Day 13 - Friday 13th May 2005

We were up early this morning to catch the Eurostar from Waterloo. We had a comfortable trip, the four of us were grouped around a table  in the front carriage.  It really moves along, the scenery just streaks by.  The trip out of London by train is very good.  The tracks are built up quite high and you get a good view of the surrounding area including the soon to be restored Battersea PowerStation.  After travelling through the beautiful green countryside south of London, we entered the "Chunnel" just as a London bound Eurostar was exiting it.  After about 20 minutes under the channel we emerged in France.  We arrived at the Gare Du Nord around midday and caught a taxi to Courbevoie to pick up our car.  The Paris traffic was amazing.  The taxi drivers were especially flamboyant.  They performed a variety of grotesque manoeuvres at busy intersections, however, they did them stylishly and were thus forgiven.  We have leased a car, a new Peugeot 407 diesel Station Wagon, it is silver with a glass roof and is very comfortable for touring.  We piled all our luggage in the back and set off for Clomot in Burgundy.  The drive out of Paris was interesting and demanded much concentration.  Cameron was the designated navigator and apart from a small miscalculation on the Periphique, where he had us heading Nord rather the Sud, we were well on our way down the A6 towards Dijon.  Speed limit is 130kph, but that seems more like a guideline than a rule.   There was quite a bit of heavy rain but the automatic wipers took care of that.  Actually everything is automatic, even the lights go on automatically when it gets dark or you enter a tunnel.  Stopped at a motorway service area for some diesel and some lunch, surprisingly good quality.  Back on the road for a couple more hours with a stop at Pouilly-en-A to stock up on groceries then finally to our destination just outside the village of Clomot.  We are staying for a couple of weeks at Ninya's parents holiday house.  It is a restored 400 year old mill house in a beautiful miniature park with willows and oaks next to a small creek.  The walls and floor are stone, and almost a metre thick, and huge beams support the roof.  There is a small waterfall just behind the house and an ancient pigeonnaire overlooking it.  We settled in and the girls cooked a lamb roast and roasted vegetables, seasoned with herbs from the herb garden.  A couple of bottles of wine from the cellar rounded off a delicious meal.  Cameron lit the fire and we spent the rest of the evening sitting around that reading.  (No TV or internet).