Up and early, and off to the station with Roma to catch an airport bus. She was very insistent we get there early, and to make sure we had enough time to make our connecting flight to France to meet up with my cousin Alison. We actually had PLENTY of time since Roma misunderstood me from the night before - no worries tho, we were able to catch an earlier bus. We hugged, said our goodbyes - and off we went.
The bus traveled at least an hour north to Stansted Airport, which is the newest London facility. The trip took us north of London, where Sam alerted me to an amazing view of the city from the outskirts...never saw that before. The airport itself is a model of all what the future holds - transportation facilities that double as duty-free malls. This was obscene - we had to wind our way around a ton of shops just to get to the gates. Mind you these were not just shops along a corridor you could walk into - we were actually IN the shops themselves. Genius planning.
Before we embarked Sam got very upset about a passport detail that cleared itself up - basically our first blow up on the trip. After this we got to our gate, and took a fairly short trip to Dinard, France on Ryan Air. Not bad for an ultra-discount carrier. The airport however was tiny - really tiny...and smack in the middle of the French countryside. Nothing nearby - a far cry from the hustle of London.
After getting past a long line of customs, we went outside and were met instantly by Alison and Gerard - her hubby. A short drive later we arrived at her country home. Again, in the middle of nowhere in the Provence of Brittany. Absolutely beautiful countryside and her home was extremely new on the inside, but still very rustic. We were shown to our wonderful accommodations upstairs, and then joined them for a dinner with a couple of friends (and had fun with Gerard using Google Translate).
Before dinner we did take a short bike ride around the "hood." This was nothing more than a few country roads and farms. There was a very impressive French manor house we passed and ogled at for a while.
We also met up with Jonathon, and his son. Unfortunately his son had to leave to his mom's that day. Jonathon however was a joy to be with - and funny as hell. As the night wore on, so did his wine consumption. Before we all hit the sack, he was drunk, and quite the entertainment as well. Vulgar too, and Sam had this nervous smile throughout. Off to bed and prepared for a long day of touring ahead.
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