Dropping off a rental car in Lyon--an all morning experience!
Aug 1st, 2004, 05:23 PM
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Dropping off a rental car in Lyon--an all morning experience!
I just completed a 10-day driving trip starting in Avignon, staying first in Les Baux de Provence and ultimately ending up in Lyon to catch the train back to Paris. It was a trip designed to follow several stages of the Tour de France, and yet it allowed me to see alot of pretty countryside in between viewing and my own cycling outings. I passed through the Luberon on the way to the Drome region, taking secondary roads pretty much the entire trip.
I stayed at an interesting hameau--a small village unto itself--a bit off the beaten track along a very winding, mountainous road southeast of Le Poet Laval--the fields of lavender were amazing! North of the Drome region, I was lucky enough to spend two evenings in Vonnas at George Blanc, as I waited for the Tour to emerge from the Alps. I must say that the drive from the Drome to Vonnas, which is northeast of Lyon--was my longest and least interesting drive. In any event, the only really difficult part of having completed about 1,200 kilometres of driving on the secondary roads of France was arriving in Lyon and trying to find the proper spot for dropping off the rental car at the Part Dieu train station. They are currently doing some construction around the train station and there are no temporary signs to guide people. I ended up first having to drive into the taxi line to at least find the Hertz office and then, because I couldn't leave the car there, I had to set out again and ultimately, I had to drive up a "no entrance" marked street in order to access the Hertz parking lot. The people at Hertz were pretty casual about guiding clients to their drop-off place, so, should anyone be heading through Lyon to drop off a rental car, be advised, you may need some extra time if you're intending to make a train!
I stayed at an interesting hameau--a small village unto itself--a bit off the beaten track along a very winding, mountainous road southeast of Le Poet Laval--the fields of lavender were amazing! North of the Drome region, I was lucky enough to spend two evenings in Vonnas at George Blanc, as I waited for the Tour to emerge from the Alps. I must say that the drive from the Drome to Vonnas, which is northeast of Lyon--was my longest and least interesting drive. In any event, the only really difficult part of having completed about 1,200 kilometres of driving on the secondary roads of France was arriving in Lyon and trying to find the proper spot for dropping off the rental car at the Part Dieu train station. They are currently doing some construction around the train station and there are no temporary signs to guide people. I ended up first having to drive into the taxi line to at least find the Hertz office and then, because I couldn't leave the car there, I had to set out again and ultimately, I had to drive up a "no entrance" marked street in order to access the Hertz parking lot. The people at Hertz were pretty casual about guiding clients to their drop-off place, so, should anyone be heading through Lyon to drop off a rental car, be advised, you may need some extra time if you're intending to make a train!
Aug 1st, 2004, 06:24 PM
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We have a history of having the worst time returning cars, no matter where we are--always a story and always takes much longer than we expect. Many years ago, less savvy about all this, we tried to return a car in a larger-than-we-thought city in Germany (Olm or Ulm, I forget which; planning to take train from that point); it was a holiday/parade day. We gave up trying so drove on to Frankfurt, kept the car an extra day (paid dearly for that, of course!), and long story short, finally hired a taxi to lead us to the airport car return, which we could see but not get to! Just making the plane, we had many laughs later with the couple we were with and obviously, still stands out in memory as a funny but very frustrating time!
Aug 16th, 2004, 01:40 PM
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Thanks for all of your responses. It's actually a bit heartening to hear that other travelers have encountered similar challenges in the last legs of their journeys! Based on your range of responses, I will be sure to once again leave extra time whenever dropping off a car in Europe!
Underhill, I actually did spend two very pleasant evenings at Les Hospitaliers--at your recommendation--thank you! Lovely food, nice people and, of course, amazing views! The hameau where I stayed prior to driving over to Le Poet-Laval is called the Hameau de Valouse. It's perhaps a twenty-five minute drive from there westward to Dieulefit--but what a drive! The road is an extremely narrow, serpentine trail that winds up and down through the mountains, offering at times unbelievable prospects of glorious lavender fields in full bloom. Although it was hot, I had to turn off the air conditioning and let the windows down, just to take in the pervasive lavender scent!
The gentleman who runs the Hameau de Valouse could not have been nicer or more accomodating. The hameau is set on a hillside and is comprised of a series of apartments and rooms; the guests were quite varied, some German, some French and a few Americans. It had the feel a bit of a family retreat, because the guests staying in the apartments were really there for a week or so, taking advantage of the pool and the surroundings. The food was very good and I could not have been more impressed with how hard the waiters and owner worked, literally almost running back and forth from the kitchen out to the outdoor restaurant! If you look it up on the web, you'll see what a nice view the outdoor restaurant has.
I would add that I met a lovely couple--I've been corresponding with them for a couple of years--who run a comparatively stately (for the region!)hotel in Dieulefit. I believe it's called the Hotel Mary, but I stopped into meet them and they could not have been nicer. If I get a chance to revisit Dieulefit--an artistic town well worth spending a day wandering about in--I would try to book a night at Hotel Mary.
Underhill, I actually did spend two very pleasant evenings at Les Hospitaliers--at your recommendation--thank you! Lovely food, nice people and, of course, amazing views! The hameau where I stayed prior to driving over to Le Poet-Laval is called the Hameau de Valouse. It's perhaps a twenty-five minute drive from there westward to Dieulefit--but what a drive! The road is an extremely narrow, serpentine trail that winds up and down through the mountains, offering at times unbelievable prospects of glorious lavender fields in full bloom. Although it was hot, I had to turn off the air conditioning and let the windows down, just to take in the pervasive lavender scent!
The gentleman who runs the Hameau de Valouse could not have been nicer or more accomodating. The hameau is set on a hillside and is comprised of a series of apartments and rooms; the guests were quite varied, some German, some French and a few Americans. It had the feel a bit of a family retreat, because the guests staying in the apartments were really there for a week or so, taking advantage of the pool and the surroundings. The food was very good and I could not have been more impressed with how hard the waiters and owner worked, literally almost running back and forth from the kitchen out to the outdoor restaurant! If you look it up on the web, you'll see what a nice view the outdoor restaurant has.
I would add that I met a lovely couple--I've been corresponding with them for a couple of years--who run a comparatively stately (for the region!)hotel in Dieulefit. I believe it's called the Hotel Mary, but I stopped into meet them and they could not have been nicer. If I get a chance to revisit Dieulefit--an artistic town well worth spending a day wandering about in--I would try to book a night at Hotel Mary.
Aug 16th, 2004, 04:46 PM
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Your experience is exactly why I'm so paranoid about picking up and returning my rental cars! I will go out of my way to take the train to a smaller town to do so. I have contemplated returning a car in Lyon, but glad I didn't after reading about your experience. The rest of your trip sounds wonderful, though!
Aug 16th, 2004, 06:08 PM
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Lucky for you that you didn't rent through AutoEurope and have to return the car to the Lyon airport. What an experience! The drop-off point is not on airport grounds and the search for it was like a scavenger hunt. Then we had to have the attendant at the lot call for a taxi in order to get back to Vieux Lyon. We lost an easy 4 hours out of the day that we could have spent seeing this great city. Live and learn.
