Overall it was a pretty good day. We left Sarlat about 10 am and headed north towards Hautefort. We had decided to take a different way back. We made it to Limoges, the porcelain place, then headed north on the autoroute, until we hit one heading east. We headed towards Montlucon.
It was about 1 pm by then, so we decided to stop for lunch in the first little town, which was La Souterraine. We drove all over and could not find a cafe or bathroom! So we got back on the interstate and continued heading east.
We were passing a few "rest stop" areas, so we decided to pull over at the next one. Don't ask me how, but we managed to pick the worst one. I am not kidding! It was full of graffiti. There were 2 Arab toilets and a lidless toilet in the women's room. The sink didn't work. Outside the bathroom was another sink, which did work. The walls didn't meet the ceiling, which meant the weather got in.
We continued on, and the next "rest stop" was a BP gas station. Gas, food, coffee, clean restrooms, play ground, picnic grounds, etc. I tried to take a picture of it. It was amazing! Especially compared to the last one.
We continued on. Gueret was a neat city. Most of the places we passed were. Many of them had old churches and stuff. We got off the autoroute at Montlucon. That only cost us 7.40 euros! After Montlucon we headed north towards Bourges. We took a regular road, instead of the autoroute.
There were a lot of trees on the side of the road. By trees, I mean, like, orchards or something. The trees were close together and tied to stakes, like a really big vineyard. And there was a sort of netting that could be spread over them. We think they may have been fruit trees. We saw something red on a few trees, but couldn't make it out. Hopefully my picture came out.
We made it past Bourges and took another small road towards Montargis. Somewhere around Henrichemont we had to stop for a few minutes. The police were stopping everyone, and then they let us pass. Then an ambulance flew by us, heading that way. We're guessing there was a bad accident down one of the roads.
We made it to Gien around 4:30, and went through. It's on the river. There was a huge old building up on a hill, so we decided to go back and find it. We drove around and finally got up to the hill. It was the Church of Joan of Arc and some kind of Chateau. They also had a toilet! It was a square building outside the church. You go in and push a button to say it's in use. You use the toilet, then there's a sink area. You hold your hands out and it squirts soap. Then you move over 6 inches and it turns on the water for you. Another foot and there's an air dryer. When you leave, it flushes and disinfects everything. I'd heard of these, but this is the first I've seen. And yes, I took pictures. Do you really have to ask, at this point?
We had driven along the river before finding the church, so we drove back and looked for food. It was only 5 pm, and most places don't open until 6. We passed a kebab place with an open door, so we parked by the river and went in. It's run by a Turkish guy. Most of the kebab places we saw everywhere were Turkish. We got a kebab plate, which was basically a shwarma without bread. We had meat, lettuce and tomato in tzaziki sauce, and fries. With a side of bread slices. Not bad.
After Gien, we continued on to Montargis, hoping to stop there for the night.
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