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France 2010
Day 14 - 15th October - Departure
Before returning the car I had to fill up the gas tank. The second station the GPS led me to - an Aldi - had disappeared. Then while getting to the third, I witnessed an accident (a car ploughed headlong into the side of the engine area of another car) which caused a traffic jam. Luckily both seemed unhurt.
The third station I went to had a long queue, and someone cut my line (Paris, je t'aime !); somehow most gas stations with payment at the pump rejected my cards - even those with chips.
On my way to Charles de Gaulle airport I saw another accident (in my 6 days driving, the worst that happened to me was I knocked a highway cone). As well as a Samsung ad where a colourful hand in a thumbsup pose grabbed a phone ("Bagus!"). There was also a Concorde ad mounted on the tarmac for some reason.
I returned the car at 9:45am, 45 mins late, but didn't get fined. Maybe you get an hour's grace. Or maybe they were understanding, with all the strikes.
For breakfast, I decided to have something one definitely cannot find in Singapore:
McDonald's REAL Bacon and Egg McMuffun. And a 1€ "Mandise" (I can't find a translation so I'm assuming it's the name of the product rather than a generic name for the confection)
Check out that bacon
Inside of the "Mandise" with chocolate. It was excellent.
"Liberté, sécurité, flexibilité et agilité, tout est dans un seul nuage" ("Liberty, safety, flexibility and agility, all in the same cloud")
They couldn't find a way to squeeze in égalité and fraternité in there.
Charles de Gaulle looks like the Death Star, with all the grey concrete
Inside the Death Star
A girl who likes to ride
Woman in a coat which was basically a giant duvet from her neck to her ankles, with extra puffiness around her neck (and compartments with down/padding). Like the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man, in black.
This was in the immigration queue. I'm not sure how she stood it.
Giant Chupa Chups
What happens to crisps in the plane
As we got further from France, the French of the stewardess doing announcements seemed to get worse.
5 star hotels do exist in France, but they only have since 1st January 2009.
Overall the weather was good during my trip, with no rain (even in Brittany). This was despite it raining the week or two before I went there.
After some travel, you discount guidebook descriptions by half. It seems every other town has a Musée des Beaux Arts (Fine Arts museum) and a Château. That's not to say they are not nice, but the one in the next town might be better.
