And that was France

I have had a busy couple of days working but we have still managed to move twice. Firstly to the really pretty town of Honfleur which is right at the mouth of the River Seine. Who knew the Seine flows northwards and discharges into the English Channel? Not me anyway but I know now. It was another leisurely journey avoiding the motorways and most of the traffic. Weather in Honfleur has been amazing. Really sunny and also quite warm 18 degrees today.

Here are a few pictures from Honfleur.

Below, the hedges are cut to look like boats
Big towery tower
This is where the women used to gather to wash their clothes. A "Steamie" without the steam!
Old buildings

So after leaving Honfleur this morning we have again travelled north. France is famed for its cuisine and it seems that French people have an especial attachment to a particular ITALIAN dish. They seem to be infatuated with PIZZA. Now where do they buy these pizzas I hear you ask. In fancy pizza restaurants? Nope have you ever heard the like? They buy the pizzas from Pizza vending machines. They are everywhere, even in some of the smallest villages.
So we decided today was the day to find out, for your benefit only, because we felt sure you would want to know, whether these things taste any good. The guy inside the booth must be pretty small I guess. Anyway we fumbled our way around the buttons and selected a "Burger" flavoured pizza. yes I know, I know, it was the best of a somewhat limited selection. We thought that we were ordering a pepperoni but on the next screen pepperoni had changed into burger flavour. Sheila expertly navigated her way through the buttons and managed to pay for it. 13.90 Euro. The machine gurgled and bleeped and a timer started indicating that we had to wait exactly 5 minutes for our pizza to be ready. Ten, nine, eight, seven, the excitment was buidling and the expectation was on a different level. Six, five, four, three seconds seem to take ages when you are at fever pitch. Two, one, zero. Bang on zero seconds a little door popped open and a pizza box popped out. I have to say the smell was encouraging but how was the taste?
Apart from being a little heavily browned on one side it looked good

Yes, yes, but what about the taste. Was it any good? Well I am amazed to report that it WAS good. It was REALLY good. I would definitely recommend burger flavoured pizza. It was really just mince pizza which sounds just as bad if not worse but give it a go, you will not be disappointed.

OK after lunch was consumed we headed onwards and eventually arrived at Calais in readiness for our crossing tomorrow via the Channel Tunnel. We have never dallied in Calais before so we took the chance today to have a little walk around. A couple of pictures for you.
Another big churchy thing but in fact this is the Calais Town Hall
This is the Grand Theatre of Calais
So that was that for France oh apart from a last minute purchase of half a dozen bottles of JP Chenet for 2.44 Euro a bottle. Tomorrow England and beyond.
Have a great day
David, Sheila and MJ















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