Day 4: Driving Paris

Day 4 was pretty neat. We checked out and walked down to the taxi stand, only to find no taxi in sight.  So we stood there, trying to figure out what to do, and a taxi turns the corner and starts towards us.  Yay!  He took us to the car rental place, in the Air France building. He also wished us luck with driving.

The car rental went well.  We ended up getting an automatic, for free.  He also said it had a GPS, for free, but it turned out not to have a GPS.  It had a GPS booklet and the car had German markings, and the manuals were in German.  It's an Astra Opel wagon, Frank - and it rocks!

So we get the car paid for.  Then I have to walk 2 long blocks down the road, to get to the car park, which is underground.  I had an elevator code to take me down to the 5th floor underground.  Then, I had to unlock the car to find it, because the guy couldn't figure out where it was parked.

I finally get the car, get the seat adjusted, and head back to the main office to pick up mom.  The wagon held both our large suitcases, side by side.  So we've got our Paris map, and a route out of town, and off we go!

We couldn't figure out how to lock the car doors.  In the US, some doors lock automatically after you start, but these didn't.  And there was no lock button.  Eventually, we realized the lock and unlock buttons were above the radio.  And when we stopped for a break, I accidentally hit the little pull-up locky thing on the door with my elbow, and all the doors locked.  I think the car is smarter than us.

So we're driving out of Paris.  At first, it's okay.  I'm trying to follow the car in front of me, because sometimes lanes are just a suggestion and sometimes there are no lines for lanes.  We're trying to read street names, so we stay on the correct boulevard.  Then we get to a turn, and I go straight instead of right.  Which takes us over the river, heading back towards our hotel.  I'm thinking, that's okay, it's on the edge of Paris.  We'll hit the periphery road and head back towards our route.

So we get towards the periphery road, and I'm trying to follow the signs.  But the signs are so close to where you exit that I miss the periphery and head out east towards Port Bercy.  Then I have to exit the "interstate," turn around, head back towards our periphery interstate, and catch it.  Which is packed with cars and not moving very fast.

So now we're on the periphery interstate, heading southwest towards our exit.  We see signs saying A10, which is our interstate.  But it says A6 (A10) so we think we have to get on A6 to get to our A10.  Then mom tells me that A10 is the wrong road and goes to Bordeaux, not Limoges where we're going.  And I try to explain it is the right road, that Bordeaux is the end of the line, and we do need that road.  And while we're arguing we drive right past our exit.  Crap!

So now we're heading west.  I decide to take the next big exit, which turns out to be the Orly Airport.  So we end up looping around the airport, and then heading back east, hoping to catch our exit.  We see a big sign for our exit.  It's over the left-hand lanes, with 2 arrows pointing at those left-hand lanes.  And then, suddenly, the exit is on the right, exiting right now.  So I cut across traffic like a maniac, or a Parisienne, and manage to catch the exit.  Phew!  That was only 1 hour getting out of Paris.