Bonjour!!

Sava? Tres bien! I have been back in Blighty since Sunday, but some of that French lassez-faire bone idleness must have rubbed off, as I have bee in seriuos loaf mode since my return. The trip was great, but as a Bender Squad destination, I am afraid the land of our Gallic brothers is a no go area for the moment. It is expensive. And not just a little pricey, but eye wateringley so. An example? 6€ a pint for a start. Yes, that was in Paris, but it wasn't much cheaper outside the French capitol. Until the exchange rate changes, or the frogs become a little bit more realistic in their pricing, I vote "NON" to boozing in France. Which is a shame, as it is a Hell of a nice place to visit. What were the pros, and what were the cons? Read on.....

Tres Bien!
Paris, still probably, just about, my favourite city in the world. Bayeaux for the tapestry. The D Day beaches at Collville. Canoeing around Brantome. The eerie ruined village at Oradour sur Glan. The lager, especially Pelforth, a new French brew discovered on this trip. All lagers are not cheap, but all carry an ABV over 5%. Village cook out in Saint Mathieu. Pick your grub, tell them how you want it cooked, and get pissed. Why don't they anything like that here? The road network. I did around 1,500 miles around France and got stuck in one traffic jam, and drove through only one set of road works. Ice cream. Proper full fat stuff with flavours ranging from vanilla and choclat, to foie gras. The French also make a mean pastry....mmmmm pastry. Nobody wears tracksuits tucked into their socks.

Sacre Bleu!!
The food. Apart from the pastry and bread, what is the big deal? Poncey and overpriced, and everything appears to come with chips. And not the proper ones either, but the skinny assed ones like you get at any burger joint. And boy can than charge you for the privilege. My advice? Stick to McDonald's. It still ain't cheap, €7 for a value meal, but it will be by far the cheapest thing you eat while there. And you can get a beer. We stopped in one place in Bayeux, and for six of us to eat was a €100. It doesn't sound bad, till you figure that we were only eating stuff like omelette's and chips. Another place, a small patisserie in the country, charged me €11 for two sandwiches. No wonder the busiest restaurants you came across were MaccyD's. Outrageous. Motorway tolls. You do a couple of hundred miles, and you pull up to the booth expecting to get charged something like €5, or so. Imagine my surprise when €20 flashed up. You can't get round them either, as the alternative usually adds 60 miles to your journey. In fact everything is insanely expensive. I know the exchange rate has something to do with it, but crikey it stings the old wallet. I firmly believe if Squad members JohnnyM or Jamon pitched up in France they would explode.

As you can see, my only real gripe is with the price of everything. Apart from that it is a fantastic place to visit, and on the whole, the people are nice enough, if a bit whiffy. If you rent yourself a Gite, or are camping, it can be done on a budget. The supermarkets are pretty cheap, and most public facilities are pretty good (apart from toilets). But if you like to live high on the hog, as I know most of the Squad, and readers of this blog do, I would avoid until the pound gets stronger.