Bienvenue en France!

Introducing Navi, our friend, home and transport for the next 3 weeks...

"Have you ever noticed that anybody driving slower than you is an idiot, and anyone going faster than you is a maniac?" - George Carlin

Foodie moment

After driving aimlessly around Northern France looking for the campsite we booked, of which we knew neither the name nor address of, and had no access to Internet to find out this essential information... we finally happened across a campsite that 'kind of' looked open. Thankfully it was, and we had finally found a home for us and Na'vi at 9pm. The desperate hunt for food then led us to abandoned restaurants and ghost towns, till we finally saw the distant twinkling of neon lights... Ok, ok... our first meal in France was wood fired pizza accompanied by Chianti (Italian wine) but it was delicious and so appreciated by our stomachs! The honey and smoked chicken they added to our pizzas was great!

Cultural moment

So being that we have spent the majority of the last 2 days on the road, it is only natural that our cultural moment for this blog has to do with French driving, and the differences and difficulties we faced. To say that the French don't mess around when it comes to getting somewhere A.S.A.P would be an understatement. Distance and speed is measured in kilometers, which would be great for us being from Australia, but not when the van we hired is in miles per hour. Travelling on the major highways (A16 from Calais to Paris) is an exciting experience. 130kph (80mph) all the way, Na'vi did surprisingly well holding that speed.

The other funny and dangerous thing we witnessed in Paris was that people driving scooters think they are riding push bikes, in that laws don't apply. Red light ahead? So what, go right through as fast as you can... Car indicating and switching lanes? No problem, cut right past them from behind the blind spot. You're okay, you're the scooter superman!

Wow moment

The Wow moment for the past couple of days has to be given to...... US!
Mark has had to drive off the ferry in Calais onto the 'wrong' side of the road, in a unfamiliar rental vehicle and following road signs in French. He had adapted to it SO incredibly well with only an occasional mantra of 'Stay on the right' being chanted! It has not been easy driving either... especially once we entered Paris
I have already had to delve deep into my high school French knowledge many times in the past couple of days. The lady at the campsite spoke no English (well anything we said was met with a blank look) so all negotiations, directions and instructions had to be done in French. Without it I just don't know what we would have done! Don't get me wrong... it's total pigeon French - just verbs and nouns - but I'm still pretty proud of what i can tack together after 12 years without a single word!!

What we learnt today

The countryside of France is dotted with huge wind turbines. They are spinning away merrily, creating power, and make me wonder why Australia hasn't embraced this idea with more vigour

You really can buy snails in the supermarket!!! You can buy them in cans then also buy the shells so they can be served as if you just caught them in your garden... or wherever :p Yummy!