Limoges

What can I say about Limoges? Well, I know I didn't really give it much of a chance to prove itself but even so... My hotel looked good on the internet but when I got there it was a slightly different story. They didn't have my Bombay Sapphire gin which I have managed to live without when necessary, but they also did not have tonic water, or food come to that. So I went for a wander to see what I could see and the result was: NOT MUCH! I think I must have been in a somewhat dodgy part of town because everything looked run down and closed. Even the supermarket had closed down. I eventually found a small bar who could sell me a G & T but wouldn't sell me a bottle of tonic to go with my own gin. Feeling somewhat disgruntled, I headed back to where I thought my hotel had been and happened upon a strange pizza place where I got some chicken wings and salad and a coke. Then I took some time to find my hotel again and had my dinner in the 'dining room' which was of course, deserted. There were a couple of pluses: they had a garage to put the car in; the bed was comfortable and the man on reception was friendly and as helpful as the limited resources allowed. I was relieved to be leaving early the next morning.

I headed towards Paris following Tom's instructions once I got there to the letter but I kept ending up in Central Paris. This would have been fine if that was where I had intended to go but I thought I was aiming for the Charles de Gaulle airport area. Having driven round La Place de la Concorde a couple of times, and up the Champs Elysee a couple of times, I figured I must have given Tom the wrong address so I eventually found a place where I could stop the car and regroup. Of course I was the one at fault - Tom never makes mistakes, so after reprogramming him, we headed out to CDG and found the hotel I had booked for the night so that I wouldn't miss meeting Lyss' & Joe's flight which arrived early the next morning.

What a crock - this hotel was a bit unloved as well and was in desperate need of some TLC to brighten it up a bit. However, there was a bar and a restaurant which was just as well because there weren't any alternatives in the vicinity. To top it off, they took full advantage of this status and charged horrendous prices for any food or drink so I felt somewhat ripped off. I wasn't really too concerned because I knew it was only for 1 night and I was looking forward to seeing Lyss and Joe, and spending time in Paris with them. I thought I might have a good breakfast in the morning as it was included in the cost of the room but when I went down the next morning, it was even more basic than a standard continental breakfast and no sign of the 'full American breakfast' promised on the website and interestingly enough, no staff in the dining room to ask or complain to about that so I packed my car up and headed off to CDG to meet Lyss.