Our first entry from abroad....we're in Auxerre, France, a stopover for us in route from Paris to Zurich. We picked up a rental car at the airport, then drove directly here. Within the first 5 minutes on the road, we were extremely grateful that we had purchased a new GPS with European maps. After many, many turns and exits, we made our way here smoothly in about two hours. Our only (almost) hitch was that one of the autoroutes was a toll road and we had not yet visited an ATM to get some Euros. After stopping at two rest areas (with gas stations and restaurants), we still were unable to get Euros (the ATM at one was out of order and the other had no ATM). So when we exited the toll section, we were planning to use our credit card. Unfortunately, the credit card system at the toll booth was not working, but we were saved by some good old American dollars. If you think toll roads are bad in the US, they are actually a bargain. The toll for less than 2 hours on a French autoroute: 10 Euros or around $14. I think that was an awful conversion for us, so it's definitely a good idea for us to go ahead and get some Euros asap (which we did at the first ATM we saw in Auxerre).

After arriving and checking in to our hotel (Hotel Normandie) in Auxerre, we went in search of food and ate at a restaurant recommended by the reception at our hotel. The pizza we had was rather unremarkable except for the fact that the four-cheese pizza definitely had a french, stinky-cheese vibe. During lunch, our long day of travel began to catch up with us, as McIntyre was the only one who slept to any significant degree on the flight. Then back to the hotel for a nap, which of course went longer than expected for me, Jim and McIntyre. Maddie on the other hand couldn't fall asleep and played on the computer most of the time. Now that we are awake (Jim and I -- McIntyre has gone back to sleep), Maddie has crashed. Not sure what this means for sleeping tonight. Hoping for the best.