Recap of my trip to France

[JanetC]

My daughter is studying abroad in France next year so I would love any tips and tricks your daughter would like to pass along from the student's point of view.

[Karen A]

1 hour ago, Quill said:

Did someone assign it to her? I’m wondering how she heard about or knew about this work of art? 

It’s very charming. 

Oops, I was all wrong--just spoke to my daughter, who is home sick to ask her about this.  Different work after all. Apparently her class visited the Art Institute in Chicago, and had to pick a work to write a back story for.  All I remembered when I wrote my first reply was that she had to write about a statue of a girl with one breast showing, holding something(I thought a jug), and with something at her feet. And the picture of your statue looked familiar, for some reason... I guess many sculptures are similar, actually.    Hers project turns out to have been on Nydia, the flower girl of Pompeii.  Sorry for the distraction! :)  

Looking forward to hearing more later.  My husband and I visited Paris 10 years ago--he had studied there in college, and we had a wonderful time as well. If  my memory serves me correctly, (ha!) we also visited L. Gardens the first day.  I took a 30 minute nap on a stone bench as I was so jetlagged!

[Guest]

Continuing on...

So I had my dates mixed up and it was Wednesday that we went to Camargue. Then on Thursday, I didn’t do a whole lot. I went shopping and bought a sweater and a shirt. I was having a bit of a crisis right then. I guess I was fatigued from the constant figuring out, mixed in with a bit of homesickness, but I was having a hard time with the thought of venturing forth alone. I was originally planning to either go to Carcassone or to Sète, but now I was waffling on going anywhere. DD texted me and urged me to go and not waste my time in France sitting in my apartment. I decided to go to Sète and she helped me get my train tickets. I cried a little bit. 

Friday I go up early-ish, got a chai, and walked to the train station. I checked and re-checked the info boards forty-nine times, making sure I knew what train and into which Voire and what car and seat I was supposed to have. I still did not understand how to identify which train car contained my seat and I think I got into the wrong car, but it didn’t matter because they were not full. 

When I got to Sète, I didn’t know where to go. I knew there was a panoramic view of the Mediterranean somewhere and decided I would just start walking upwards. I could see a giant cross on top of the mountain and figured I would just walk in that direction. I came across an open-air maerket and that was cool. I walked up, up, up tiny windy road and eventually was getting some very nice views. I kept going up. An excited French man was coming from the direction I was heading and he babbled a string of French to me. I told him I don’t speak much French, and then he still spoke French, but with gestures that clearly indicated that this was the way to the spectacular views. He was not wrong.

Pretty soon, I arrived at the giant cross and the panoramic view from Mont St. Claire. It was totally magnificent. My Fitbit hit 10,000 steps and 80 flights of stairs before 11:00 am. :) I took a bunch of pictures and also visited the chapel there. Got hit up by a panhandler once again, while I was seeking to understand him. 

I saw other nice things in Sète and ate the world’s most amazing strawberry ice cream. There were cool war memorials. The day was beautiful. I was happy DD had urged me to go. I was also happy that I did not choose Carcassone, because there was a terrorist/hostage incident in Carcassone that day. (Of course, I doubt I would have been involved or even known of it, but it would not have helped allay DH’s fears at all had I been in the city where that happened on the day it happened.) 

Once I returned to Montpellier, DD came over and we had tapas at a piano bar. It was so delicious. 

Saturday it was rainy and we had not planned to do much because of it. We went shopping; she got new shoes. We went to host mom’s house again for dinner and this was when we had the meal on the raclette grill. Baked potatoes with cheese, sausage. Tiramisu for dessert. 

One other thing worth mentioning: this was the first time I realized I understood what a store clerk said to me, and it was pure translation because I would not have known this word. He said, “Avez-vous un carte de fidelity?” Which I rightly understood as, “Do you have a loyalty card?” Small victories! After that, I also understood when he commented that the pen did not work. From this point, I did better in many settings and understood most things announced at train stations. Some train announcers do speak too fast, though. 

