-off'.

Lots of hills....some very loooong hills going up and down some very Looooonggg hills going down. The average grade was 7%, which is quite steep in the scheme of things...7/10, that is.
It's very hard to see how steep this hill is, unfortunately, but suffice to say it was significant or he wouldn't have taken the photo.

 As we entered the Loire Valley, these windmills became more prevalent. This is the view we usually see from the TGV on our way to and from Paris on our 'normal' train journey.

We stopped for petrol and breakfast just south of Orleans on the A10, a mistake that cost us 6.10 euros in Tolls. One wrong turn and it cost us!

Two very hot lattes from the AutoRoute gas station and mini-market/gourmet food store and bathrooms, which were very clean!  We took the lattes out to the car and stood there eating our prepared food for breakfast. We might otherwise have paid 3 euros for an American sized muffin, or 2 euros for a small croissant that we would normally pay less than 1 euro for elsewhere.
Hard boiled eggs, cubes of Emmental cheese, some petite viennoiserie (little pain choc. croissants and pain raisin) and some strawberries and a pear (for me). Fortified for the next leg of the journey, on we went.

We decided to exit that highway and take a much needed break in the lovely city of Orleans on the fast running Loire River.
I have only ever skirted this pretty city, so this was a perfect opportunity while the sun was shining, to spend an hour walking the city streets.
We parked half a Km from where we wanted to be, and on the main road out of town back to the N20.
Waz managed this photo as we were crossing the Loire. We didnt actually find the church whose steeples those are, but we did find some other things to photograph!

That's our little black car behind those barriers, and in front of those interesting houses. Tough finding a place to park, frankly, as the sun was shining (for the most part) and cyclists, roller bladers and runners, families and many others were out along the banks of the river enjoying activities. Never seen so many people running, outside of Auckland NZ, to be honest.

 We wondered where these folks had started their journey. The flotation devices are made of something very light.. They were wearing very long fins, with them. The river looked to be in flood still, and the water was not pretty. Later on, we found two canoeists in the same place. They had so much kit with them that they must have been camping further up the river somewhere for the weekend.

 There is more river on the other side of that little island, to the left.

 Public Loo with clematis climbing over it. Clematis are for sale in all the supermarkets, right now.

 It appears that the whole of the waterfront is in for something new. It will be lovely when finished. We rather wondered why they didnt finish a 1/4 of it first, so people could access it, then continue on, but no, they had to rip up the WHOLE thing first. lol.

 An apartment facing the Loire. I think this must be expensive real estate.

 What a fabulous Art Deco building!

 These maisons fronting the Loire River in Orleans. The plane trees will be gorgeous in full foliage.

 We walked further to find that this is actually the bell tower of a church...in behind that façade.

 The water was rushing under this bridge.

 You can imagine the speed of the water!

 One block back from the waterfront we found this gorgeous Arcade.

 on both sides of the road. The Tram rails go all the way to the end, and across the bridge in the last photos.

 What joy to find the Halles open and working, even after lunch on Sunday. Most will be closed by noon.

  A shop window on the way to the Halles.

 Lines at most of the vendors.

 Bother! We would love to take some of this fresh pasta home.

 The salmon is fresh North Atlantic wild caught, and tastes fabulous.  It wasn't that so much as the Nigerian Tiger Prawns that caught my attention...

 At 64.90 Eu pkg they are pricey, but how pretty are they!

 I had to be forceably removed from the market with the exhortation that we had somewhere to go, and if I wished to walk further, I had better get going! True!
New and Old opposite each other.

 I said the sun came out? It did! and it was hot. We peeled our layers off and it was 18C when we returned to the car. It got hotter!

We were still only one block from the Loire.

 What stunning detail on this very old building. We noticed that many of the very old buildings looked degraded, more than many places we have been. On the other hand, some have been so renewed as to not look 'normal', a bit like a facelift when the plastic surgeon had one too many drinks at lunch!

 Another lovely tower. This one had a name, but Waz is sleeping and I dont want to wake him for his memory of it.

 At the far end of the road of Arcades. I am guessing that statue (an educated guess, this being Orleans) is of Jeanne d'Arc, (Joan of Arc) who is much celebrated here.

 Down a side street on the way back to the car...it is now afternoon. See that sun? It is also now HOT!

 Ok...We think the owners of the store down below, must live above. We found bunnies and...

 Cats in the same apartment! lol

 The old and the new, again.

 The last of the blossoms. Some places (as we drove north) were still waiting for theirs, while others were in full leaf. The perfume from this pink blossom was heady and glorious.

 The blooms on this tree were huge! Gorgeous!

 The old church has been renovated to include parts of the very old. Sometimes this is good, but the decoration on the old part we so degraded, it made me very sad. I couldn't find out how old this was.

 It is the fun and quirky details to make us smile. Street of the Goat that Dances:)

 Last photo as we sat waiting at the lights opposite this bridge, further down the Loire River.

Back on the N20 and we were northbound once more.
Vast open spaces, crops, the same brown/green/yellow canvas on Mother Earth, to admire as we drove through the Eure et Loir and into Isle de France Departments. Paris is in Isle de France, so we knew we weren't too far away...we thought.
Paris is a HUGE city, and the outskirts were slow going, through 'normal' streets with traffic lights that were part of the N20, and the motorbikes weaving their way through the traffic were terrifying. As seasoned motorcyclists, both of us, we couldn't believe what some of them were doing to get ahead of the traffic. Total suicide!
The suburbs seemed to go on forever, before we joined the city traffic.

