The
plan for this day was to leave Eleonore and Anthony’s place early in the
morning, drop off my stuff at my next couch-surfing home, and then take the
train to Versailles and then walk to the LDS temple. This day did not go
according to plan, at all, but as they always do, things worked out.
Eleonore’s street was partly closed
for construction. I ordered an Uber at their apartment, but because half the
street was blocked off, I couldn’t select the right location on the map. Once I
walked to the end of the street to meet the driver, I wouldn’t have Wi-Fi
anymore, and wouldn’t be able to tell when he was getting there. I’d just have
to look for him. So I requested an Uber, walked with my huge suitcase and carry
on down the hill and waited. An Uber guy who totally looked like my driver
pulled up and got out, but he started saying Camille. I said no Anya, and he
showed me his phone said Camille. So he left and I kept waiting.
Although since its Uber pool, I don’t get
why he didn’t pick me up too? I don’t know, maybe it doesn’t work unless they
are connected to you in the app first. So I wait some more. No more drivers.
I’m sure he should have been here by now, so I walk back up with hill with my
big bags to get near enough Eleonore’s apartment to use the Wi-Fi. I then see
the first driver has canceled.
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| Versailles Impressive isn't it |
So I order another one and hike back down
the street. I wait again, and I see several drivers that look like they could
be mine, but none of them stop. I wait and wait, and nothing, so I hike back up
the hill. I get back on the Wi-Fi and order another driver, only then I realize
the route the map is giving these drivers is down the closed street, so these
guys are probably driving around forever and can’t get to where I am. I’m
desperate this time, and I’ve been waiting over 30 minutes to get a ride, so
this time, I call the driver. Which I hated to do, and really wanted to avoid,
and was really regretting that I hadn’t because at this point, all of this
could have been avoided if I’d bought an international phone plan for $40 per
week on Verizon, which is outrageous, and yet would have been cheaper than the
$1.79 per minute I spent on the phone with this driver trying to explain in
French that he could not use the route Uber was giving him, and he needed to go
all the way around the neighborhood to get to the other side of the street.
He did finally arrive, and I was just
happy he stayed on the phone with me to try and figure out how to get to the
street. He was a wonderful driver, very friendly and nice, and I had a great
time talking to him as we drove to the apartment of Cecile and Adrien. I had
planned to get there at 8:30 am, but didn’t end up getting there until 9:30 am.
I probably would have cancelled Versailles and done it another day, but I had
already bought a ticket online, so I didn’t have to wait in line, plus I didn’t
really want to go on Friday or Saturday when it would be even more crowded, so
there was no choice but to go anyways.
So I dropped my things off, met Cecile who
was extremely nice as well, and then hopped on the metro. Cecile warned me that
there is more than one train that comes through the station and it is confusing
to get the right one to the Chateau, so it would be best to just ask someone when
the train arrived. Well, the train arrived and I asked the first person I saw,
and he said, yeah this is to Versailles. So I sat down. As we neared the next
stop, they guy sitting in front of him says, “You are going to Versailles? Oh,
this is not the right train.” And he flicks the other guy in the head! So I get
off with the intent to hop back on to go the other direction to the last
station, and the guy who gave me wrong information hops off too. He tries to
tell me he’s so so sorry, and that he doesn’t even know where he is, he’s sorry
again, and tells me he’s drunk. Awesome! Tip for later: don’t ask drunk guys for
directions.
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| Hall of Battles |
So I’m kind of terrified to hop back on
the next train, because what if it doesn’t go back to the last stop, what if
it’s going somewhere else? So I decide I better figure out how this train
system works. I start reading the signs and walking all up and down, and I’m
getting kind of frustrated, I can’t seem to figure out the system even with my
Metro map. I can feel myself getting emotional because not only am I leaving an
hour later than planned, but I’m lost. So I move to plan B, ask people for help
again. I see this Asian family with 1 daughter sitting at the end, and I think,
I’m pretty sure they’re not drunk, I’ll ask them.
