Morning 2nd
We had originally planned to leave for La Colle on 30th August. Maggi had been referred to Moorfields Eye Hospital by her optician. The hospital offered Maggi an appointment on 1st September. A delay for a few days wouldn’t really effect us and it would resolve any eye problems that Maggi might have.
The journey to La Colle began at 5:50 am when the alarm sounded and I swivelled my legs round to get out of bed. Of course the preparation for the trip had started a few days before.
We left the house just after 6:30 am and hadn’t driven more than 30 yards when Maggi did her usual trick. Stop I don’t know where my make-up bag is, I might not have packed it. It might still be in the bathroom. Despite my initial protests I stop, she has the make-up bag (or whatever)
At home I had charged up the car to 100%. When we arrived at LeShuttle we passed straight to immigration and to the queue for embarkation, so we didn’t get a chance to renew the charge. On arrival we had 63% left in the tank which enabled us to reach the St Quentin superchargers.
Lunch 2nd
These Superchargers are situated in a giant retail park. while we waited for the car to fill up with with electricity we took the opportunity to visit the toilets of the large Burger King. We bought some drinks at the Auchan Supermarket to accompany our homemade sandwiches. The Auchan store seemed to stretch for ever. The first section we arrived at contained clothes, then came home accessories, then tinned goods and at the very opposite end of the shop we found the drinks we had looked for.
We ate our sandwiches and by the time we’d finished we had a fully charged Tesla and we left the retail park.
The audiobook ‘The Kite Runner” by Khaled Hosseini entertained us for most of the way down to Beaune. A beautiful story, with heartbreaks, personal weaknesses displayed by all the main characters, love and affection. It all comes to a climax with the merest suggestion of hope. We had listened to a masterpiece and the thought of listening to another audiobook would surely lead to disappointment.
Evening 2nd
We arrived at the Hotel La Belle Epoque in Beaune at the end of the afternoon. `We have stayed in the his hotel several times before. They provide a pleasant breakfast but the rooms in the main building have seen better days and remind one of the hotel’s name.
A quick use of the loo and then we left to look for a place to eat. We foolishly hadn’t booked anywhere and so we wandered fairly aimlessly from one restaurant to another. Eventually we settled on “Le Grand Cafe de Lyon” The place buzzed with drinkers and diners. We sat down. I ordered a Vodka Martini while Maggi chose an Aperol Spritz. Maggi’s drink looked fine and she had no complaints. My VM appeared to have been concocted by a complete novice. He had made it with sweet martini, it contained a scrap of lemon. If that wasn’t bad enough the mixocologist had made sure the whole mess was significantly warmer than room temperature. The drink was so bad I couldn’t be bothered to complain.
For food Maggi and I shared a plate of terrine and then i had a plate with mashed potatoes, duck breast and carrots. Neither dishes hit the depths of the Martini, they both passed the acceptable level.
We became slightly lost when we walked back to the hotel, but a quick glance at google maps and we returned to the right track.
3rd September
We left our Belle Epoque hotel and drove to the other side of Beaune to charge up and do our shopping for supplies from Leclerc. Those chores completed we returned to the motorway and drove straight through Lyon and all the way along the motorway. A straight forward journey brought us to La Colle.
Almost immediately after we arrived Nathalie came running up the stairs to describe the catastrophe that had occurred a week earlier. A nest of Asian Hornets had made a nest undertake eaves of the house. These insects are about 2 cm long and have a vicious sting. Neither Maggi nor I could workout from her conversation how they had rid the building of the beasts. We offered to pay but she shrugged that away.