Day five

In the morning we taped our serenade video, waved goodbye to our second new grandmother and hitchhiked at normal speed. Normally we just have to blink our eyes and we have a lift. This time it took a little longer but then a gentleman brought us to a gas station at the highway. We at an icecream in the sun before meeting our new friend Cedric the policeman who brought us a bit further. We danced in the sun at the border of the road until a hyper modern car brought us to a landley gasstation in the middle of nowhere. In this nowhere a big truck stopped. We got in!

Marvelous! Superbe!

The driver was a young guy: Sebastian; only 25 and already driving an enormous truck! He took us along fields of gold! Breathless we watched the grain fields shining in the sun.

At the next stop life brought us some wonderful people: Lucille, Thierry et Marie-Anique, driving a silver (aluminium) jeep (the first car we asked for a ride, because it looked so super cool!). After some serious doubting time about the illegal number of people in the car because Thierry had already lost a lot of his driving licence points, they said Yes! Hop on our safari!
We started to talk about our adventure trip and they asked us where we would sleep. We told them that we didn't know yet. Then they asked us: Would you like to sleep in a mill? What? A mill? Thierry told us that his mother lived in a watermill of the twelved century in the tres beau village Beaugency.

We arrived and it was like a fairytale. We couldn't believe our eyes. We were in heaven. Grandmere number 3(Thierry's mum) was 86 but still full of life and walked towards us with her green rain boots with pink butterflies. So modern! We made dinner together and toasted to a good trip and new friends. The wine and the dinner were heavenly. Close your eyes and imagine a grande, beautiful French diner, with strawberries with whipped cream, abricots, home made cake and marmelade for dessert. Not even to mention the little firework we brought. The enthusiastic family even took us for a walk around the evening city streets. Sweeter it couldn't get. Before bed they promise us a tour down the mill. We can't wait.....

To be continued......

Day Four - To Die For!

The next morning we woke up in the little appartment in Monthlery after the two Dads had let us sleep in the bed while they had improvised a bed on the attic. 'Adorable'! We were super suprised because one of our intentions became literary true! We had wished that good food would come our way in abundance. And now, with a knock on our door, there was presented: a 'grand petit-dejeuner'! Pain au chocolat, croissants, baguette, good cheese,  heavenly salted butter, fruit and coffee...! We ate like queens and kings and then waved our new friends goodbye. They took the last table and chairs, to start a new life in homeland Austria, leaving us behind with madama Paulette; the 93 year old home-owner. Paulette gave us the key so we could stay another few nights. Our own key! She also gave as our new name: le couple: 'Les trois fleur de Paris'.
Immediately a grand idee kissed our minds: a 'jardin du té'. A tea garden in French style called 'The three flowers of Paris'!

Hello Monthlery! We visited the mediaeval 'tour' like proper tourists and waved until our armmuscles couldn't be trained more. After a picnic with leftovers from the breakfast we were so inspired by all the good of French life, we made up a new Wereldontdooisters item: a Wereldontdooisters board game! We will develop the concept when we get back home so hold your excited breath!

Our search for Internet started but we got lost playing in the fountain of a castle with all the other little girls.
In the evening Frauke worked at the video serenade for the house owners who had left us with the key of our own apartment. Nadja wrote postcards for friends back home and people we met along the trip. Marieke got deep into an article she found in a paper with the title: 'Can art save the world?'
Storm and thunder sang our goodnightsong once again and with the three of us in one bed we dreamt about what tomorrow would bring......

Day three, They three

With the three of us, we woke up vertically in the bed of heartbroken Julien. In the bed on which he himself didn't sleep anymore, since his loved one left. Julien said he wasn't a breakfast-person, but because we didn't reckoned him to be a heartgarland & balloon type, we pushed him a 'grand brunch' inside and Marieke drew a robot singing a thank-you-song on his mirror. Bouke left us for a coffee with his 'future wife' and the adventure alone, so it was 'just les femme, otre fois'!