I begin to ask in French and they tell me
they don’t speak French, only English. So in my mind I’m like great! So I ask
again in English, and it turns out they did exactly the same thing as me. They
hopped on, asked someone if it was the right train, they said yes, got to the
next stop, realized it was the wrong train and hopped off. They were sitting
there lost, also trying to figure out how to get back, because they were also
going to Versailles.
So we figured out that either of the
trains which came along would be going to the same station, the one we came
from, and I was like, I’m following you guys. We made it back together, and
then had to run to get on the right train because it stopped way ahead of us on
the track. It was so nice to know we were heading the right way, and I met this
awesome family along the way.
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| Jerry, Lauren, me and Lisa |
Turns out they are Taiwanese. The mom is Lisa,
dad Jerry, and their 10 year old daughter is Lauren. They both came to the US
for college, met in college, got married and then Jerry got a job in New York,
so they decided to stay in the US. She said they haven’t been back to Taiwan
for 20 years. Since they had their daughter they moved to New Jersey and Jerry
takes the train for 2 ½ hours every day into New York where he’s a computer
programmer. Lisa majored in Math and worked in accounting until she had Lauren.
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| I wanted this library in my house! |
Can I just say I love Lisa. She kind of
adopted me along the way and when we got to Versailles she says “you come with
us” so we stayed together to see the Chateau and ended by having lunch together
at the café inside. It was kind of funny when we were standing in lines to go
inside because they would let each group through one at a time, and they kept
trying to rope off the entrances between me and Lisa’s family and Lisa kept
having to tell them, no she’s with us, we are a group.
Once again, meeting people on the fly is
not something I ever thought I was capable of. And to be honest, I would have
been so much more flustered if I hadn’t met Jerry and Lisa. I kind of felt like
God was watching over me that day, and sent me their wonderful family.
 |
| And these piano's |
 |
| A sandwich with the most brie I have ever seen or eaten. It was dry and crusty, but I loved every bite of cheese. |
After lunch we parted ways, and I went to
go see more of the Chateau. They were eager to see the gardens. I was not eager
to go outside since it was still 98 degrees outside. I toured everything else,
the hall of mirrors, hall of battles, and King Louis’ daughters’ apartments
with the audio guide again, which was fabulous and also included in the cost of
the ticket. The other museums charge $5 for them, so that was a bonus. Maybe
it’s because I’m a girly girl, but I could have cared less about the hall of
battles, the best part was seeing the apartments of Adelaide and Victoire. One
played violin and the other, the harp, plus they had 2 harpsichords for
entertaining, and even a little organ in one of the rooms. It was so great to
see how they lived, and yet, the king was overthrown and they died penniless
living with relatives in the country, and were never married. So sad.
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| and this piano. . . |
I wanted to wait until later in the
evening to see the gardens hoping it would cool off a bit. When I did finally
go out there, my feet were so sore because I had worn sandals instead of my
sneakers, and I had no desire to wander around the gardens in this heat. Plus I
knew they were so huge I would only see a fraction of them by foot. So I paid
an outrageous $8 to get on a little train that stops at 4 different sites
around the garden. I only got off at Marie Antoinette’s house because who
doesn’t love Marie Antoinette right? Love it, I could totally see myself living
there. There was this courtyard in the center that was mostly shaded, and there
was kind of like a hose spigot where everyone was refilling their water, so I
went in there and refilled and cooled off in the shade. I figured I was about
done, so I started thinking about how to get to the temple. Then I realized I
had not book-marked it on the offline map I’d been using to navigate through
the streets. I also realized I’d forgotten my great-grandmothers card to do her
work. I knew the general direction of the temple, but was a bit weary and I
didn’t think I could handle it if I got lost again. Plus, I felt a little weird
about being so sweaty, and going to the temple with B.O. I decided I would just
go back to Cecile’s and rest up for the next day.
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