FRANCE OOOLALA

Travel Planners Trip to France started on a Air France flight from Chicago's O'Hare direct to Paris's Charles de Gaulle. Our friends and assistants, the Klautzers, flew American Airlines and met us at the Europe Car Rental where we picked up our Citreon Berlingo.  Be sure to ask the size of a car to see if it meets your needs as far as number of passengers (4) and luggage space. The Citreon met all of our needs.  The back seat even had a fold down tray table like the airlines.  As we toured the French countryside from Paris, Versailles, Chambord Castle,Amboise Castle and Clos Luce (resting place and home of Leonardo da Vinci), the Bordeaux Wine Region with tours in Pomerol and Saint Emilion, Montpelier, Avignon, Dijon and back to Paris.  There are toll roads throughout France that allow ease of driving and you can still see the beautiful countryside.  The Traveler's Gas and Food stops were immaculately clean and many offered a good selection of sandwiches, soups, pasta dishes and pizzas.  To keep up with our schedule of touring we would grab food and drink and eat on the go.  The cost of the toll roads varied for 300-400 miles for $30-$40 USD.  We could use credit cards, but had problems with debit cards on the toll roads. Acceptable credit cards include Master and Visa (no Discover cards). American Express was accepted at upscale hotels, restaurants, and high end stores like Cartier, but not at gas stations.  The price of gas averaged $6 USD a gallon (ouch!).

We will be writing about all the great places we visited and stayed at on our trip to France in the next couple weeks. So, be sure to check back.