En route à Rouen

It seems like an age since we've been away but happily our trip to France has come around, another brainchild of the Minx who on this occasion managed to combine a tempting offer on Eurostar tickets with the discovery that Balthazar were playing in Rouen on one of the weekends covered by the deal.

This morning, then, we commenced our journey into Europe for our last trip as full-blooded EU citizens, as opposed to those being dragged reluctantly towards the exit, which is what we will be for the rest of the year. An early start from Chorley, then from Piccadilly to Euston.

Someone - and I have no idea who - has had the lovely idea of directing pedestrians making their way from Euston to St Pancras around the back streets, thus avoiding the main road. Excellent idea, well executed, and much more pleasant that wandering alongside a noisy road in a cloud of exhaust fumes. 

Once through customs at the station, we settled in a bar for a glass of wine before boarding the Eurostar to Paris. We'd read that the trains were a bit cramped but they were fine as far as we were concerned and we had a pleasant journey through the south-east of England, under the Channel, and thence to Paris. 

We walked from the Gard Nu Nord to the Gare Saint-Lazare, rewarding ourselves towards the end of the journey with wine and banana bread in a small café called Léandrés. 

The train to Rouen was delayed but we were comfortable on board and I can't say I really minded, although I was getting hungry by the time we'd arrived in Rouen and walked to our little apartment, so we went straight out looking for somewhere to eat.

Tucked away on the backstreets we found a reassuringly busy place called Maître Corbeau, which offered 'La cuisine au fromage', so we soon found ourselves sat with a fondue between us: just the thing for a pair of hungry travellers!

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-11.4 kgs
Reading: 'The Sound Of Tomorrow' by Mark Brend