France 2010 - Day 14

"One man's folly is another man's wife." - Helen Rowland

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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.

France 2010 - Day 13, Part 4 - Château d'Amboise

"Men are not against you; they are merely for themselves." - Gene Fowler

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France 2010
Day 13 - 14th October - Château d'Amboise (Part 4)

All the Kings of France, from Charles VII to Francis I, stayed at Amboise.

After the Gothic furniture was the Renaissance furniture, which introduced perspective.


Chair and perspective


Drawers and perspective


Henri III chamber


Fireplace in Franciscan Antechamber


Louis-Philippe Bedchamber


Louis Philippe's sister Madame Adélaide: the Duke of Orleans and his wife


Looking out the side


Bridge and town


Ramparts and the gardens


Château windows


Coat of Arms at a door


Porcupine's Gate (I think) and shrubs


Château


Château and Gardens


Château and St Hubert Chapel


Cypress, Grape vines, porcupine bushes


Lion's Gate

There was an area dedicated to the Middle East.


Information about the Oriental Garden


Oriental Garden and Memorial


Dedicated to 25 henchmen of Emir Abdelkader, who died here from 1848 to 1852


Town of Amboise and Heurtault Tower


Cedar of Lebanon


Bust of Leonardo da Vinci


Heurtault Tower


Gothic vs Renaissance Windows


St Hubert Chapel


A hot air balloon rises above the Château


"Leonardo da Vinci - Renaissance Man"


In the base of an arch supporting the vault: caught in fornication


Pussy in a hollow
One American: "Have you seen one skinny cat here?"


I love creams. Served with crème fraîche


Weapons in weapon shop


Incontinence awareness poster


UNESCO signpole


The Château from below
This was the closest I could get to the official shots


I forgot why I was asked to take this picture. I think it was because this house was reversed: its rear was where other houses' fronts were, and vice versa

I think this was the other side of the house:



Now I had to drive all the way back to Paris, which was quite far.

For dinner we stopped at a Buffalo Grill. We had seen a few but this was the first time we got to try it.

Buffalo Grill is a French chain specialising in American-style grilled meat. And apparently "Buffalo Grill" is a play on "Buffalo Bill"


"Les desserts. Hits. So American !
Classics. So incontournables !" (incontournable = unavoidable)
Notice the French style of puncuation

There was also a item: "Fruités. So fruity !" Duh.


"French Brioche. Brioche à la française"
Gotta love the translation (there's a law that all slogans in foreign languages must be translated into French - and it's more honoured in the observance than in the breach)


Their idea of Buffalo Wings
The Barbecue sauce was a bit pedestrian. Oh well, American food outside the US


French Duo with Rocquefort


Bison pavé with Béarnaise sauce (Bison chunk)
You could ask for many types of sauce, but the server recommended Béarnaise

Bison tastes like a more neutral sort of beef.


I ordered my meat à point (medium), but probably due to the strange shape of the meat it wasn't very thoroughly-cooked (this section was like rare). I sent it back, of course.


The menu
Notice the lack of a vegetarian - let alone vegan - option. Even the salads all have meat in them
Notice also that they have "Viande Bovine Française" (French Beef) vs "Viande de race français" (French-breed beef)


If you ever wanted to know the French translations for "onion rings", "Fish", "Bun's" (sic), "Ribs", "All Fruits", "Bison by Buffalo", "New", "Frenchy Burger", "French Beef", "The" and "French Brioche", look here


The French Brioche
This was excellent. And also quite sweet, as the Brioche was already sweet before the caramel sauce and cookies and cream ice cream

Since I still had a way to go and was running low on gas, I tried to refuel in Orléans. The GPS led us to a street where the road was being drilled up, so it was bumpy. Eventually I found Auchan, a supermarket.


Red lights in the night

Eventually I got back to Paris. How did I know I was back in Paris? When I was driving on the Périphérique (ring road) in the evening, I was the target of aggressive driving as people kept coming up close behind me. The best was this guy who came up very close behind me, and FLASHED HIS HIGH BEAM. I was blinded and would've crashed if I hadn't had a certain modicum of experience. Perhaps it was that asshole's wish to make me crash into him, so that he could claim insurance money.


What a Formule 1 room looks like

In all, in 6 days I had driven more than 1,688km:




We had apéritifs most of the time (and twice cider) but never a digestif. Partly because I had to drive.

Having a car is fun because when you finish a drink you can just toss the bottle into the back seat.