A DAY WITHOUT COFFEE IS A DOOMED DAY

May 11, 2011 Our first morning in France arrived with sunshine and puffy clouds floating along, We passed on the 5 Euro petit dejeunner of a cup and a crust, agreeing to get our coffee along the route.

First off we had some technical tweaks to work out. Don had used his bicycle trunk to carry his CPAP and the zipper began to fail so we decided to see if we could get a new one. Also we needed to pick up some bread and a few other supplies. So, we packed up an headed out for the big box region.

As we arrived at the Decathelon sporting goods store Don began to worry about his little camera. Now, he had his big camera with him, so why we brought two cameras is a mystery to me. But, we did, and Don worried that he had left it on the roof of the car as we drove away from the hotel.

No joy at the Decathelon, so on to the supermarket. Ed By the time we finished there Don was fussing about his camera, so we decided to skip coffee and go back to the hotel to see if someone had kindly turned it in, but no luck there either.


Off we went to Reims to visit the enormous, grand cathedral. This year is the 800th anniversary of the cathedral, and impressively, people have been worshiping at this site for 1500 years. We strolled around the building admiring the rose windows and the Marc Chagall stained glass, the ancient stone carvings and the impressive height and architectural accomplishment that is the Cathedral at Reims.A quick stop to check out an exposition sponsored by the Brittany Tourist Assn., featuring oysters, several booths with detailed information on vacationing at the shore, and live music. Then we returned to our car and made our way out of Reims, driving along the big canal.

There were lots of very large barges and boats in the canal. We drove south in the sun and I dozed off for a bit and when I woke up again we were out in the country headed toward Verdun.

We stopped along the road to have our picnic lunch and Don took a quick nap, snoring gently until a big semi blasted his horn at us to say HI.

While I was waiting for Don to have his nap I thought I would play a bit of Monopoly. But, my Monopoly game was not in my bag and I looked around a bit, but no game. After thinking about it I decided I must have left it at the hotel.

When Don woke up we decided to leave Verdun for another day and go back, just 16 miles to the hotel yet again to search for my game.

No game was turned in and the manager even went up to the room to look to no avail. What a day--lost camera lost game, NO COFFEE,

It was getting late in the afternoon so we set out for out home exchange in Sexey aux Forges. Don texted our hostess, Valerie, our expected arrival time so she could meet us. Of course, Don was relying on a cheat sheet from Rick Steves about how to make a call in France, but he just wouldn’t believe me that there was a special procedure to be used for his cell phone.

The drive from Chalons en Champagne to Sexey was very long and the sun kept popping out from behind a cloud and getting us all warm and cozy, so it was a challenge to stay awake.

We arrived on time, but no Valerie, so Don tried to call her a few times, always getting the nice French robot lady who didn’t like the number we were dialing.,

After awhile Don decided to check for a key under the mat, and lo and behold, he found a key under a rock! At last a bit of good luck. We went into the house and had just begun to look around when the doorbell rang and there was Valerie to say hi. She had not received out text and had stopped by to pick up the key.

We had a quick chat and checked out the house and then Valerie headed home to feed kids.

Don and I lugged our stuff into the house and I began to check out dinner options while Don made a final check of the car..

My hero, Don, came in holding my Monopoly game, which he had found under the seat. I hugged him and kissed him and told him how wonderful he is. He returned to the car and when he came back into the house the next time he had his little camera, which he had stowed in the side pocket.

So, all is well that ends well and our dastardly day without coffee came to a happy ending.