The Cemetery

French Journal Day 172 (Travel Diary Day 252)

It wasn’t until we rolled into the dimly lit car park of our motel that we realised why it was ‘reasonably’ priced. In front of us stood a box shaped building, as dark as its surrounding lot, more fitting of a bad-guys’ hideout found in some dystopian sci-fi novel than a modern-day motel.

The desk was un-staffed. A lonely machine stood by the doorway, its screen flickering. An ‘Out of service’ sign sat above it. From what we could make out, the number we got when we made the booking on the internet could be inputted into the machine which would then present us with our room number and door code.

It seemed we were out of luck. According to the staff rota, nobody was on duty for another hour. To kill time we opened up our laptops. 5 minutes later a chubby woman walked in, sat down at the desk and looked at us with what seemed like disappointment. With the machine broken they must have kept extra staff on.

After finishing the formalities, we made our way down the dark corridors towards our room – this place really needs more lights. The hallways wound around in a way that belied the square appearance of the building.

Our room turned out to be a sterile-white space with a bed and a wash basin. Both showers and toilets are shared. I’m not sure we’ll be staying in one of these again. Either way, we’re in for an interesting night in Loire Valley.

Today’s Photo – The cemetery at Month Saint Michel

This photo, in which i was trying to achieve a completely surreal, Tim Burton effect, was processed with Photomatix.

My HDR tutorial