Leaving Ireland, Flying to Belgium and Driving to France

The gorgeous rhododendrons in Ireland

We woke early, packed up the car and drove to the Dublin airport. It was sort of sad to say goodbye to the beautiful, purple rhododendron bushes that grow wild every time we drove anywhere in Ireland.

It was about a three-hour drive. We returned our rental car (the Kia with the steering wheel on the left) and flew RyanAir to Brussels, Belgium.

We picked up a new rental car, a small Mercedes that (thank heavens) had a navigation system and the steering wheel on the "right" side. We drove to northern France. We realized that our arrival in France is the day after the 70th anniversary of D-Day.

We made it to a town near where we were staying (Hesdin) and Eric dropped the girls and me off there, while he went to  the house where we're staying in Caumont.

We walked around and did a little window shopping, then ate dinner at Le Globe. It was difficult because really, no one spoke English. Bianca's 7th-grade French only did so much. She could ask questions, but didn't know what people were saying when they responded. Le Globe had English translations on the menu and one of the servers spoke English. I had a three-course meal with seafood and crème brûlée for dessert. The food was good here and there was live music. 

We were pretty tired after traveling all day, but I was a little scared to go to the house we rented. Eric warned me that it wasn't very nice and was in the middle of nowhere.

"The Labyrinthe"

The bull that was staring Bianca down when we went to see the lady cattle who were singing their symphony of moos

It was very rustic and a little uncomfortably cold (plus super damp inside) but it had LOTS of character. Eric didn't like the green toilet seat, the pink toilet paper and all the flowery wallpaper. Well, and it smelled a little bit like skunk.

I tried to start a fire because the house was so cold, but it wouldn't start.

Our kitchen that we didn't really use

Portia and Bianca's room

Although there were five bedrooms, Bianca wanted Portia to sleep in the same room with her. I think she was a little bit afraid of sleeping alone in this big, old house. It was a little bit like a labyrinth, rooms popping up all over the place.

Doors of the Day—Hesdin, France