Brantome, Dordogne, June 7, 2007, Hotel Chabarron

The Journey

Crossing the Channel, Disembarkment

We rolled onto the “Bretagne”, a Brittany Ferry which leaves
from Portsmouth to cross the channel to St. Malo ,at  7:45 PM, and by 8:00 we were in the ship’s
sit-down restaurant , Les Abers, sipping a cold glass of Macon Lugny. We looked  at naval ships and sailing
boats while watching the sky change from blue to gray to black. It was fun to hear French spoken by French
people again, and to see if anything intelligible came out of my own mouth, when it
wasn’t full of a delicious starter of asparagus, scallops, and a poached egg, main course of
cod flavored with star anise, a blue cheese, walnut, and pear cheese course, and a caramel custard
dessert. You can also order a modified
buffet, where you can get your own starter from a fantastic array of shrimp,
salmon, terrines, and salads, be served
your main course, then return to the buffet for desserts. I saw plates piled with at least a dozen
shrimp, salmon, and more, and refilled at dessert time with two and three
desserts.  But mine wasn’t among them. Is my halo straight?

Sleeping quarters are cramped, and we could hear the engines
throbbing most of the night, but there is a certain romance to it, anyway. Even though we didn’t sleep much, we were excited to see France again.  When we left the ferry, our first sight of France after nearly two years was the dark, imposing cliffs, topped by the towering, old city of St. Malo.   I
asked  Bernard  to drive first so I could get used to driving a right hand drive car on the
right side of the road. Driving
sometimes seems to me the most dangerous activity mankind has invented. We strap ourselves into this little box and
hurtle down highways with other cars at speeds which, if we didn’t aim right,
would smash us to bits. In addition, we
are spoiling our planet with the emissions.. Does this make any sense?

Good to be back on the beautiful French roads, at least. They are the best I know of, anywhere.  They
are wide, well maintained, lined with tidy bushes and trees, well marked and
well sign posted. I had forgotten how
good they are. All this is helped by the
fact that there aren’t many cars on them. But it does contribute to a sense of order and well-being . A promising start.