No time to take photos....I had to have eyes in the back and sides of my head, and Waz had his eye on the direction we were going, and busy reading the signs. The stress of the drive isnt in the traffic, because even though there is a lot of it and it appears a bit crazy, it isnt moving at great speed. We crawled along for what seemed like hours, often coming to a complete standstill for minutes at a time. The stress is in keeping your eye on the traffic AND trying to figure out which lane to be in, and where THAT lane peels off to. There were a few almost mishaps as people changed lanes hurredly and at the last moment to cut across to the lane of their destination, often across 4 lanes! aiee! I saw more than one Fiat 500 do this, and wondered if it was in their DNA! lol.
The other stress, but this time, was having a full bladder, and not only not wanting to get out of the traffic, but not being able to do so. Waz spied a gas station...we had to return the car with a full tank, of course, and this advertised BP. Do a quickie turn onto the far right hand lane across two lanes...thanks for letting me through, folks! and into the turn-off to the gas station. OH NO! Cant access it from there, so around the corner to the right we go and Nada! cant get in there either!! Closed to traffic!  WHATTTT??? Crazy place is having a market day, and there is a Grand Rond Point (a large roundabout freeforall) at this same place. Not only do you now have huge vans parked everywhere, so that there is little room to pass without scraping something, you have a dozen vehicles all wanting to go in the same direction, and oh dear! now the light has changed, and I am sitting in the middle of the intersection...just as I had seen so many before me doing...but nobody wanted to let me in , and people sat on their horns to get me out of the way...but where was I going to go? Not an inch anywhere! F**K! BREATHE!!!!
Ok...breath taken, no we want to go right! WAAATTTT?? You want me to go down there? But there are 7 other vehicles (I say vehicles, coz they are light trucks and vans, motorcycles and other things that one cant describe) all wanting to get onto that SINGLE LANE on-ramp down to the highway.
Phew! Dont hyperventilate!
I cut a motorcyclist off and I heard him yell unmentionables at me...tough! C'est Paris, buddy! and I joined the queue for the on-ramp along with all the others now jockeying for what little space there was between vehicles. I seriously expected to be side-swiped! Just as well we took out comprehensive insurance for this one day journey. $20 for no deductible, thanks! Well worth it.

BTW...it was now 23C outside. We needed to peel some clothing off, but couldn't stop to do so. Thank goodness the car had air conditioning!

See where that motorcyclist is with his bright green helmet? That is where we are all trying to go.
Those market day vans were poking out into the Rond point (literally Round Point), and not leaving a whole lot of room for the traffic. Everything tightened up between vehicles after I took this photo. We were at a standstill, and waiting for that green light to the right of the motorcyclist. Off we went...creeping along and around each other. I kept a smile on my face the whole way through, even though my bladder was a bursting point by now. I had intended relieving myself at the gas station.

Further down the highway, mostly in slow traffic and often no movement at all, we found another gas station and this one had a toilette. Oh boy, did it have a toilette! After locking the car while Waz filled up with gas, I ventured into the facility. Hmm...The floor was literally awash. You dont want to imagine the smell, and there were no lights in the stalls. There was a good two inch gap under the door, and if I was smart, I could use the light to look down and find the edge of the toilet, and aim straight! lol. I had to roll up the trouser legs to avoid drenching them in muck, and the bowl itself...well, ok, I wont go there.

I could wash my hands with soap, however! lol. Waz ventured in next, even after I warned him, but we didnt know when our next loo stop might be.

Suitably relieved, full of gas (the car, that is!) and ready for the rest of the journey. We crossed numerous bridges on the highway which is known as the Peripherique. It is the Ring Road that goes all the way around Paris. What we didnt know was that the Paris Marathon was being run today! It wouldn't have made our choice any different, I have to admit, because we still had to get to Paris some time and some how. This rail strike is a pain in the ass. If they haven't reached a suitable or any settlement by May when we return, that arrival date is also on their strike schedule. Bah! I hope that doesn't mean we will have a reverse drive down to Bordeaux, after a long journey from NZ.

Finding the drop off point for our rental car proved to be a bit of a mission, at Charles de Gaulle Airport. There are no clear signs, and in fact, they are clearly lacking in any form. We went around the ring twice. Once to suss out where to go and the second time to hopefully find the place we spied on the first go around.
We had had enough of sitting in this most uncomfortable vehicle, by now, and anxious to get off the road.
Finding the sign for car returns, we followed the small signs, and eventually found Hertz, four floors up in a spiral in the parking garage. Of course all the portals (those spaces you have to drive through) are narrow and we often fear for our wing mirrors on the way through.
Hertz were very efficient, however, and we were off and out of there in a flash.

I am going to send the striking SNCF Rail and Air France folks the bill for our car rental, the extra day in the hotel, and the meals we have to purchase in the meantime. Not happy with them.  You cant hold the country to ransom like this, and I hope like hell that President Macron holds his ground on the issues on the table.

Back in our favored hotel, we took a much needed nap, and woke in time for dinner which we ate at the hotel for a change. The hotel is too hot. I did ask, this morning, if they could lower the temperature. We had turned the heat in our room off per usual, and opened the window, but the attitude of the staff is this..." Well, we are still in the 'Heating Period' of the  year, and so you can turn your room heat off and open the window if you like." I told them we had done that, and his response was that nothing could be done about it. Sigh!

Ok, Im going to join Waz in a nap. This is a welcome break for us, before all the craziness that is to come.
Stay tuned, folks. See you on the other side.