Well yesterday has to be one of the most difficult days I have had for a while!
I was taken to the bus stop in plenty of time but the bus from Maureillas to Perpignan was late as everyone is on the road enjoying holidays! I had half an hour up my sleeve to collect my train ticket in Perpignan, however..., (and I should have known there would have been one of those), there were building works at the station so not easy to follow the directions. Very nice young man spoke a little English and was catching the same train so he helped me and we made it with 5 minutes to spare. I had a connection to make en route to Marseille so it was onto the platform and my standard line "Does anyone have any English?" is trotted out. Much easier than trying to figure out the French when in a hurry! So far, with much arm waving and thrusting tickets under people's noses, I have had success and so it was that I arrived safely in Marseille! I had spent some of the journey reading my ebook "Driving over Lemons" (which is about the Alpujarra valley where I had just been in Spain), so the Frog had died and I couldnt remember the name of the hotel I was staying at overnight. Hey, Voila! there was a nifty pedalling arrangement for recharging cell phones etc at the train station. Picture this: a now 63 year old woman with a back pack on, sitting on a bicycle, pedalling furiously while trying to read her Samsung screen which faded when the pedalling slowed. Got a few strange looks but maybe that was more about the red face, yellow and orange hat, pink shirt and grey shorts?
At last I was on the airport shuttle bus which dropped me at Marseille airport just in time to connect with the hotel shuttle! It was one of those days when the stars thankfully aligned again and I collapsed exhausted into crisp sheets for a great sleep. I have just read my notebook and I have written "This is NOT fun!" Following morning I was at the Ryanair counter way too early to drop my bag but it felt good to have time on my side for a change! The view from my window seat on the flight to Nantes was spectacular and I now realise why Marseille roof tiles are so named. Duuh. they are all over the roofs in Marseille! I could even see the Millau bridge, which is an architectural marvel and looked huge even from on high. It cuts the journey from Paris to the Cote d'azure short, which is a boon for the Parisiens but a thorn in the side of others who live in the "empty centre" of France and feel neglected while all major roads lead out of Paris! I feel as though I have seen a lot of France already and much more to come as we prepare to travel 800 kilometres across the country next Wednesday.
Drama at the airport at Nantes when we landed as we were asked to remain seated while the gendarmes came to "assist" an unhappy passenger. 4 policemen and 3 pompelliers (firemen) later and a good half hour on the tarmac before we disembarked, to find my next Helpx host, Manon and her 2 small children there to greet me. The 50 minute drive down to their town was very pretty and we were greeted by Eric who was plastering the recently renovated kitchen in the house. The bathroom upstairs has just been added and is not yet completed, there is painting to be finished, the close on 300 board games (I kid you not!) need to be packed and there are about a million books of every conceivable genre. In complete sets too! We will eat this elephant one bite at a time and Wednesday will see us on the road to Liebvillers with a loaded truck and trailer.
A bientot mes Amis
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