We're heading out again on our annual fall migration, this time by air and car and cruise ship, rather than on S/V Alesto. We're finally going to Europe, first time for both of us. We fly to Paris tomorrow, which is thrilling, even to type. After three days in Paris we have a rental car for 40 days to meander through southern France with a little Italy and Spain at each end. We then get on a cruise ship in Barcelona for some guided travel to several ports, including Majorca, Madeira and the Canaries. We are only seasoned travelers when on our own boat. We know how to anchor and dingy ashore for exploration all through the Caribbean. Whether we will do as well on land is yet to be seen. The lack of French worries us more than a little. One incident on Saint Martin remains a nagging doubt. We went with boater friends to a festival in Grand Case. We dingied from our anchorage in the lagoon to Marigot where we boarded a bus to the festival. We'd heard there might be a problem with buses late at night for the return trip. But at ten we spotted a small bus with Marigot on the front and other English speaking tourists boarding. We happily regaled the others with stories of our savior faire sailing down the island chain. The bubble burst when the bus stopped in a lonely parking lot and all the others departed for their cars. Left alone with the driver and no French other than desperate "Marigot, Marigot" we finally managed to persuade him to continue. We recognized huit (eight) Euro, but had to idea if that was per person or trip. Luckily is was per trip and the evening ended well for us back in Marigot. We will probably have similar scrapes in France. If we become to lonely for English, we'll just make a U turn and head for England.