I
was in for a huge shock today when we reached the motorway outside of Tours –
TRAFFIC. WOW, is all I had to say. Apparently the beginning of August is a
popular time for the French to take vacation (although July was too.) Some take
the month, while some take less. Apparently the French get 5 weeks of vacation.
Doesn’t actually seem like a lot compared to my perception. On the first day of
this land tour the guide indicated that the traffic would be bad on the last
day, so we altered the schedule a bit to account for it, but I had NO IDEA. It
was like rush hour on Deerfoot Trail. 3 lanes in each direction (only our
direction busy), bumper to bumper with frequent stops. This was solid for about
2.5 hours and then intermittently throughout the whole day. The road is great –
there are just a ton of vehicles.
My
second WOW of the day came next. Our first ‘technical’ stop, as our guide describes
them, was as crowded as the motorway. It seemed as though one of the bus loads
of travellers was on an overnight journey as they were in the gas station bathroom
changing clothes, brushing teeth and taking showers. This was where we learned
too, that truck drivers in France can’t drive on the weekend and they have to
take a 15 min break every hour. The trucks’ steering wheels have gizmos that
track this information and will shut down when the driver hasn’t taken a break.
The trucks also log this information to be given to police on demand – interesting.
Bordeaux by night |
It’s
too bad I have no reason to buy cheese or meat or fish or vegetables, because
this market is the place. Actually I suspect this is just one of many, mind-blowing
markets all over France. The thing that most blows my mind are the cheese
stalls. In one market, there are at least 3 cheese stalls with more cheese in
one place than I have ever seen. And it is cheap. I figure at least half if not
less than what we pay in Calgary. Their regional speciality is apparently goat cheese
and that is by far the biggest price difference – not surprising considering it
is made right here.
A quick lunch here is a panini of regional goat cheese and
beer.
We finally reached the river boat around 5:00 after leaving
Tours at 8:30. That’s the progress we made on not-so-modern
infrastructure of Sri Lanka and India!!
During one of our technical stops we got a couple of snacks…Bolognaise
chips and a Magnum ‘Black’ ice-cream. The ice cream is vanilla laced with
espresso covered in a chocolate shell – OK, but I expected more coffee flavour and
the chips are just crazy. In Paris we had the Compté cheese flavour and now
these. I think roast chicken flavour is next.
1 comment:
I would definitely love that cheese stall at the market. Glad to see the drink in hand pictures are continuing!!
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