Day6 - Broccoli and Sirocco..!!

Yet another lovely morning at Isle'd Abeau. My mind still is battling wildly as I can't decide the itinerary for the following Saturday. Some new things I've managed to observe/learn during this Euro trip ::

1. The usage of fork and knife. Mostly eat with the fork.

2. Hardly any use of the spoon.

3. Eat as silently as possible, without the noise from the porcelain plate and without water !!

4. Pedestrians have the right of way, followed by bicyclists when crossing streets. 

5. A coffee here is most likely going to get you a decaf or an espresso.

6. Almost any person you come face to face there's almost always a head nod with "Bon Jour".

Last night during a stroll, Dave and Dennis went ahead by a few metres I waited till the car would go by but the driver gestured that I could cross the road. A smile and a wave at this discipline. It certainly is something worth a mention as I can't see this happening back home !!! 

A breakfast routine follow this morning with a couple of pancakes, a tiny bottle of honey and a few slices of cheese. I headed out for a stroll and stood gazing at the horizon with the sun rising on the French motorway D1006. I can't help but mention again about the traffic and the disciplined driving. 

Timezone differences apart, the daily life seems to be on a 'pre-pone' mode. The breakfast time's between 6-8am and lunch at 12:30pm. Things seem to come by a lot earlier than normal. The menu for lunch looks like -- fried rice which resembled peas pulao, fanta, a rice+milk concoction with fruits for dessert and some boiled broccoli and carrots with some sprouts. The menu for non-veg looked quite enticing (just because I could see they were made of spice and some yummy looking gravy). Quite heavy that I skip dinner tonight.

The break of dawn on D1006.

Being a cyclist myself couldn't help but capture this ride.

Alfa Romeo makes some of the Beautiful cars and here's an example of one. Still waiting to capture a Brera.

Oh yeah here's the VW Sirocco :-). A beauty from the VW stables.

Day5 - Shopping day !!!

Bon Jour Monsieur as I hear it from anyone I see within Hotel Mercure. Another great morning in France..!!! Pretty darn cold and almost anyone human I spot resembles an old steam engine. A breath of fresh air in and a bout of steam out. Woke up 2 hours early this morning. Time to get have breakfast. Today the restaurant at Mercure was crowded. Time for pancake, dutch cheese and a small dose of berry jam and nutella. I meet my team mates back in office with their version of time well spent over last evening and almost all have a unified answer (Got drunk like a skunk). To be honest, I think I too was in a similar state but attributed to too much lemonade or double espressos !! However after shift David was kind enough to drop Dennis and I at our hotel. We quickly dumped our luggage to visit Decathlon after which we were to explore our options for diner. Dave was driving a rental car, a Citroen Picasso which was quite a peppy hatchback. About 10 mins later we were at Decathlon store in Bourgoin Jallieu. I headed straight to the cycling section while Dave and Dennis explored other sport areas. This was quite a big store almost twice as big as the one in Bangalore and Dave mentioned that the branch at Bron was massive. I ended up picking up an overshoe which I've been wanting for quite a while for ride during rains and keeping my feet dry. Dave didn't purchase anything and as I proceeded to the billing counter I was skeptical whether the membership card would work in another country and it did. It was a pleasant surprise. The search for the diner began. The car was parked at a parking lot near a church at #7, Place Carnot in Bourgoin. This was Dave's idea as he had been to this Italian restaurant (Couverts) during a visit last year. But we found out that almost all the restaurants that we managed set our eyes would open only at 19:00hrs and close by about 22:00hrs. With a half hour to spare we spent time roaming the shopping alley which is lined with stores. So good to see civilization after being in a place where there is hardly anything else apart from hotel on one side of highway and office on the other. I kept clicking away to glory with the X6 and time and again requesting Dave to click a few which he gladly obliged. A few snaps of cars followed and finally it was time to enter the restaurant and with the help of Dave who spoke French ( A great boon as I only know one word "Merci" meaning thank you) we were able to clarify the options available for me (A Vegan). It looked like Dave eats anything served to him on a plate. Only after a meal, does his inquisitve part of mind kick in to figure out if the dish was the result of a Bovine sacrifice or a smoked Gallus domesticus. A true example of a point n shoot as he just stares at the menu for a quick minute and points to an option and nods his head which the waitress reciprocates with the a lovely French accent (made cool by the tongue twisters and hisses). I order a Spaghetti and a pizza. Spaghetti resembled the curry noodles and the Pizza was more like a paratha with mexican sauce chilli and some local vegetable that resembles cucumber with mushroom and capsicum as toppings. I enjoyed the change in taste and after spending about an hour, Dave dropped us back to the hotel and he continued his half hour journey to his hotel.

A sight on the way to office... There's no one in it and the car is almost kissing the tarmac.. !! :-|

The "Mini Countryman"

A Nice chopper like Bike 

A Standard Mini Cooper used in "The Italian Job"

 The original Mini which truly is a MINI !!!

The Rental Citroen Picasso driven by Dave.

Dave Dennis and I heading to Decathlon on the French motorway B1008.

At Decathlon - Shopping at the home turf of this superstore

A Superb Bicycle Stand in the town of Bourgoin. 

France Ahh..!!!

Dave, Dennis an I await by a Church for restaurant to open  

The Italian "Spaghetti restaurant"

I already am missing my roadbike and I wish I had it here so I could explore more of this beautiful countryside. No more updates for tonight. Gotta catch some sleep before shift start in 7 hours :-)