recalulating

John and I have heard this word more times than we desire.  We have heard it from my dear little GPS that always come though but it may have to go though a lot of recalulating before the car and moi get it right.  After Reims we went to Dijon.  We were there for two nights and it was not at all what I expected.  We arrived on sunday and the town and hotel until dinner time at 7 was dead.  We stayed at a wonderful holiday inn.  I thought it was a little expensive at 149 a night, but that was until I found out about the amendities nest store.  When we arrived I noticed there was a stadium accross the street. Visions of Frankfurt Germany, Glenda.  And there was a McDonalds next to the hotel in a ajoining big building.  The building was open but the Mc Donalds was closed.  I went into the building to find it was a huge mall the size of woodfield or Mall of America.  However everything was closed.  That night we at dinner in the hotel restaurant.  it did not open until 7 and john and i were the first ones in the door.  we are not use to eating dinner so late. everything in france is closed between 2 and 7.  So by 7 John and I are starving.  We have a hard time eating before 2 and then we find that everything is closed until 7.  Grrrrrrrrrr  Anyway the waiter took our order and told us that the restaurant was going to be very busy in an hour and if we wanted desert we should order it then.  We did although I thought this might be a ploy to get us  to order some more food.  The French seem to think people should have more than one course. Also the hotel was so dead as was the parking lot, we could not imagine a lot of people coming.  But we were wrong.  All of a sudden there were about 80 people asending on the hotel and restaurant.  the people we with a tour group from England stopping at this hotel on there way to Spain.  Luckily we had received our delicious first course entre and was awaiting for our desert to arrive.  The got the order a little mixed up but eventually we got it.  The next day I woke up early and went next store to see if the McDonalds was open.  Much to my delight all the stores and several restaurants and deli's were open. What a shopper's pardise.  After I got john a coffee and roll from the mall, I talked him into coming over to see the mall.  He too was impressed.  There is a huge store called carrefour, which is a glamorized Walmart, with food and all the goods one might want.  The wine rows were long and ery tempting.  I bought some socks.  I had read that they have carrefours in Paris so I will save my money for shopping there until I get to Paris.  In the afternoon I talked John in going on an adventure to the laundrymat and maybe the tourist office.  I put in the address from Rick' s. france and the GPS took us on a mad ride.  It reported about 6 recalulations as dijon is doing a lot of road construction.  But amazingly after going down several very narrow streets and alleys we arrived right in front of this small laundrymat.  John was amazed but not I.  For 8 euros I got my laundry done.  I would have booked more days at that hotel but the hotel was full. so I had to find another hotel closer to Paris as I wanted to take John to Versailles.
Again many of the hotels near Versailles were booked so I found a hotel near the air port where we will drop off the car tomorrow.  Trying to get out of dijon was a trick but we made it.  It was a long ride and we amazingly found the hotel. That night after we checked in and were waiting for the restaurant to open we met two nice women (in their 40's)from England.  One was returning to England after living in Cape town for 15 years.  She was bringing her two children(a mix  reg dog 11and a irish setter9)with her as she is going to take up residence again in England.  Her friend had agreed and was picking her and the dogs up at the airport and taking them to Dinan ,France to put the dogs in quarentine Kennalfor 6 months before she can bring them into England. English rule. Anyway we had a delightful dinner with them. Today we took a ride to Versailles which was not far, but the traffic was bad and slow.  We did not go in but saw the outside which is very grand and golden.  I have a picure of John standing in front of King Louis 14.  We had lunch at a place next to the chateaux and then began our drive back.  Everything was moving along swimmingly or may I say gallantly until we got close to the airport.  We must have circled the air port 10 times trying to find the right road to the hotel.  Over a cocktail with John I said the word was fantastique and he said the word was recalulating.