Greetings from the South of France

Hi everyone,
It has been a long day-600km's from downtown Paris to Bordeaux the South of France. On the way to Bordeaux we stopped at a market. It was lovely, the market sold fresh fruit and vegetables, cheeses, sausages. At one of the markets there a beautiful goat and the owner was into selling cough lollies and cheap toys. We were all interested in the goat patting him. At the market i bought these macaroons. There were lots of different flavours to choose from, such as: strawberry, orange and chocolate, caramel, citrus, lemon, etc. I managed to go to the ATM machine while I was there and yes it was in English. A lot of these ATM machines have a maximum rate that you can withdraw from. My tour director said 750 Euros from the machine. Food is reasonably priced here. The majority of the tour group went to McDonalds for lunch. At McDonalds I had a chicken and bacon burger combo which was 7.50 Euros which would probably equate to the same at home. I am now at the hotel. It's in a slightly better area about 1.5kms from the centre of the city. I have to say the streets are not clean here, rubbish everywhere but no rubbish bins. I am going off to dinner shortly to try some more French cuisine. The champaign is beautiful here, very sweet without the horrible after taste. I am sleeping very well here. I have decided to do most of the optional excursions that my tour is offering. You only live once and I'm a long way home. I was told that if I paid through VISA that I would get the bill in two months time, which I would well and truly be back at work. Will aim to pay for everything in cash but if the worst came to the worst there is the credit card. Was told today it was Fathers Day. So Happy Fathers Day Dad, I hope you had a great day. I hope to fly down to Christchurch for Labour Day weekend if there are any cheap fares.