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So this is what my French is like.  I am standing on the sidewalk by the cheapo apartment hotel where we spent the night with all the normal vacation stuff plus bags of half-eaten groceries because we cooked our dinner last night, while Pat fetches the car from where it was parked for free down the block.  A man approaches.  I know he is going to say something.  He does.  “Blah bla blah blahbla bla bla”.  It seems agreeable.  I agree.  “Oui”.  He walks on.  My brain starts working and a minute later I piece together that he’s said, “So, you’re at the end of your vacation”.

We hop in the car because why walk for twenty minutes when you can use Tom (the TomTom GPS [yes, we are that literal]) to navigate your way to the center of an old city and park right by the door.  So we spend the same twenty minutes driving around and around, missing turns and finding weird roadblocks, approaching the cathedral from all directions but not actually getting there.  And then bingo, we are on the right track, the cathedral is smack dab in front of us, and we have parked as close as we can.  For EUR 2, because that’s the coin Pat has.

The cathedral is big, but not huge.  I have seen enough of them that I am not particularly impressed.  It is nice.  I take pictures.  We are done.  We get back to the car, and the meter maids are checking.  Good thing we paid.  I comment that I like France in August because everyone is gone.  To the beach, I surmise.  In any event, they are not here, and we were not overrun by busloads of anyone.

The whole reason we went to Reims is that the toll road is nice, but boring, so let’s add a night to the trip and drive home through the Ardennes.  Good idea.

Last night we went out for dinner at De Peper with some friends. It’s in a building that used to be the film academy. The building itself was rescued from being torn down and made into a bicycle path by squatters who now own the building and for all intents and purposes have turned it into an independently run youth and culture center. There are actually a few restaurants like this and I think we’re in for a run of checking them out.

It takes a bit of planning to eat there, as they don’t serve dinner every night and you must make reservations. But in return you get a tasty vegan meal for cheap. Everyone gets the same thing, a soup and a main course, and you’re asked to pay between EUR 7 – 10, plus extra for your drinks and dessert.

Last night’s dinner was Jerusalem artichoke tempura, a vegetable curry and black beans on short grained rice, and a bit of sliced beet and lettuce salad. It was well executed and filling, but just a bit boring. It will be worth a try again.

Then on to the entertainment. Tuesdays are ping pong night. There’s a well lit open room with two tables where they were playing some trance, and there are paddles and balls and you just go at it for a bit and then let the next guy have a chance. In the other room it’s darker, and there’s a bar. There’s one table in this room and they were playing a big group game. It went thusly: everyone has a paddle and stands all around the table. The first person serves the ball across the table and then steps to the right. On the other side of the table they try to return to ball and then step to the right. This gives you a large group of people moving around the table in a big circle, each hitting the ball in turn. You miss and you’re out. As the numbers dwindle it gets a bit hectic. The last two play a five point game to decide the winner. And of course you can stand around and drink a beer and watch if you’re not going to play.

We’ll do it again for sure.