So, that’s all for this post. I hope this helps someone realize that a good vacation can still have its low moments. 

[Guest]

[mommyoffive]

Your last sentence is so true.  I think especially when you are traveling internationally. 

 

I love your selfie.  You are amazing!

[Serenade]

Thank you so much for sharing, Quill.  I so enjoyed reading this thread, and your pictures are absolutely lovely.  They look like something from a travel magazine.   

I'm really looking forward to your next update!  (I'm hoping there will be one.)

[Arctic Bunny]

Thank you for all you have shared so far!

Regarding your slump day... I was just at a parent meeting for the first special camp DS is going to this summer for his organization, and they said that if the kids can push past about day 3, they’ll be okay as far as homesickness. Maybe grownups aren’t much different, especially combined with jet lag! Going to Sète was probably an excellent choice.

[Mothersweets]

You're so brave, Quill! Love the pictures, too!

[MomsintheGarden]

Thanks so much for writing about your trip, Quill, both the ups and the downs.  I'm enjoying every word!

[CAJinBE]

I think day 3 should always be a relaxing day. Plan to go to a park, the beach, or whatever is easy and restful for you. I've been to the Camargue once and am drinking coffee from my souvenir mug right now. I saw the beautiful horses but they weren't running through the water like on the advertisements. They were just grazing. I would like to go back on an organized tour sometime when I can see more of the horses and the protected areas. I didn't buy any salt either, but I do see it from time to time in stores. It's impossible to do everything on a first visit anywhere so you just have to enjoy what you can do.

 

Thanks for sharing your trip with us. You've given me more ideas of places to go.

[Guest]

2 hours ago, CAJinBE said:

I think day 3 should always be a relaxing day. Plan to go to a park, the beach, or whatever is easy and restful for you. I've been to the Camargue once and am drinking coffee from my souvenir mug right now. I saw the beautiful horses but they weren't running through the water like on the advertisements. They were just grazing. I would like to go back on an organized tour sometime when I can see more of the horses and the protected areas. I didn't buy any salt either, but I do see it from time to time in stores. It's impossible to do everything on a first visit anywhere so you just have to enjoy what you can do.

 

Thanks for sharing your trip with us. You've given me more ideas of places to go.

I would love to experience the wildlife in Camargue as well. I am a bit of a bird nut and could see the wild flamingoes in the marshland. If I had been in control of my transportation, I would have pulled off the road and taken pictures of the flamingoes. I also saw some of the horses but they were also grazing. I read a review of a tour where the reviewer said the tour guide took them to a pasture where they watched the “wild” white horses graze in a paddock. :D 

[CAJinBE]

I forgot about the flamingos! We did stop and take pictures, but they didn't come out very well. I think migration season would be the time to go back and I think there are tours for bird watching. Maybe when I'm done homeschooling.

[TechWife]

On 4/8/2018 at 4:58 PM, Quill said:

The Louvre is a great museum but it is bizarre how people flock to The Mona Lisa while other amazing artifacts (30,000+) go nearly unnoticed. People are weird.

My husband said the same thing after his first trip there. It's an amazing museum, but people are intent on taking selfies with that one picture and miss out on a tremendous opportunity.

[Guest]

More travelogue from France...

Sunday DD and I went to Marseilles to hike the Calanques. It took a little finagling to get to specifically where the hiking is and we had to ride a bus from the train station into the town of Cassis. The bus driver was hilarious. He had his tape of 70s songs playing and was singing along (in French) at the top of his lungs. He was urging us to sing along, which I cannot do in French. :) 

The Calanques are absolutely magnificent! The sea is turquoise. We hiked to a high point and then descended. The people we interacted with there were gregarious and funny. At one point, DD asked a couple for directions and the man began to answer but the woman cut him off, disagreeing with his directions and gave her own directions. :D People look to me, I guess because I am the elder, but I’m looking at DD to indicate that she is the one who understands them. 

