.: péage péage and péripherique :.

 We started early from home and made with pretty good time, for a Bulli that manages on average about 85 km/h with only 65 horse-power, to cross the long, long French Autoroute East. The drive is not the most picturesque, but I suppose it is faster to by pass the villages and loop around Paris. Even though one avoids the heart of the city, it is not something to be undertaken by nervous drivers.

We also did manage to incur, I think, all possible tolls (Maut—which is not something one ever experiences on German roads) that totaled about 40 € from the border to where the autobahn split south of Paris to the Route l’Aquitaine. I only begrudge this cost for the lack of scenery. It the late afternoon, we sought out a camping site in the town of Dourdans, just off the Autobahn and got set up for the evening. Lady, with her new custom heat-shields, quilted like oven-mitts, was a bit like being on board a retro Soyuz space capsule, cozy but tight since the rains came quite heavily and we couldn’t open up the cargo-bay door.

Every trip we’ve made into France started with similar weather, but I think there are blue skies on the horizon. In the morning, we will continue south towards Poitiers and the swamp lands of Vendee known as the Green Venice.

16:20 Uhr Wir sind kurz vor Niort, die ersten 1100 km hat Lady gut hinter sich gebracht.

Der heutige Tag brachte wirklich (!) rasche Wechsel von schweisstreibenden Sonnenschein und weltuntergangs-Regenguessen. In einem guenstigen Zeitfenster haben wir die Notre-Dame von Poitiers besichtigt, die erst unlaengst restauriert wurde. Ab Poitiers konnten wir uns auf die gut ausgebauten (und vor allem kostenlosen) Bundesstrassen begeben. In ca. einer Stunde werden wir in Coulon eintreffen, dem Tor zum Marais Poitevin, wo wir uns dann ein huebsches Nachtquartier suchen... fuer den Fall, dass wir morgen nicht voellig zerstochen sind (Reiseberichte haben uns gewarnt *g*), gehts dann morgen ueber ein paar Sehenswuedrigkeiten der Region (die beiden Ruinen, s. letzter Beitrag) gen La Rochelle...