On to the South!

 

We were up at 6 and down to breakfast in the chilly hotel lobby by 7 am.  Basic French breakfast, but the ham was spectacular, and they make some wonderful buttered scrambled eggs that were fabulous.  Also - juice, fruit, croissants and pain au chocolat.  Definitely filling!  Down with our suitcases by 8, and our BOLT driver took less than 3 minutes to get to us.  As it was Saturday, it took less than an hour to get to Charles de Gaulle, and we were delivered to Terminal 2B, from whence we had exited just a few days before.  Found the rental car desk with a minimum of problem, and quite literally, within 15 minutes, we were in our Citroen SUV and on our way out of town.  Emmy, our GPS was wonderful guiding us expertly out and around Paris and soon we were on the Peage (toll way) and heading south.  The Citroen has plenty of room, but honestly – it’s beeping at me all of the time – and some of the time, we have no idea why.  I HATE cars that beep with lane changes, that’s for sure and would love to be able to figure out how to turn off that feature!!  Any advice would be sincerely appreciated anyone!!!

 

As there is a high plateau near Clermont-Ferrand that we had to go through, I was a bit concerned about what weather we would have.  Our friend, Nathalie, who we are visiting with in Saint-Affrique (next to Roquefort and just across the stunning Millau Bridge) cautioned us to be very careful making our way through that area, and also Alain, at dinner last night, wondered what kind of road problems we might encounter, as it has been so cold and wet these past few days.  (Snow AND ice!). 

 

Leaving Paris, the day was truly dreary – very, very gray and overcast, and that continued for the first hours of our trip.  The temperature was a few degrees below freezing and there was hoarfrost on the ground in many places.  However, as we were getting closer to Clermont, the sun actually broke through, and we saw blue sky!  By that point, though, the countryside was covered by several inches of actual snow.  Then, we started seeing signage saying that all the various passes across the area to the south were OPEN!  YAY!!  The drive was estimated to take about 7½ hours, and we made it in a little over 8, and that included stopping at McDonald’s for lunch!

 

Found our odd hotel – it’s supposed to be a spa-like experience.  They had thoughtfully remembered to turn on the heat for us, so the rooms are nice and warm – lovely two bedroom place, with full kitchen, big bathroom, shower, etc. – but no working Wifi, and no working television!  What gives??  The WiFi signal is too weak and the TV connection is nonexistent – point that certainly will be mentioned in our review of this place.

 



Photos from the car as we're heading South










We've reached the stunning Millau bridge!



Nathalie visiting us in our warm apartment!




Nathalie came over for a visit, which was lovely, and as we had had such a long driving day, she ordered and picked up pizzas for us for dinner, and now we have eaten and I am actually doing a load of laundry before getting to bed.  We’re going over to her house tomorrow for a raclette lunch and visit with her husband Pascal and daughter, Julia, and to meet Caleb, Julia’s husband from Wisconsin!  So looking forward to seeing them again!  We’ll also take the computer over there and catch up on blog posting and emails.  I will definitely be letting Booking.com know how I feel about this place – heat or not, with no working WiFi in this day and age! So now you know why no blogs today – sorry – and probably one tomorrow and possibly two on Monday, when we get to Nimes!  Still deciding if we want to stay here tomorrow night.  R much more forgiving than me…but you know, we teenagers like to stay connected!

 

So – more later!

m

xxx

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