France!

This morning we woke up to the sound of what you could call a cuckoo clock on the ferry. It was music announcing that we had one hour until we had to be ready to get off. We packed all of our stuff, went to the deck, and saw France!

Then we went back inside and tried to go to B-3, the place where we had stored our bikes. We tried taking the elevator but as soon as we got in, various numbers of people kept coming in until it was too crowded. We got out and took the steps.

B-3 smelled like so much exhaust. While we were waiting we ate bread and cheese. Then we were finally let out. 

When we rode out into France it was a beautiful day. Once we got onto our bikes the first challenge we faced was a hill. We found a bakery and got two baguettes, a pear tart, a pear turn-over, a Chelsea bun, and a ham and cheese sandwich. 

Before we went to the bakery we went on a round-about and very soon we found ourselves on the same round-about two more times as we tried to leave town.

We were sure we were miles away from the ocean, but then realized that we were still seeing tidal mud flats. We passed millions of artichokes in two colors — purple and green.

I really wanted to be at home by the fire with Molly and a blanket because it started to rain and I couldn’t feel the tips of my toes. Luckily, Mommy had yummy chocolate that filled my belly and made me warm.

We rode for miles on a rails-to-trails path and eventually climbed a two-arrow hill to a neat village. A lady drove up beside us and asked in English where we were going. It turned out she was the owner of the campground but it didn’t open until July 1. She gave us a free pass to sleep there anyway. There are hot showers.

— Ruby