Time to leave for Spain

WE got up really early this morning because we needed to be at the airport by 8 to pick up our rental car.  But it's a good thing we had to get up so early since it gave us a chance to see Martina before she left for work.  We said goodbye to her and a short while later, we hurried to the bus stop.  We took a bus all the way to the airport.  Andrew continued on the bus to where he works (he needed to drop something off there) and we went to the Europe Car rental car desk and took care of the paperwork for our car.

Andrew was soon back with us, the paperwork for the car went fast and we were on our way, using our new GPS, back to Andrew's apartment to pick up our luggage.  We said our goodbyes to Andrew and we were on our way.  It was sad leaving there as we had such a nice time with both of them.

Thank goodness for the GPS, it got us easily through the streets of Basel and out of the city.  Whew!  That was such a relief!  My goodness the country side was beautiful as we drove through Switzerland.  The mountains and the lakes and all the little villages nestled up on the mountain sides were just so picturesque.  Switzerland really is a beautiful country.  We stopped in the town of Orbe for lunch (way too expensive) and shortly after that we crossed into France.   By about 5pm we decided we should look for a hotel, so we got off the toll road at the town of Valance and TRIED to find a hotel there but we just couldn't.  We were glad we had the GPS because we ended up far from the highway down a little old country road and the GPS brought us easily back to the highway.  That was so nice!!!

So, we kept on driving some more once we were back on the highway and decided that the next time we stopped, it wouldn't be such a big city.  And sure enough, when we got to the outskirts of the town of Montelimar, there were hotels right there at the exit, so that turned out way easier.  After getting our room, we drove into Montelimar to get something to eat and we were dismayed to see a big old nuclear power plant on the lake nearby.  The town of Montelimar itself was kind of interesting - it seemed like an ancient city with lots and lots of Sycamore trees lining the downtown streets.  It was a very unique look.