LOOPING THE CANAL du NIVERNAIS 2014: No lines, No lanes,chaos! Versailles NOT....

Thursday August 14th

Garth and George went to pick up the rental car and drove it back to the apartment to pick up Terri and I. The street is narrow, no parking, not at all passable and early morning is delivery time. While we were waiting several trucks stopped to drop of their wares, the "brinks" truck came by and the garbage men did their rounds. Finally, up came the white lightning! We were hoping for a Megane but got an Audi .... we managed to jam in 8 bags and off we went. Terri had to struggle with bags to locate her seat belt, George was not in sight. Talk about sardines! But, it was all good as we were off to Versailles!! Betty was along as well, she is the only one that tells Garth were to go and gets away with it! Betty is our GPS - we had her set for Versailles. I looked at the route she chose~ right down Rue de Rivoli through Place de la Concorde up the Champs Elysees and around the Arc de Triomphe!! OMG! The traffic does not get any more chaotic anywhere in Paris. We had insurance and I know that if you get into a fender bender on that round about you have to move your car off to a side street and then call the cops. No insurance company in France will cover accidents on the Arc de Triomphe. First off there are no lines to navigate by therefore there are no lanes - it appears to be a free for all but in reality it is really quite civilized. The traffic here has always been a source of interest and amusement for me. I spent hours my first time in Paris forty some odd years ago just watching the traffic. Garth and I spent an evening ( with two bottles of wine) watching the traffic and the people about ten years ago. We have been passengers in taxis and buses but have never driven up the Champs Elysees and around the Arc. My stomach was churning, the situation was nerve wracking but we had two things going for us, OK, three, it was before 9 am and it is August ( no Parisians) and of course Garth, the excellent driver.

We were in and out like a flash, Betty knew exactly where we were at all times,Garth had it under control and I just kept counting the streets. WHEW! We made it in around to the sixth exit and we were history! Bye bye, so long, farewell! All my angst for not.

Within no time we were in Versailles. We had pre-purchased our tickets in order to save time. In reality that did not mean much as it appeared that the other 3000 people who descended on Versailles that morning had also pre-purchased theirs. A guide gave us a heads up - she said if you get a guided tour you can get in right away, it will cost another 7 Euros....we were game but when we checked it out it was going to be another hour and a half wait for the tour. An executive decision was made to forgo our tickets and move on. Versailles will have to wait for another time. This is actually Garth's third attempt to get through the gates.

With the internet once someone spills the good idea of advance tickets everyone goes for it!

So close, yet so far!

Our day was not lost, we decided to head for the Loire a little early and take a round about way to get there. We arrived in Amboise and checked in to our hotel. Later we went downtown to see the chateau and walk around a little.