If you have a mate called TomTom you are in business

TomTom has to be a winner in these parts.
In days past when we arrived to pick up a rental in France we would have come loaded with any number of Michelin road maps to ensure we reached our destination without having first traveled the length and breadth of France in a futile attempt to locate our destination.
Then along came TomTom, a bullet proof GPS application that downloads onto our iPad and iPhones.
This devise is simply brilliant. Just enter the partial or full destination address or even better hit the coordinates button, select if you wish to use toll roads or avoid same, choose a preference for the scenic route and then that's that.
This devise rates up there with screw caps for wine bottles, iPhones and two-for-one deals at Sainsbury's . It's that good.
Last Saturdays foray was a classic example.
Brother David had suggested a great restaurant to have lunch at when we drove north to catch the Saturday market at the regional capital of Perigueux.
By the time we arrived the central city roads were chaotic thanks to any number of streets being blocked off during the morning market trading hours.
No problem, we just cruised around until we found a parking spot and at every turn Katrina, the selected voice of our TomTom system basically kept us up to date about where to from here.
And when we started walking back into the central city area this disembodied voice (courtesy of our iPhone) basically gave us continual updates as to which alley to turn into until we finally arrived at our restaurant, Le Vertigo at 16 Rue des Farges.
If any of you guys are thinking about travelling around Europe and don't want to be burdened down with maps , do yourself a favour and download a copy of TomTom UK/Europe.
It turns the whole travel business into a breeze.

Word from Julia. Before Katrina my experiences of navigating through little towns of tiny streets or back streets of big cities were nightmarish. Adrenaline overload, tension headaches, stressed to max were features of my previous touring life. Now, I could probably navigate through central Paris during rush hour with a paper bag on my head thanks to my trusty Tom Tom companion. Much more enjoyable.