Driving through the french countryside.....

We picked up the car at the airport today for the driving leg of the trip. Getting out of the airport was a nightmare!! It was so confusing and all the roads are round, like a giant snail. Luckily Simon spotted the right way and we managed to get out (with just a few honks and dirty looks). We had no idea where we were going and it seemed like we were doing big loops, we listed to Lee (our Navman from home) and he managed to take us to Compiegne. We hadnt had lunch before we left and we werent game enough to stop on the motorway so after we checked in we went to McDonalds as it was the only thing we could see that had fish for Simon. They didnt speak English and our French is limited to hello, thank you & goodbye. We managed to order and get what we wanted. It was early in the afternoon so we decided to drive to Pierrefonds and have a look at the castle. Again Lee guided us to the right spot. The motor ways and roads are so confusing, i have no idea how people managed with maps, im asuming the divorce rate has dropped with the introduction of the navigation systems. We arrived at Pierrefornds and it was amazing, a small little town with a massive castle pearched on the hill. Everything was picture perfect. We walked around the outside of the castle and popped into the gift store just as they were closing. We then popped down to a cafe on the river and ordered coffee, hot chocolate and ice-cream. the ice-cream was amazing but very rich! the cafe had paddle boats so we took one for a spin. We popped in to the local store and bakery and picked up some fresh bread, cheese (only 2 euros for camembert!!!!) to take back to the hotel for dinner. Its Simon's 40th birthday tomorrow and we will go back to the castle to have a look inside and then drive to Chenonceaux where we will stay for 2 nights.