Our last night with the rental car was spent in Dijon, Burgundy. And oh, the wine! Anyways, the car

Our last night with the rental car was spent in Dijon, Burgundy. And oh, the wine! Anyways, the car needed to be returned to Nancy (about cheap travel packages to las vegas 2 hours away) the next day, and according to the guy at the rental counter where we picked cheap travel packages to las vegas it up in Paris, if it's any later than 10am, we will be charged for an extra day.
So it's 630am and we are up and frantically packing to get out the door by 7. Why so early? Well for one, we have made a habit of driving in circles in cities because we don't have good enough service for GPS here, and also the driving logic in Europe is different than the USA. On top of that, we needed to fill the gas tank before returning, and Aaron had read somewhere that if you don't vacuum the carpets, they charge cheap travel packages to las vegas you a fee for that too.
So off we go at 7:01am, and this is the easy part - because right down the street there's a car wash with vacuums we had located the previous day. Aren't we the best planners? Easy as pie. We roll up on the vacuums and we have our Euro coins ready. But we can't seem to find where to insert them. In fact there's only a place for a pre-paid card of some sort, but my French isn't good enough to figure out where that comes from, and at 7:06am, there isn't anyone there to ask. Crap.
But we must make headway toward Nancy, so we move on, and by 7:08 we are driving in our famous "circles" in Dijon. About 20 minutes later, we have found the highway and we can relax because the 2 hour drive will get us to Nancy with about a half hour to spare, plenty of time still to gas up and hand over the keys.
As we make serious headway on the A-31, the morning mist is slowly burning off in the miniature valleys that the rolling country hills create. Clusters of trees in a field of straw, patch-worked land, cows with tons of room to roam. The French countryside is something to see. As it goes by, though, cheap travel packages to las vegas so does the time. Rest stops are plentiful, but Aaron has seen how much money we can save by getting into the city first, and not paying rest stop gas prices. Of course, we have to find those stations without a cellphone data plan too. So there's that.
After a mere 11.50 highway toll, we roll into Nancy just at 9:30 and we are in luck because the road toward "centre cheap travel packages to las vegas ville" (city center where the train/car rental is) seems to be zoned for "car" sorts of things. A gas station must be near! And then there it is! Cue inspirational cheap travel packages to las vegas music. Aaron goes to pump the gas, but it only takes French credit cards. Damn. But not to worry because we have cash. No? You don't take cash? What??
Down the street there's another gas station, but I recognize it as the same brand that didn't take our card days before cheap travel packages to las vegas in Beaunne. Maybe there's a third? But as we drive through at 9:48, the car zoning fades away and we are in centre cheap travel packages to las vegas ville. 12 minutes or they will charge us for an extra day! But we see the train station, so we must be close. I consult the picture I had taken of a map (a world without data), and the rental cheap travel packages to las vegas company appears to be just to the north of the station. So we make a little loop around to that side.
I'm feeling bummed that we would be charged for gas and vacuuming, cheap travel packages to las vegas but at least it looks like we will make it to return the car on time. We make the turn where the map indicates and then there it is. Construction. No! It's 9:53 and we need to get over there, and this P.O.S. construction fence is blocking cheap travel packages to las vegas us, and the city has put up ZERO signs indicating how to navigate around this disaster!
Flailing cheap travel packages to las vegas for some sort of solution, we frantically drive in circles around the station, and each time, we pass the construction fence - it's still there (shockingly). In the meantime, it's 9:59 and I'm searching cheap travel packages to las vegas through our email (offline, of course) to try and find a phone number so that we can call and say "Hey! We are actually on time! It's 9:59 and we are here. But we can't find you. Where are you? Please don't charge us!"
I spot a Hertz. Not our place, but maybe they can give directions. My French is usually good enough for that. At 10:03, Aaron illegally parks on the sidewalk and I run into the Hertz. cheap travel packages to las vegas The woman indicates to me that we just have to walk around cheap travel packages to las vegas the fence right there, and leave the car where we have parked it (except of course, we are not legally parked). But there's a spot just on the bridge luckily, so we grab it, lock up the car, and run past the fence.
At 10:15 we are finally handing over the keys. We're not THAT late, right? Gulp. She smiles and says we are all set. I was nervous cheap travel packages to las vegas to ask, but Aaron boldly asks her if we made the deadline. This is the deciding moment.