After we refused to pay 9 euros for a coffee as real Dutchies, we found a nice cute payable coffee-place. Here we held our therapy session: telling each other everyday what we despise about each other and afterwards giving eachother compliments to soften the truth. It was a 'sesion formidable'! We learn a lot about each other because also that continues on holidays.

After a 'belle' afternoon in the 'Sacre Coeur', 'Monmartre' and more beautiful Paris, the time was ticking out. Did we want to leave Paris, we had to leave right now!

By the gasstation by 'le Periferique' we ended up on the outskirts of Paris. Here, one after another impressive looking blinded sportscar past by. Nothing for the Wereldontdooisters! We got a spontaneous offer from a friendly looking Algerian but his two friends seemed to be too much of the professional criminal looking type. So we politely refused his offer. Dusk set, the lights of the gastation were turned off and there was only one car left. It was a car with two guys that look trustworthy between all the 50 cents. We carefully asked them if the gasstation was about to close. And indeed, so it was, they said. But they offered to take us to a little town just beneath Paris. What great luck! The two sweet friends; still cool daddy's took us to the empty apartment where they needed to take the last furniture out. Here we could sleep for the night and the two guys took care of us as if we were their daughters who they worried about!

The next morning.......

To be continued!

31 july 2014 Day Two, They Too!

We waved our 'Grandmere' goodbye with tears behind our eyes, but only untill the corner of the street, because adventure called again!

At first she dressed up as a super small car. Thanks to its owner; puppy eyes Loraine, it took the four of us, all squeezed up, to the nearest gas station. Here, two policemen invited us to take a ride in the peugot they carried along behind their policebus. We thought it to be a broken car, but it turned out be a seatbelt-testing car. The car went all the way around and we screamed as in a rollercoaster. What a ride!

The real ride, all the 249 kilometres to Paris, we got from Edna; an elegant and chique lady. At first she was a little scared to take us along in her new, fantastic and fancy car. But she did! Along the way her eyes softned. And when we took a break she had to admit that what normally would have been a boring ride to her Dads, turned out to be good fun! She openheartedly kissed us goodbye at the border of Paris.

After a metroride we arrived at the Notre Dame, drank vin at Le Seine and were present at a photosession of a just married couple. Bonjour l'amour!

We went to the Shakespeare bookstore to ask for a place to sleep in return for some artistic work. Unfortunately the owner of the shop was gone. But instead, a musician in front of the shop, played a song, especially for us, about hitchhikers which he reckoned to be 'bad ass'.

We spend some time chilling in the park with pain avec fromage and decided to go to a place at the Seine, Nadja remembered, where the 'Pariseans' dance the salsa and the tango in summertime. We were most attracted to a square where people danced the classic rock n roll. Here we, the lady's in red, were kind of a phenonena between the grey-scale-closed dancing people. We were asked to dance by old granddads, energetic and enthusiastic like young playful dogs and by super well dancing nurds. Fun !!!

There was still no place to sleep and while Nadja and Bouke danced the tango, Marieke turned her Hello-I'm-in-search-of-a-sleeping-place-button on. At the end of the night, we could choose between the house with a lack of electricity of Maximilian, an enthusiastic Afro-man; a charming Canadian in a bad neighbourhood; the carpet of a 'dame chique' and Julien, an intelligent and somewhat distracted young and talented musician. We chose Julien, with the help of our safety detector.
He and his lovely and super friendly friend Kelly took us to a wine bar, full of artistic people. Here, the cars were used as tables and chairs, there was live music and everyone bought bottles of delicious wine to share. We seemed to have found romantic and 'bourgoundise' Paris.

The last metro brought us away from interesting conversations, but to Juliens apartment which looked more as a music studio. Here, Julien treated us to his music and while his music played, one after another we took off to dreamland.

In the middle of the night, we were woken up by thunder and lightning and heavy rain. Thankfull and glad that we had found a safe, warm and dry home-for-the-night,  we once again closed our eyes....