France Champagne. On our first visit to Africa in , we met an Australian couple, Rob and Christel, on their honeymoon.
Rob would not have chosen Africa as a destination but Europe, where two and a half years later they spent one week of their six weeks long vacation with us. I believe him to be deeply passionate about his job but the greatest incentive for taking this position for sure were regular business class flights to France.
After failing to see Rob in Paris on several occasions, we chose his stay in Ypres, Belgium, an eight-hour drive from our place, to meet. We checked flights, but they were either outrageously expensive or the connecting airports so inconveniently situated to both locations that our only option was to drive.
My emails were in English but sugarcoated, yet the arrogant, unfriendly tone in most replies was just atrocious. The French must be the only people, besides all native English speakers, who expect everyone else to speak their language. No guillotine for us! There we were, anticipating some obnoxious grouch that I hoped to placate with an arrival well before their deadline, but our hosts turned out to be most charming and sociable.
Its character and soul showed in the ancient, uneven stone walls, dark wooden beams and polished hardwood planks, and small details like the self-build dining room table constructed of wine crates, and the refurbishing added all modern comforts. That was simply amazing! Why thanks for rubbing it in, I thought, but take-away salad and stale bread rolls on the road were also quite delicious. After breakfast, we were seen off with handshakes, smiles and waves and on our way to Reims, located km east-northeast of Paris in the Champagne.
