On the Road Again

The ferry landed in Travemünde, Germany, near Lubek at around 9pm. So we loaded back into the van and hit the road, driving all night through Germany, into Netherlands, and across the tip of Belgium. We watched two films: The Big Lebowski and Zoolander, which helped to pass the time. Around midnight, we stopped at a truck near Salzberg, Germany. It was a very nice, and, of course, interesting place. Along with snacks, beer, and porn magazines, the rest stop had a full service café, and a variety of trucking accessories, including what I have taken to calling trucker clogs—several of the Finn drivers were wearing them. Though the road was smooth, the seats inside the somewhat cramped were hard and unforgiving. Sleep came in fleeting doses. By dawn we had entered northern France, and I awoke to a full sunrise that saturated the sky and the rolling fields on each side of the highway. Within a couple of hours, we were rolling through the narrow streets of Montreuil, a Paris suburb. We were deposited at the Hotel Franklin, and immediately set about looking for some petite de’jeuner. We found this café nearby, where we feasted on baguette with butter and marmalade and croissants with good coffee. Afterwards, we retired to our rooms for a few hours’ rest.