On the Road Again and End of the Road for the Blog

At Anne of Brittany fortress, Nantes. There are 2 chocolate eclairs in the box!

Cathedral, Nantes

Bri in Nantes

Anne of Brittany fortress

18th C chateau near Bri's host mom's house

Bri threatened by a large leafed young woman eating plant in the 18th C Chateau gardens

Entrance to 18th C chateau

Beers with Bri

Nantes

Thursday morning, I was back in the car at 8AM on the way back to Nantes. What's really strange is that it is still very dark at 8 in the morning in Normandy in October. My B+B hosts Madeleine and Bernard were out in the driveway, both in their bathrobes seeing me off. They had wisely advised me to take all autoroutes back to Nantes. Bernard told me that it takes him 3.5 hours to drive to Nantes but it should take me 4 if I go the speed limit! (130 km/hr).  It was counter intuitive, as I had to drive north, away from Nantes before the autoroutes would take me towards Nantes. It was more kilometers and more tolls but as Bernard said, it would save me a lot of time. My only difficulty was finding the gas station they had told me about. I ended up off the highway stuck in the roundabouts again, not knowing where to go. The trouble with putting gas in the car in France is that one must have an attended gas station to pay with cash as U.S. credit cards without the chips in them do not consistently work, nor do they consistently work at the toll booths on the autoroutes, hence potential problems and anxiety. I made it back to the Nantes train station about 12:15 after driving through fog, some light rain but light traffic. I found the car rental return and the ticket I needed to open the auto gate. With a large "whew" turned off the engine  to the Ford Focus in the same parking place it was in 2 weeks prior.  I returned it two days early but with great mass transit in Nantes and having to pay for parking most hours of the day, it was best to ditch the car.

Bri and her friend Lisa met me at the tram and I checked into a hotel. While Bri did homework on the bed, I took a snooze and soon she joined me with that too. We spent the evening together and Friday after her classes. We visited the Castle of the Dukes of Brittany built in the 15th C and an 18th chateau near her host mom's house. The grounds there are large and spectacular. It was a pretty warm day so we enjoyed strolling and talking. We shared frites with our beers and then later went to Cigales, a well known seafood restaurant in Nantes. It was with reluctance, Bri and I said our goodbyes at 10 last night. She left for the weekend this morning to visit Chateaux in the Loire Valley with her study abroad group. I'm happy that she has the opportunity to see the area and in fact they will visit the two Linda and I saw while we were staying in Amboise.

Spent today walking around Nantes and visited the Saturday morning flea market a short tram ride away. I'll be happy to head for Paris tomorrow on the train and fly home on Monday. 5 Weeks is a long-g-g-g-g trip! I have some wonderful memories; loved having my two close friends with me. I will never tire of spending time in beautiful Paris; there is always more to discover. I really enjoyed seeing Bri and her life in Nantes. The cooking classes were outstanding and the lost driving experiences will fade. They probably will even be humorous to me soon ( or maybe much later)!