Drama day

Well, the good news about today (Monday) was that there were no traffic jams driving in to Bayeux.  That's because everyone had gone home by the time we arrived!  We had a 4-5 hour drive ahead of us when we left Tours - one of our biggest days on the road and another 18 euros to the toll booth.

However, we had a few dramas along the way!

Drama no 1:  our GPS froze on us when we returned to the car after our lunch stop.  We were off the toll road by then and about to change to another motorway.  No maps other than the little ones in Lonely Planet. One of us was melting down a little!  We knew we needed to reset the GPS but couldn't find a suitable tool in the car to press the little indented button (note to self - never travel without a paperclip!).  After an hour of travelling roughly in the right direction, we reached the Mont-St-Michel exit we were looking for.  Then we got lost!  Allan found an optometrist shop of all things, in the middle of nowhere and went in to ask for something to poke the reset button. We thought that they might have one of those wee screwdrivers, but that didn't work.  Although the lady had no English, she understood the word 'reset', and eventually produced a toothpick, which did the trick. Yay!

Drama no 2:  immediately after that, the GPS wanted to take us back to the motorway using a road that had been closed.  She was most persistent and every time we tried another option, instead of planning us a new route, she took us back to the same road. Aaaagh! Another hour lost.  Eventually Allan followed his nose until he broke her will and we were off again.  He really was the man for a crisis, refusing to panic and keeping me from losing my head!

Off then to M-S-M, arriving after 5 pm.  This is an abbey that is built on an island reached by a causeway.  The car park was nearly 4 km from the island and the island awfully steep, so in my fraught state, I decided to stay in the car and leave Allan to visit.  He can tell you what he saw, but he arrived back at 6.30 pm - time for...

Drama no 3:  checked our hotel details, an hour and a half to travel to Bayeux.  Oops!  Check-in closes at 6 pm.  ETA at least 8 pm.  Had to ring to let them know we would be late, how to do it with our limited French? Face to face we can manage, phone more of a challenge.  I wimped out (as is my want) so Allan did it.  'Parlez-vous Anglais?' 'Yes'.  Sorted!  Have recovered my equilibrium now...