Caught the train to Bordeaux in the morning from Le Gare Monparnasse, Paris.

Another smooth train ride, thanks to the TGV and our Google tablet, which entertained Rykersaurus for most of the 3 hours. A shame really, with all the magnificent scenery, but you do what you have to do! I am sure the rest of the passengers would agree that it was ‘une bonne idee’.

So with Toy Story as our soundtrack, we hurled through the French countryside at grande vitesse until we reached Bordeaux. A quick taxi ride to the Mecure Bordeaux Commercial Centre and we were ready for our next adventure!

Actually, the next venture was to buy a car seat for the Rykersaurus, as we were collecting a car the next day from the Bordeaux Airport and a seat wasn’t included. I don’t think Jason or I could believe our luck when the nearby Auchan hypermarket had one suitable for the colossal Rykersaurus.  It was literally the last one there and was in fact, the demonstration model. Again, my school girl French came in handy as I tried to negotiate buying the demo seat. It worked! Success! We had expected this shopping expedition to take all day and require a taxi ride to the outskirts of town, so were pretty thrilled.

After a very comfortable night at the Mecure, we set off early by taxi (encore un fois!) to the airport to collect the Renault Scenic we were leasing.

After the signing of much paperwork and the handing over of our keyless entry card (no keys these days folks), we immediately set off in the wrong direction. Luckily this was rectified almost instantaneously; no harm done. Ryker was delighted to be in a car again (no more walking!) and more importantly, to be in his own seat, even if it was bright pink.