We learned something about navigating with a GPS yesterday and especially last night. The hotel we stayed at in Caen is brand new and in a brand newly developed area. It does not yet show on Google Maps although putting the address into GM did result in it putting the marker in about the right place. But of more importance was the data in the GPS. We chose not to update our maps because they are quite expensive to do so. So the maps our GPS has in it are about 3 years old now. In most cases, this is not a problem - generally a new roundabout may be located in a spot where an intersection was or the motorway system (péage) might have been extended. But in suburban areas that are being developed, it can be a problem. So the story is that I had written down all the key steps on the route from Chartres to our hotel in Caen, except for the last couple figuring that finding the right exits was the main challenge. I should have realized that I needed the last bit too since this was not on the GPS. We didn't come to this realization until we tried to program the GPS in Chartres, when we no longer had an internet connection to figure things out. In daylight when we got to Caen, we made a few wrong turns but I knew generally where it was and did find it. However, coming back from downtown after dinner, due to one way streets, we could not retrace our route back up to the hotel and had to figure out another way. I also rely on the sun to help me keep my sense of direction, which isn't helpful at night. For those who have not driven in France (or Europe in general from our experience), road names are either not posted or very difficult to find so even if you have a map you will get quite lost. We probably spent about 45 minutes (should have been about 10 minutes) meandering around trying to find the place, but we eventually did.
Kate picked us up this morning on her way back from working overnight in Courseilles and we joined her and Julien for a wonderful lunch (French style, i.e. banquet supper in Canada) prepared by chef Julien. Then we all went to Cherbourg, about an hour and a half northwest of Caen on La Manche (English Channel) to visit the Cité de la Mer Musée (49°38'50.6"N, 1°37'02.2"W) where we toured a decommissioned nuclear submarine (Redoutable) and the aquariums. We returned and Kate made a yummy pizza with crème fresh, cheese, potatoes camalized onions and charcuteries. It was a good day and quite enjoyable.
(49°11'28.7"N, 0°23'29.1"W)
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