Day 12: Driving Montargis

So we come into town.  The road starts to split, and I don't know which way to go.  Mom is driving and we just sort of take one of the roads.  I finally see on the map, that we need road XYZ to get into town.  I tell mom, and the road splits in two.  We head toward XYZ, but the other road says it actually goes into town!  This has happened all the time in France.  You're on road D111, which on the map goes through Town1 and then connects to D222.  But then before you get to Town1 the D222 road pops up out of nowhere and you don't go through Town1 at all.  If you do, you've missed the road and have to turn around and go back. It's like the maps are just a suggestion in France.

So we miss our road and keep driving.  Our road went right, so we figure a left turn will take us toward the other road.  And it does.  So we're in the town.  Looking for a hotel.  Thus begins our odyssey.

We had seen a sign for the Best Western on the big highway, so we knew there was one somewhere.  We were hoping for that, or an Ibis, our Paris hotel.  We're on this roundabout somewhere and all of a sudden a Best Western sign shows up!  Huzzah!  It shows 2 roundabouts and a right turn.  We follow the directions.  We end up heading towards the center of town.  And near a Domino's, there's a Best Western sign with a right arrow.  We miss it.  So we have to drive down, turn around through a parking lot, get back here, and get the road.  The road is a little tiny 2 way road through a bunch of houses.  No hotel.  We drive.  And drive.  Then we give up and eventually wind our way back to a roundabout, and back to the Dominos.  I took a photo of the sign.  It does exist.  We drive down the road again.  No hotel.  We see a kid walking by and ask directions.  He doesn't know the Best Western, but he knows Ibis!  He says go back where we were and keep going right.

We wind around and get back to where we were.  Again.  We go right.  More center of town stuff.  It's a big place, and we're enjoying the sights.  We go past a huge cemetery and church on a hill.  Then we see a Best Western sign!  So we follow it.  It says go right.  We do.  No more signs.  We keep going, and keep going, and nothing.  So we go back.  On the way back, I see another Best Western sign, pointing left.  But we miss it, so we have to continue on, then turn around by our previous Best Western sign.  We head back to where I saw the new sign.  You can't see it from our direction, which is why we missed the turn.  It looks like the sign for our side is covered up by some random banners.

So we make our turn.  Now we're going through some tall apartments, and everyone on the street is Arab or black.  And more kebab restaurants.  We keep driving and looking.  And the streets get smaller and have more apartments.  So we turn and try to find a way back.  Again.  By this point we were both laughing hysterically.  I was making jokes about how the Best Western signs were a ruse for criminals looking to rob tourists.

We get back, and head back into town, passing the cemetary and church on the hill.  This time we ignore everything Best Western and just continue on into the center of town.  And there it is!  An Ibis!  After only an hour!