Oct 14: United #916 over the Atlantic

The last few days have been a denoument. I think that means a winding down. We left the Burgogne region hoping to spend the last two days before departure in the region near Paris, so getting to the airport on the morning of departure would be simplified. Good plan, except that the region around Paris has no interest for us. The topography is completely flat, with big farm fields. Think Kansas. So we blew on through.

We stopped to spend a night at Fountainbleau, one of the really big castles of one of the french kings. We found a little hotel that was not insanely expensive, and took a walk to see the castle close and the Sunday afternoon day trippers have their final coffees and beers before hitting the road and trains for home.

In the morning we took a walk to the castle to see what it was all about. Not much. Once you find the entrance to get in, you have to figure out if there is a charge (yes), and if it is worth it (we couldn't tell, no information), and then you can walk in the castle. WE walked around the outside looking into the rooms and decided it is pretty much the same as all the rest. It is true, once you've seen several castles you've seen em all.

The big thing about Fountainbleau is the Gardens. So we took a nice, long walk throught them. Nice, but not really great. Big, huge, yes. But not really groomed, not really colorful. A nice park. Not really worth the detour. Maybe worth a stop if it is on the way. Oh, and the hotel, kind of a dump.

So we took off, headed off to get real close to the airport. Not very high expectations for this stop. We weren't disapointed. We took the opportunity to clean out the car and get all out luggage sorted and repacked, ready to go! Oh, by the way, the hotel was bad, real bad. A plastic drop in bathroom. Shower, sink, toilet all together. Like they put into campers smalller than ours. A no smoking hotel, that reeked of cigarettes. Oh, and plastic floors that wrapped up the walls to form a kind of basin, so maybe the room could be hosed out?

So, after 3956 miles (this trip), here are our key takeaways:
Things France has got right-
- Roundabouts
- Office de Tourisme
- Bread, cheese, pastries
- Bed n Breakfasts
- the national trails system

Things they really need to work on:
- Airports
- Intersections other than roundabouts
- Hotels
- Obsession with the USA

Au revoir, we hope to be back at our regular computer base on Oct 19, and would love to here from you then, and perhaps to give you a chance to send a note and ask a question, or better yet to tell us what you have been doing. Look for our fancy internet slide show then too!