Tour de France

The drive from Lausanne to the French border didn't take long. To my surprise we were stopped and interviewed by an overzealous customs officer even though the cars in front of us didn't have to stop. She asked me (I was driving) if we had bought anything from Switzerland. I said no and that we only stayed there for one night and were just passing through. She looked suspicious and looked into the car and said: "Nothing? Are you sure?" Err.. yeah.. and then you start to feel guilty and think if you actually HAD bought something and should pay some taxes. But no, we were unguilty and free to pass the border. Phew! 

You know the same kind of feeling when you're in the car driving somewhere and you bypass a police car, and you suddenly get this feeling that you must have broken the law somehow, and you check your speed and driving lights and seatbelts and everything possible in just one second? 

In France we chose to skip the highways and use the smaller roads with less traffic. I had never been to France before and I wanted to see the countryside and picturesque little villages. The weather was really sunny and warm as it has been during the whole trip so we had an adorable drive through the forests, fields and villages. Lovely!

After driving for three hours we stopped in a town that was a bit bigger than the small villages. We had desperately been searching for a toilet and I finally spotted a gas station. I went in with the boys and corteously asked the lady behind the counter if we could use the toilet. She scowled at the boys and simply said "no". ..... I considered this as very rude behaviour and it just didn't seem to fit in this beautiful scenery. I had coins with me and I could have paid for the toilet, if she would have kindly asked me to.  There's no reason to be rude, however. I instantly thought that it must be true what the rumour says about the French' hospitality, that there usually is none. But,  all the French people I have met and known before, are the kindest, warmest and the most considerate people there are. Many kisses and best regards to Anais and Khalid! Xxx

I just noticed that I took most of the pictures with our digital camera instead of my mobile phone so I can't upload all the photos I wanted, but I'll try to add them afterwards!

Getting closer to Reims, where we would be staying for two nights:

..and here we are! I can't believe we're finally here in the Champagne area!

Again we're staying at a Novotel hotel and again it's of good standard (4 stars). 

We left for downtown by foot and made a little tour before having dinner. 

The congress center:

Canal de l'Aisne a la Marne:

Place Stalingrad:

..and the wonderful Notre-Dame cathedral!

The main pedestrian street on which the most of the restaurants are in Reims:

As for dinner, we found a restaurant called L'Apostrophe. First we had to have some champagne, of course! And surely you all know, that the correct way to pour wine is to hold the bottle at the bottom by placing your thumb in the bottom hole (= punt or dimple)? Yes, the waitress knew the etiquette!

The food was simply delicious!!! An excellent choice for a restaurant. I only remembered to take photos of the starters and desserts; maybe I was just too focused on enjoying the moment..!

My next post will be about our visits to the wineries, so keep tuned!