Many of you know that Christina likes to drive, and is usually quite capable. This trip has proven to be harrowing. Maybe it's the narrow, twisty roads or the crazy car and scooter drivers; or the unfamiliar manual transmission. Whatever, I have been seriously reconsidering the existence of God. We can't afford to be too careful. (Aside from the driver's seat: I'll admit that I sometimes like to be 'in control' especially while driving, but....harrowing???? He is the cool one in our family, seldom ruffled so I must really have given him a scare! But, I was the one sweating!
The drive from Lyons to Cluny (to visit our friends Tony and Narissa) was uneventful-- with GPS, but beginning with Chris' attempt to roll over an entire family who were standing behind the car, we embarked on a journey to Paris long to be remembered.
Our first stop was in the small village of Aloxe-Corton to spend the night at the lovely Hotel Villa Louisa attached to a small vineyard. Also uneventful, except for a small scratch (see picture) in the rental car. (Aside: the lane to the parking spot was several inches less then the width of the car.)
The next morning we left for Paris via Epoisse to buy the stinky cheese of the same name. Little did we expect the forces of evil awaiting us at every turn! Unfortunately, Chris, coming from a small town in the US, is not used to city traffic; where any hesitation is pounced on by aggressive competitors; usually on motor scooters. (Aside: Keep in mind that the roads are narrow, we have little gas and are looking for petrol stations while the voice on the GPS mutilates names beyond recognition. Is it any wonder I didn't know where to turn??)
Incredibly, we got to our apartment and managed to find a semi-legal spot in front of the building to unload luggage and groceries. This uneventful arrival lulled us into complacency! The last leg was not as easy. The Hertz offices are actually in a parking garage attached to the Louvre. Having spent hours trying to find it two years ago, we were prepared. We "zipped" down Rue de Rivoli to the sign for the garage located at a major intersection with what seemed like 8 lanes of traffic heading towards us with a single lane on the left to enter the garage! (Aside: I hope you've got the picture because to me it looked like I was turning into oncoming traffic!) We panicked and missed the turn.
This resulted in us circling around (think of circling around Times Square on a summer Saturday) to make another approach. This time we zipped down into the garage; whew! There's no Hertz! A workman in the garage told us: "Ooh la la.... Hertz is up! not down!" No hope we could make a U-turn into all those lanes of traffic; we had to go around again!
Despite the frequent need, U turns are not Chris' strong point. We sometimes travel miles to find a suitable place. Not possible this time so with eyes closed (figuratively) she made the turn and we were successful.
We walked home and don't plan to be driving over the next few weeks. Thank God!
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