Departure

We left Finale Ligure for Nice on Saturday September 26, 2015.  Our scheduled departure was 11:45 a.m., we left with plenty of time to drop Linda off at the proper terminal, along with our luggage, and then for me to drop the Kangoo at Renault Eurodrive's airport office.  Easy. No stress. 

I knew that the Renault office was supposed to be near "Terminal 2 Gate A4".  Renault provided more than enough info to find the place--I should have had it with me and paid attention, or at least given it a serious look before we left.  Yes, that's foreshadowing. 

Everything was going smoothly, and stress-free--the goal for the day.  The drive to Nice was uneventful and pleasant. 

We found the airport without a problem.  We found the proper departure terminal.  We offloaded the bike and bags and the wheelchair.  Loaded everything onto a luggage cart and wheeled everything, and Linda, to just inside the terminal.  Linda waited, seated in the wheelchair, with the large bike box and our bags in the cart--kind of just sitting there in the middle of the terminal all by her lonesome--the car drop-off shouldn't have taken more than a half hour, max.  Of course that all depends on how well executed the drop off was. 

I got back in the car and drove around to where I had seen the signs for the rental car companies.  Eurodrive was sort of a rental car company, so I figured they must be where all the other rental car companies are.  There was a large 2-story building at one end of the airport that I figured must be near Eurodrive.  My first time by it, I couldn't see any sign of Eurodrive or Renault.

I went around twice more before I finally made the fateful decision to enter the large building with the names of all the rental car companies but for the one I was looking for.  BIG mistake.  I felt doomed as soon as I entered past the gate and realized that Eurodrive was not in this building and that there was no way back out without going forward through the garage building.  At first blush, this shouldn't have raised any immediate alarms because, you figure, if you can get in, you just have to find the exit and get out, right? Ummm. . . not so fast. 

After quickly realizing I was in some trouble, I tried to talk with some French dudes working there washing cars to ask them how to get out--they wouldn't give me the time of day.  I think the one guy had to be swearing at me. 

I came across a woman that did speak English, an employee of one of the rental car companies, and she sort of pointed me in the right direction to get out and told me about needing a "token" or "ticket" to get out.  She said I had to go downstairs and get this ticket.  It hadn't yet dawned on me what exactly she meant. 

I found the exit, but it was closed off with two gates.  So, somewhat stupidly, I drove up to the first gate.  It opened automatically--or perhaps I pressed a button to raise it, I don't remember--and I drove up to the second gate.  The first gate closed behind me.  Great.  OK, there must be a button to press at the little box to open the 2nd gate.  There was a button.  I pressed it. It made sound like it was dialing somewhere but no one answered.  And the gate didn't open.  I pressed it again.  No answer.  Once more.  No answer.  Was I swearing now?  Oh, probably.

Turns out the first raises automatically--yep, sure does.  The second opens only with this ticket that I was supposed to get.  I had no ticket to place into the second gate control. . . so  it wouldn't open.  So I'm stuck there in this rental car stuck between the two gates.  I couldn't go forward, I couldn't go backward. Stuck.  Time ticking away.  All that precious stress-free time.  So. . . I got out of the car and left it there in between the two gates in search of a ticket.  Fortunately, there were two such exit gates so I wasn't blocking anyone else from leaving--though maybe that would have been better had I been blocking the only way out and I could have gotten help earlier.

I ran over to the rental offices and all of the rental places had huge lines.  I went to the shortest line I could find and the guy there said he couldn't give me a ticket.  I don't think he worked for a rental company.  I don't remember what the place was, but I don't think he could give me a ticket if he wanted to.  But he didn't offer any suggestions, either.  In fact, he told me that I couldn't get a ticket from anyone there.  I was getting more frustrated by the minute.  

Exasperated, I kind of ran around in circles trying to think of what to do.  I decided to run over to Terminal 2 Gate A4 that I'd seen referenced in the instructions from Eurodrive.  No one was around to ask any questions. I couldn't find anyone there.  No one to tell me where to go.  I walked out the front door about to have a nervous breakdown when I looked up and to my left and I saw the Eurodrive office.

I ran over to that office, explained to the very nice, very patient English-speaking man working for Eurodrive that their Kangoo was stuck in between two gates in the rental complex across the way.

He told me he couldn't give me a ticket to use to open the gate because he didn't have any.  He asked me if I hadn't seen the directions given in the Eurodrive reservation.  Ummm. . . .

He told me the only alternative was to get a ticket from one of the rental car companies.

So back I run to the rental offices wondering what the heck I was going to say next since the first guy wouldn't give me one. I figured I was screwed and Linda would be stuck sitting in the middle of the terminal until we'd missed our flight and we'd have to fly out days later. 

I went to the opposite side of where the first guy was--seems I remember it was an Enterprise office.  I was probably not very patient, I was in a near panic.  I was able to explain well enough to the fellow I cornered that I needed a ticket to insert into the machine to open the silly gate. He gave me a ticket, without asking any questions.  I am sure that he thought I was an idiot, pushy American.  Man, I was near a nervous breakdown by that time. When I inserted the ticket and the gate opened the sense of relief was incredible.  Freedom!  I made my way around to Eurodrive, the correct way.  Turned the car in and signed the papers.  I walked back out to Terminal 2 Gate A4--again--to pick up a bus to the terminal where I'd left poor Linda.

This was the 3rd time I left Linda abandoned on the trip, the first time in the airport in Geneva when we first arrived and I went to retrieve the rental car.  The 2nd time in Pisa.  And then the airport in Nice upon departure while trying to return the rental car.  Good grief, what will I be doing when I'm old? 

I don't know how long I was gone.  It seemed hours.  When I left Linda in the middle of the air terminal, she was kind of sitting there in the open, no one around.  When I finally did get back, there were people everywhere and Linda was almost swallowed up in the crowd.  Poor little Linda.  We did make it through to our flight with no additional issues--most likely thanks to Linda being in the wheelchair getting us through security quickly.