Channel Adventure Day 14

Day 14 - Saturday, April 21, 2018 – Leave Beauvoir; Drive to Chambord; Lunch on A10; Return Rental Car; Hotel Novotel, Charles de Gaulle Airport

We woke up to our last morning in Les Vieilles Digues B&B and ate breakfast. It was hard saying goodbye to Danielle and we thanked her for our wonderful week in Brittany. We would highly recommend booking this Bed and Breakfast for a stay in Brittany and the Emerald Coast.

It was 9:05 am when we left the land of Mont St. Michel and headed east and south to see the Château de Chambord. It was a three and a half hour drive so we had long way to go. The skies were a little hazy and the temperature was warm, already 76 degrees.

There was so much humidity in the air; the “fragrance” of the cattle was very strong. Being in the land of milk and dairy products, one can expect to smell the by-products!

Being Saturday, the traffic was heavy on the farm roads and when we got to the limited access highway there were many cars, buses, and large trucks. Because the transportation strike in France was still going strong, people were using their own cars to drive for weekend holidays instead of taking the trains.

An emergency vehicle passed us at a high rate of speed and just after, we saw an overturned car, in total flames. We could feel the heat from the burning vehicle. The speed limits ranged from 90 to130 KM per mile on most roads, about 85 miles per hour. Lesson learned, slow down, and arrive safely!

We drove past many recognizable cities, notably Le Mans, with many advertisements for the speedway. When we arrived in the Loire Valley, we could see signs for the famous luxurious châteaus.

Our morning destination was to visit Chambord, one of the most famous of the royal hunting lodges of the king of France, Francis I. It was begun in 1519 and completed in 1547. Never intended as a fortification, the towers and turrets are totally decorative.

As a sign of the immense wealth of the nobility Chambord was one of the targets of the French Revolution. It was looted and then abandoned and later restored to display the prosperity of times past.

We arrived at Chambord and spent some time walking around the gardens and taking a few photos. We had not planned to enter the chateau and we were happy with that decision, as there were thousands of other Saturday tourists already there.

The ticketed parking areas were full, but we managed to park along the side road for long enough to get a great feel of the ambience of living in France as royalty. The gardens were just beginning to bloom. I could not help but wonder how many people it took to maintain the facility.

Parts of the structure were being refurbished and huge scaffolding prevented us to get the iconic photos of the front of the building. Perhaps another time and another visit to France will be better for panoramic photos.

We continued over the Loire River and were back on A10 after a few hours. We stopped on the A10 to Paris and had lunch at a highway rest stop. As we got back on the expressway, there was another accident on the southbound lanes that had traffic backed up for at least 12 miles. With no way to get off of these limited access roads, the vehicles had nothing to do but wait.

As we got closer to Paris, the traffic came to a standstill. Our faithful GPS tried to reroute us around the jams, but there was nothing to do but push on and stay on Route A10 and then go on A3 to the airport.

Seeing the Eiffel Tower in the distance reminded us of our previous times in Paris where being able to walk was the key to a leisurely visit. Driving in Paris was not for sissies, but Vic did a remarkable job as Gennie tried to keep us on the right route.

We had called ahead to the Novotel at Charles de Gaulle Airport and were advised to come straight there to check in and drop off our bags. Once we were settled, we took the Passat back to Europcar. There was not an attendant at the garage so we had to walk into Terminal 2 to drop off the keys.

Finding the little orange train that was to take us right back to Terminal 3 and our hotel was more complicated than it should have been. We took a tour of the airport that was certainly unintentional. We finally found a person to guide us and within no time we were on the CDGVAL shuttle train and back at our hotel.

Tomorrow when we have to go to Terminal 2 we will know exactly where to go. We settled into our room and began sorting the photos and preparing the journal for our last day on this Channel Adventure.

We will complete the travel day of the GarciaTrips Journal after we arrive home in Monument, on Sunday, April 22nd. We fly to Denver via Toronto and do not arrive until late in the evening.

The first condition of understanding a foreign country is to smell it.

Rudyard Kipling

Accommodations: Hotel Novotel Paris C de G Hotel - - - Meal: B