We woke up Tuesday morning to rain so we decided to stay inside until the rain stops.  We have been trying to figure out how to operate the TV every day with no success so it may be a long day.  But there is good news: Lola got on to her email account and was able to answer a new security question.  Time to celebrate.  We decided to call Amanda and Craig and ask if they could come over and show us how to operate the TV.  They did and it was nice to have a TV and finally hear the news.  Lola also bought a phone card and now the callenge was to figure out how to use it.  She figured it out and we had another success.  It stopped raining so we went out for lunch.  After lunch Susan and I decided to go to a museum about the artist Eugene Boudin.  We got there and they were closed only on Tuesdays.  We headed back down the hill and went to two museums about the history of Honfleur.  Because we were seniors we got to visit both museums for 3.50 Euros.  We got back to the apartment and we all went to the grocery store and bought ham, cheese, pickles, mustard, bread and cookies.  We ate in for dinner because two big meals a day is to much even though we adore the food.

Today we took a drive called the Cider Route, which “meanders throughout a typically Augeron landscape.  Within this superb and undulating setting, castles, manor houses, half-timbered houses and apple orchards offer the region some of its finest views.”  The fields were lush and looked like green velvet.  We stopped and had lunch in a small village called Bonnebosq.

The restaurant was called Auberge du Bras d’or and our wonderful waitress was Mme HAMEL Rejane.  She helped us to understand the menu and even brought a man in who spoke a little English and he translated the menu for us.  During the course of the meal Susan accidentally added water to Lola’s white wine and began drinking it.  No problem.  When Lola realized it she took Susan’s wine.  That was good since Susan is the driver.

We visited the town of Beuvron en Auge and it is a village with a central market hall and manor houses and is recognized as one of the bost beautiful villages in Frances.

Our first day with the car was interesting.  We had trouble getting out of the huge airport and we pulled over to look at the map.  We were up on a little incline.  When Susan tried to put the car in reverse she couldn’t.  A moment of panic sat in.  She drove off the little incline with no damage.  On the highway she couldn’t figure out how to put the car in cruise control.  I got out the information booklet and guess what: it was all in French.  After several attempts Susan did figure out how to put the car in reverse.

We arrived in Honfleur and were met by Amanda and Craig, the apartment managers.  They were very gracious and Craig even help carry our suitcases to the apartment.  They answered all our questions and made reservations at a great restaurant for us.  We went to the store before dinner and bought some snacks, coffee cream and of course wine.

On our last day in Paris we continued our ride on the Hop On Hop Off bus.  We got off at the Gallerie Lafayette, which is a very large fabulous department store and went shopping.  I finally found a curling iron.  Susan bought her cologne and Barbara bought a few items.  Lola looked at shoes.  Then we rode the bus to the Eiffel Tower and took a boat ride on the Seine River.   I took lots of pictures.  We had a late lunch at Lorie’s and we all ordered French Onion Soup which was excellent.  Of course we had wine too.  Our waiter was a very nice young man named Florian (Flo).  He told us about a site on Facebook that he supports.  They are called The Motoring Monks and they participate in a fund raiser called the Mongol Ralley 2013.  They raise money for children cancer research.  Then we visiting three cathedrals and went home to dress for our final dinner at Aux Charpentiers.  By the way, the food pictures are for Barbara’s granddaughter Kendall.  Lola is still fighting with Yahoo to get her email on my computer.  Casey, her daughter, is helping her and finally Lola got on Yahoo and they asked her a security question.  And the question was to name the place she first met her husband and that is the same question she couldn’t answer correctly the first time. 

In the morning we got up and picked up our car from a rude French clerk at Eurocar.  The car rental place, Kemwell, did a fabulous job but the staff at Eurocar leaves a lot to be desired.  Susan went to get our car and she asked a clerk a question and he rudely said “Go find you car.”  The three of us were waiting in the parking garage freezing but finally Susan arrived with the car and we loaded up for the next leg of our trip.  I want to mention David, the very nice young man who picked us up from the airport and took us to pick up our car.  He was very couteous and very, very nice.  We all hugged him went he left.  It is very nice to meet a courteous young man.