Skaters after the Paris Sunday Skate

Maps courtesy of www.theodora.com/maps (with permission).

On Sunday, we thought we arrived in Waterloo Station in plenty of time to catch the Eurostar (the train that goes underneath the English Channel), but the only question was where was it? We asked around and were directed through long tunnels, finally reaching the Eurostar. After walking what seemed to be the length of the train (we were traveling second class), we made it to our car. Then we noticed the people seated right behind us had had breakfast at the hotel the same time as us! They asked us for advice on finding a hotel room in Paris in August; we wished them luck. We are brave travellers, but not quite that brave. Lyn needed a motion sickness pill on this surprisingly rough train. Again we had sanwiches for lunch, trying to get rid of some of our pounds (British that is).

LeBoulle beach

On arrival at Gare du Nord, we made reservations for the trip to Nantes. We took the Metro (Paris subway) to the Montparnasse Station to board the TGV. We had 3 hours to wait, so we looked outside where there were some skaters who had just returned from the weekly skate around Paris. This is apparently similar to the Friday night skate, but at a more leisurely pace. We talked with them for awhile and I even put on my skates and cruised around the square. I bought some sandwiches, chips, and drinks for the trip at the station and had a fun moment. She didn't speak English, so I would point, she would grab the item, I would say "oui" or "non", then "merci" (thankyou), and "dorien" (you're welcome), etc., with smiles being exchanged with each successful step. Though the ride was smoother, Lyn still needed another pill. Phillip picked us up at the Nantes station and we had a wonderful pasta dinner (cooked to perfection) at his and Sarah's apartment. We ended the evening by looking at their wedding pictures.

On Monday, Phillip dropped Sarah off at work, and took us sightseeing. First, we went to the adjacent seaside communities of Fironichet and LeBoulle, with their long beautiful beachfront. The weather was hot and sunny for a change and though we didn't take our tops off, some others did (men and women). We thought it would have been so nice to have skated there. There were quite a few people, but it wasn't crowded. We saw where they are tearing down some of the older homes to put up modern resorts. Next, Phillip drove us to Guerand, a medievel walled city, for a delicious lunch of crepes. For dessert, we shared a chocolate one. LeCroisic is a beautiful fishing/tourist village with the best mango ice cream in the world. Even Phillip had problems navigating the old streets as it took him awhile to find the road leading us out of town. Later on, after picking up Sarah from work, Phillip's driving became even more adventurous as he circled the round-about a few times before he figured out where he wanted to go. We had dinner at a chinese restaurant and walked around town to finish the evening.

In front of Mont Saint-Michel

Very early Tuesday morning, we ran out the door, ran down the road to the bus stop. We thought for a minute and then decided to run down to the tram stop. Along the way, Lyn saw a woman in her yard and asked in her best French for directions. The tram stop turned out to be only two blocks further and the tram pulled up just as we arrived. We boarded the tram without buying tickets. On the tram, Lyn found another woman to ask directions. At the appropriate stop we jumped out and ran to the stop of the next tram. It was stopped, but I thought sure we never make it in time. I think the driver saw us and held the doors open. Again we jumped on without tickets. When we saw the train station, we jumped out at the next stop and ran the rest of the way. At the ticket desk, Lyn asked for tickets to Mont Saint-Michel, a monastary built on a rock just off the coast of Normandie. Getting the tickets, we ran to the train and just made it in time.

On our way to the most popular French tourist destination outside of Paris, we could finally relax. Unfortunately for us, it was too popular. We left our bus early as there was a traffic jam of buses. We had a few uncrowded moments before we reached the one narrow winding street on the island which led up to the monastery. We were only able to take a snail's pace through the sea of people. Eventually, we made it up to the monastary, just in time, again, for the English language tour. We saw the giant, 6-person wheel used to pull a cart up a steep ramp to bring supplies to the monastery. We learned about the most popular activity in the monastery: drinking the wine produced there. The monastery survived, unlike so many other historic buildings which had been dismantled to be used for building material, because other uses had been found for it in later years, such as a prison. There were different areas in the monastery for the different classes of people: wealthy, devout, and common. We crawled our way back down the narrow street and waited a couple of hours for the bus which was there, but the driver wouldn't let us on until just before departure. There was more rain on the way back to Nantes, where Phillip and Sarah prepared us a wonderful scallops and pasta dinner.

On Wednesday morning, we watched the rain come down thinking it might ruin our whole day. Eventually it eased and we started skating towards the city center. On the way I skated around an RV park while Lyn made some phone calls. We skated up to the ticket window of the train station, but found out that the train to our intended destination, LeBoulle, had just left and there would not be another one until 4:30. So, we just spent the day skating around Nantes, trying to avoid the cars which came on us quickly along the narrow streets, navigating one stretch of the nastiest cobble stones that I have tried to skate over, appreciating all the flowers around town, and having lunch at a creperie. For dessert, Lyn had a chocolate crepe and I had a lemon-honey crepe. We had dinner with Phillip and Sarah at the Hollywood Cafe, which had surprisingly good atmosphere (Hollywood memorabilia) and food (Lyn had a seafood salad and I had the SanteFe chicken, including a Tequila-lemon shot afterwards). We finished the evening looking at Phillip and Sarah's USA trip pictures.

