Exploring the Left Bank

On our previous walks around this town, we had only ventured into the right bank of the river. That is certainly the most attractive part of the town and the place where the oldest buildings are. Today was my chance to explore the left bank.
You do not have to go far before it is evident that the left bank is where all the newer houses are. It turned out to be where all the people are as well. Whereas we hardly saw a soul on the other side of the river, this side has quite a bustling city centre with a number of eateries and other shops. What I was really looking was a supermarket and the young assistant in the Boulangerie had explained to me that there was a supermarket somewhere "a la droit" (on the right). So that is what I went in search of.
After walking the length of the main street, I did the right turn as advised and headed off in the direction of Paris. After walking for about 20 minutes, I began to think that the girl was having a lend of me and really had sent me on a walk to the nation's capital. Just when I was about to give up, to my surprise I saw the unmistakable sign of a McDonalds restaurant. I was not expecting that. A little further on I found an entire commercial precinct with an Aldi, a LIDL, a huge department store, a coffee shop and even a coin laundry. It was a veritable shoppers' Shangri La.
This gave me a perfect opportunity to stock up on essential supplies for the upcoming ride, mostly in the form of bottled water and sweets. Some time later I was met by Mark and Tim, who had also stumbled into this oasis of capitalism. When the time came for me to carry all my purchases back to the hotel, I made the fortunate discover that there was a direct short cut which the distance to just a 10 minute walk.
I returned to the hotel in time to follow the second half of the elimination final between Melbourne and Carlton. The result was not what I was hoping for, but I should not be too disappointed. My team had enjoyed a much more successful year than most experts predicted.
In the evening we had our official welcome dinner at the hotel restaurant. That marked the actual start of our ride to the ocean, Apparently the kitchen is ruled by the renowned chef Jerome Joubert and we soon found out why every seat in the place was booked out. The food was simply divine. That now sets a very high standard for future restaurants to aspire to.Read more