The Ultimate Blog Post of All Time

  Île de Ré, France
Tuesday, November 4, 2008

So, a lot has happened, and I will ask you to allow me to work backwards, as that will allow me to record things freshest in my mind first.  And the older stuff is already a bit stale in my memory, so it shouldn't lose too much...

First of all (or last of all): Les Vacances

Saturday (25th October), the first day of the holidays, and also the birthay of my mum and of Amy, one of the other exchange students.  I had decided not to leave La Rochelle until the Sunday so that I could stay and celebrate here with friends.  In the late morning, Amy, Meredith and I walked into the old port where we went to very, very special shop/café.  In the window is the most glorious selection of amazingly fancy tiny cakes.  We each chose one and then cut each into 3 and shared them, which was just as well - they were each far too rich to eat a whole one of, despite their miniature size. 

Birthday Cakes!

 I also had there the best coffee of my life.  Oh wow.  Oh, yum!

Then we went and looked up bus timetables of Île de Ré. We had about an hour before the next bus, so we went and had a poke around at the farmers' market.  Oh my!  Kiwifruit jam!  Yes please! And also, big orange pumpkins everywhere, which was quite a sight for an Australian.

Pumkin Stall at the Farmers' Markets!

We then went for a walk in the gardens, which I had never before been too.  Again, wow.  So vast and so beautiful. 

The river in the gorgeous park in La Rochelle

In the gorgeous park in La Rochelle

Gorgeous street in Île de Ré

Then it was on the bus to Île de Ré.  The bus was full, so we had to stand up, and I managed to feel travel sick, but made it through the hour long journey.  At one stop, a couple got off, so there were 2 spare seats, but I could see, waiting at the bus stop, were an elder couple, and so I didn't sit down.  The bus driver said to me (in French) "there are 2 seats there - you can sit down" and I fumbled a reply, saying "Il y a des gens" and pointing like mute.  He looked at the couple waiting, and then back at me and said "Tu n'est pas français" (you're not french).  But the bus driver was a champion.  "Prochain arrête: La Flotte!" he would call, meaning "next stop: __" and some kids little kids started copying him, saying "Prochain arrêt: ___", but they would say any old place, not what the next stop actually was and the bus driver would call out "Non" or "faux!".  It was a great us trip. I could go on a week's tour with that crowd. 

A Massive Mound of Mussel shells

Once off the bus, the first stop was, of course, food!  And we found some quite delicious...  we ate more mussels than I have seen in my life...

Then we went to the old church and paid the 1€ to go up the bell tower.  And the view was stunning (even if climing the stairs was terrifying). And I could see our shadows down on the village below, atop the belltower!  There was just something really fulfilling knowing that you were casting a giant shadow on the wall of a house in a French villiage.  Anyone else done that lately?

Can you see our shadows?

Île de Ré from on high, & the sea beyond

Then there was just enough time for some amazing ice cream before heading back to the bus stop.  I had pistchio, and also rocher (like ferrero rocher).  Mmmm-mmm. 

From the top of the Bell Tower in Île de Ré

Then it was a nice bus trip back to la Rochelle, buying some gnocci and salad-y goods, and then back home, where Meredith, Amy and I made a joint dinner, and watched Pride and Prjudice (Orgueil et Préjugés) in French together.

Old Part of the Church, next to bell tower

After speanding such a fun and full day fo Amy's brithday, I had not packed or done anything towards leaving for Taizé the next day...

Bridge to Île de Ré - longest in France.

So, I ended up staying up until 3am (but the clocks went back, so I could tell myself it was only 2am) packing and cleaning up the room.  The internet wasn't working very well, but I managed to find out a few things - like the time of the bus the next morning, and what lines I had to take on the subway in Paris to get from Gare Montparnasse to gare de Lyon.

Sunday morning, I got up bright and early (7am) to give myself ample time to get all the last little jobs done, including packing the sheets off my bed.  I had my computer on and was chatting to Mum and to David while I was working, so 9:30 came around all too soon!  And off I rushed to the bus stop!  I was there with 5 minutes to spare, and I decided to occupy myself by reading all the bus details on the side of the bus shelter.  Turns out the one bus I had managed to look up before the internet thre a tantrum was actually not the right bus - it went the wrong way.  It was very lucky I figured that out, because in a matter of minutes, that bus came, and I am so fortunate I knew not to get on it!  The right bu was going 15 minutes later, so I was lucky, and also lucky that I had left enough time for that to be fine. 

I had never been to the station here before, so wasn't sure where to get off, but so very fortunately, 2 other young people got on with suitcases, so I figured that they were probably going to the same place as me.  When they got off, so did I, which was fortunate, because the station was around the corner, so I wouldn't have seen it until I had already missed the stop.  Now, on the train I wrote in my paper journal, so I will copy that out for you here:

    "I went in to the station feeling nervous but accomplished, until... What now?  I could see my train was listed on the board, but it didn't say much else.  What platform?  And there were little machines announcing that I must "compost mon billet".  I considered asking someone, like the stern-looking woman at the "accueil" window, ut suddenly, the prospect of speaking French was terrifying, and, even worse was the prospect of having French spoken at me!  My mind was frozen and I felt the most like a foreigner of my whole trip so far.  I even got out my Anglais-Français dictionary, as if the gawk on my face wasnt enough of a give-away that I didn't belong there.  But then, suddenly, another line on the sign lit up: Voie A.
    "Voie....voie, voie, voie...  PLATFORM!
    "So, with 20 minutes before my train was due to leave, I stuck my billet into a composter and strode out onto the platform.  Were suddenly, I had nothing to do.  I milled, standing in one place, then awdling to another.  I spied a food machine.  The coffees were 1€10, much more expensive than the 40c ones at uni.  So, I decided to look at the chocolates instead.  There were malteasers, and the thought of the 5 and a half hour journey before me, plus the hour getting between train stations in Paris, plus the 2 hours waiting at the train station for a connecting bus at Mâcon...yeah... I bought them.  It made me a little homesick though, as it threw into stark relief the great difference between my situation now compared to when mum and I would go on long traiin trips with yummy supplies.  I wished mum were with me - it wouldn't be as scary if she were; she'd know what to do.  But I did realise also that she would have no more clue than me, and that she'd probably be feeling much the same as me in this situation, but somehow kids don't realise that at the time - mums can just do everything, can't they?
    "Anyway, the train arrived and then it was time to find "voiture 16".  I started heading down  the platform and only chanced to glance to my left, and thank goodness I did!, when I saw an LED sign, with a train on it, looking like this:

/____||_1_||_2_|....|_9_||_10_||____ /____||_20_||_19_||_18_|....|_12_||_11_||____
Way to be French.

    "So I found it, and I found my "place assisse", number 31, by the window.  Travelling backwards, unfortunately, but so far so good.  So... steps 1 - 4 of my journey complete.  Please excuse me now - I have to eat some malteasers."

Steps for my trip:
1) Be at bus stop in time for bus
2) Get off the bus at Gare SNCF (train station)
3) Find Train
4) Find seat
5) Get off at Paris Gare Montparnasse
6) Find Metro
7) Catch Metro to Chatelet
8) Change at Chatelet
9) Get off at Gare de Lyon
10) Find train
11) Find seat
12) Get off at Mâcon-Loche
13) Wait for 90 minutes
14) Catch bus
15) Get off at Taizé
16) Find out what to do next.