Agnes and Lyn are trapped!

On Thursday morning, Phillip took us to the tram stop and we made our way to the train station. All the 2nd class tickets were sold out for the train to Paris, so we decided to pay the upgrade to first class rather than wait 2 hours for the next train. From Montparnasse station, we took the Metro to our hotel room. Again, I didn't know how the room would be, but at 250 francs ($36, including tax) a night, it was very cheap. To our relief it was a modern clean hotel. Though it was very small and the bathroom was kind of a one-piece fiberglass style, I was very happy. I wish we had spent more time in Paris and less in highly over-priced and over-crowded London. Lyn made a call to Agnes, a childhood friend, to agree on a meeting place, the only thing was that somehow they agreed on different Metro stations to meet at. We waited for 40 minutes before Agnes showed and up wondering why we weren't at "the right" Metro station. While Lyn was away from me making phone calls trying to contact Agnes, she was propositioned by two different French men. Somehow Agnes has managed to avoid the advances of the aggressive French guys and gals; at least that's what she says. Agnes appears to be very nice but mysterious. She grew up in the Philippines, worked for a family in Arabia, travelled with that family to Paris, somehow escaped from the family with her passport, worked for a woman who wanted to adopt her (she was 24 at the time), moved with the woman back to the Philippines and somehow got her paperwork straightened out, and now is back in France and travels all around the world with the woman. Soon she will go to Australia and later on to India to see her guru. For someone who has been through so much she is quite closed mouth about her life. Agnes, I would love to know your story someday.

Agnes and Lyn in front of the Louvre

We took the bus down to the Montparnasse Tower where you can get an awesome view of Paris and see all the major sights. Upon trying to leave the building Lyn and Agnes got trapped between two sets of glass doors. Once they got in they couldn't get out. I snapped a photograph of them, complete with a reflection of the "do not enter" sign. Through light showers we made our way back to Agnes' room that she uses during the week while she's working. She made a few phone calls including reservations for us at the Moulin Rouge. Then, it was up to the Place de la Concorde for a few pictures and goodbyes. We went back to our hotel room and changed clothes to try to meet the dress code of the Moulin Rouge. Then, what should have been a 30 minute trip there, turned into a 2 hour night-mare. First, we got on the subway in the wrong direction, then part of the subway route was closed for repair. We had to take a special bus to cover the closed section. However, somehow we were again successful as we arrived at showtime and were immediately taken to our table, paying during the performance. It was an incredible performance and a show that I will always remember. All the dancers must be incredibly good looking and the females have to be at least 5'10" and the males at least 6'3" (I lose out on both counts). We shared a bottle of champagne during the show and later on walked passed the huge line waiting to enter for the next show. As we sat down for a pizza dinner at a nearby sidewalk cafe, Lyn came down with a bad hangover (later on that night, I had some problems as well). We asked a taxi driver for directions to the next subway station and he said it was a long ways away. We walked one block.

Moulin Rouge

On Friday morning, we strolled over to the large indoor mall next to hotel and had breakfast at McDonald's. It was better and cheaper than the "continental" breakfast offered by the hotel. Next, we picked up a few items (q-tips, toothpaste, & phone card [which took 40 minutes]) at a giant grocery/department store. Some of the clerks were on roller skates. I took a picture of one and was immediately chastised by management. I replied in English, but that had no effect as he continued to blather on. Huge expanses of the store were devoted to three things the French are very serious about: wines, cheeses, and desserts. Taking cover from the rain, we lunched in the Latin Quarter at a mediocre Greek restaurant. We also figured out how to get free tap water in Europe (in France, anyway), just order a carafe of water. We toured Notre Dame (jam packed with people, but nice to see it after the clean-up), St. Michel (beautiful stained glass windows, 2 stories - one for the common people and one for the king), the Eiffel Tower, and the Arc de Triomphe. Having learnt our lesson, we made reservations for the train from Paris to Munich to be taken the next day.

Lyn at the Paris Friday Night Skate

We had subway problems again as our subway car seemed to die one station before the meeting point for the Friday night skate. However, there were plenty of skaters to ask for directions and we put on our skates and skated to the meeting point. We ended up being about 15 minutes late and the main crowd had already left. However, we got directions on a shortcut where we could meet up with the main mob. Luckily, we got there just in time as we saw the police escort leading thousands of skaters. We joined in the fun skate and viewed Paris by night, appreciating the streets being closed down for us. After awhile we turned along the Seine and stopped at the Trocadero, just across from the Eiffel Tower. As it was about midnight and the subways close down at 12:30, we decided to leave the group and return to our hotel, sleeping from 2 a.m. to 6 a.m..

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