On the train back to Montpellier, I finally understood a few details about getting on the correct train car. I asked DD, “Why is there a blinking light on the screen at car T?” She said, “because that’s the car you will get into if you are standing here.” Oh. Well, that makes sense. 

Monday was my day to check out of Montpellier, but my train into Paris wasn’t until late evening. (It was the cheapest.) I went through the city, taking pictures of architecture, which is something I really enjoyed in France. Montpellier also has a quirky little thing where an artist embedded bicycles into the walls of several buildings, so I photographed those. I bought a few gifts for my boys; a geode for DS13 and two cool tee shirts for DS18. The shop keepers are so interactive. They do a good job of making the sale simply for this reason. 

I did get to see DD one last bit before my train came and we had some ice cream together. I got on my train and headed back to Paris. (My plan was to be in Paris when it was time to fly home, so I would not be far from the airport. This turned out to be a very good plan.)

When I arrived in Paris, it was quite late and I had to get a bus from the train station to the vicinity of the hotel. It was anxiety-provoking waiting there in the dark as people got on different buses and nobody seemed to be going where I was going. Finally my bus appeared around the corner, but weirdly slowed and flashed his headlights. I didn’t know why that was, but I stepped nearer to the curb and looked towards the bus. When the bus driver stopped, he berated me in French for not flagging him down to indicate I wanted to board! I have never heard of “hailing” a bus the way you do a cab; I assumed if you are standing at a bus stop, the bus will stop there. I didn’t appreciate his rudeness, but I just pushed my ticket in the machine and soundly ignored him. I got off near to, but not exactly where I thought I was going because the announcement said it was the terminus, though I thought there was one more stop. Oh well. 

I turned on Google maps to figure out where to walk for my hotel because I was not at the expected stop. I found it and there was a sign on the door saying, complet, that is to say, full/no vacancy. I walked in, asked in French if it was full, got an affirmative response, and then said I had a reservation. Fortunately the clerk now stepped into perfect Brittish English, because I would not have understood the conversation that followed, had it been in French.

My hotels in Paris were acquired through my credit card travel reward points, and this room I had only booked about five days previously because I was trying to plan a tour to Normandy and didn’t have that done ahead of time. So here I am, it is literally midnight, and the clerk tells me the travel reward center rejected my reservation because the hotel was full. However, I have an email saying it’s booked and here’s my confirmation! My mind is scrambling with possible solutions - do I hang out homelessly in the train station tonight and sleep on the train to Normandy tomorrow? But the clerk comes up with a solution: there are two no-shows for tonight - what are the chances they will both turn up now? He says he can give me one of their rooms and they are already paid for, so it is still free for me. I thank him perfusely and go to the offered room.

One minute after I am in the room - 12:35am - the clerk calls my room, says the no-shower’s credit card was declined, so I would have to pay -at a discount! - for the previously-free room. I mutter to myself that this can be nothing but taking advantage of a weary traveler who is clearly out of options, but I pay the 132€ for a crappy room in a dodgy part of town. (This was later sort of rectified by my travel rewards company, but in the moment I felt scammed, though honestly, that is quite a cheap two nights in Paris.) 

In any case, it was a place to pee, charge my phone and lay my head for four hours before my train to Normandy the next morning. 

Thanks for listening everyone! 

[Guest]

[mommyoffive]

Ha I didn't even notice the bike until I read the story. 

The bus, that was so odd. 

I am glad you worked out the rewards thing.  I would say contact them and get your points back. 

 

[Guest]

1 hour ago, mommyoffive said:

Ha I didn't even notice the bike until I read the story. 

The bus, that was so odd. 

I am glad you worked out the rewards thing.  I would say contact them and get your points back. 

 

Yeah, the hotel clerk actually did contact my rewards company and they called me once I was back in the States. They refunded my points and gave me bonus points as well.