Europe update, June 6
Jun. 6th, 2005 03:56 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
eveglassHi everyone!
I meant to write late night but couldn't, so here I am in Sarlat in the Dordogne Valley. My time in the Loire was overall great, except for last night which I have named The Night of Hellish Obnoxiousness (tm). I shall deal with it in its proper place. For those who are concerned: don't worry! I am fine, all my stuff is fine, and everything worked out in the end. It was just 3.5 hours of obnoxiousness.
Before I start, just a piece of advice for anyone traveling overseas: never believe people at internet cafes when they tell you they have no English-layout keyboards. A lot of these places let you access the control panels, and if they do, you can add the English layout to the keyboard in less than 30 seconds. I am now typing much faster on an English keyboard that is not supposed to exist. So there! (Of course, this only works if you're a touch-typist that doesn't need to look at the letters on the keyboard.)
So, Friday night after I wrote continued the "good food in France" spree. I went to a restuarent next to the hostel. In all honesty, I wasn't expecting much. They had a 12-euro menu (3 course meal), and I was hungry. WOW! Unexpected good food is even better than anticipated good food! I had inadvertantly stumbled across a family restaurent. Lots of families with kids, lots of wonderful ambiance, and (of course) great food.
Saturday I biked to Chenonceau. For someone who hasn't really ridden a bike in 6+ years, I think I did okay for myself. It was a 13-km ride, and I held my own for at least the downhill and straight bits. Admittedly, I needed to get off and walk the bike up some of the inclines, but... well, can't have everything. The countryside was very scenic around Amboise. And I very much like the feel of wind wooshing past me (especially on the downhill parts!).
I got to Chenonceau and parked my bike. I got a ticket and reserved an audio guide. They told me I'd need to leave a piece of ID when I picked it up. I figured this wouldn't be a problem. I was wrong. You see, what they HADN'T told me was that the only valid pieces of ID were passports and driver's licenses. My passport was back at the bike-rental place, and my driver's license is sitting safe and secure in Montreal. I tried to give them my student ID, but they absolutely would not take it.
The woman at the audio rental place phoned the ticket office and told them "J'ai une Americaine ici qui n'a pas son passport, ni un permit de conduire. Pouvez-vous la rembourser?" Now, how this woman figured I was American, do I not know. I had my backpack with my Canadian flag on, and I'd been speaking to her in ONLY French: not one word of English. The worst part was returning to the ticket desk after my visit (where they did indeed refund me), and having them ask, "Ah, t'es l'Americaine qui n'a pas ecoute les instructions!" Sigh.
Nonetheless, the written guide was very good and Chenonceau is a lovely castle. The kitchen there is fantastic! It consists of the kitchen itself, the pantry, larder, butchery, and servants' dining hall, all huge. I took many pictures!
After all that, I biked back. Yay for strong legs. And I only had to walk the bike twice.
I got back in the early afternoon and decided to see the Clos Luce, Leonardo da Vinci's house for the last three years of his life. It's an amazing place. The best part is that IBM managed to build about 40 inventions based on Leonardo's sketches and designs. They had small ones in the basement and big ones in a park that you could play with! I took many pictures of those, too.
Nothing of note happened on Saturday night, except that I was feeling a bit lonely after no substantial conversation all day.
Yesterday morning I took the train to Blois. (Incidentally, since May 25th, there have only been 4 days I have NOT taken a train. I'm getting really good at this train-travel stuff.) I was waiting around for the tourist information office to open when I started chatting with someone else doing the same. His name was Justin, he was Australian (yes, another Australian), and he had just arrived in Blois the day before.
Justin and I were both in "I need substantial conversation and company" moods, so we decided to explore Blois Chateau together. He's a great guy, also a shutterbug (he had a NICE camera), and interested in many of the things I am. We had a great time. The Chateau in Blois was nice. I like the fireplaces best. Yes (you guessed it), I took many pictures.
Justin and I had lunch and then he walked me to the bus station so I could catch my tour bus of Chambord and Cheverny. I waved a fond farewell and off I went.
I did not actually go inside Chambord. By the time I got there and worked out where the ticket office was, I had barely over an hour to see it. After waiting in line for 10 minutes without moving, I gave up. I walked around the outside for a bit, attempted (and failed) to call the hostel to find out what to do with my key when I checked out (probably before the reception would be open), and journaled a bit.
I DID go into Cheverny. It is much smaller than the other Chateau I've been in, but very nice nonetheless. It calls itself the "best furnished Chateau of the Loire." It has many rare or unique pieces of furniture. My only problem with Cheverny is that some of the rooms are only visible from the entrance, so more than 3-4 people creates a bottleneck. Otherwise, lots of fun.
I also discovered a little church across from Cheverny. It was nice to finally be in a real church that wasn't swamped with tourists. It was just a nice, nondescript church. Nice atmosphere.
I got back to Blois around 5:30. I ran into Justin again, who was waiting for the bus back to his hostel. We chatted until my train came at 6, and I got back to Amboise at 6:30.
Here begins The Night of Hellish Obnoxiousness (tm).
I wanted to drop some stuff off in my room and freshen up, so I headed over to my hostel. The reception was closed and the front door was locked, but I had a card that I was supposed to place over a reader to open the front door. I placed the card over the reader. The door did not open. I tried again, placing the card a different way. Still nothing. I pressed the after-hours buzzer. No one home. I shouted up at the windows: no one answered.
Getting a bit annoyed and frustrated by this point, especially since it looked like it was going to start raining, I went around the building to see if I could find anyone. I found a neighbour, but he was as clueless as I was and only tried everything I did. He eventually gave up and went back to whatever he was doing when I found him.
I tried the other doors to the hostel: all locked. So I tried to call them from a pay-phone about a 5-minute walk away. I got a machine that said to call back Monday at 2 pm, and wouldn't even let me leave a message. (It told me that if I wanted to leave a message, I could call the number I'd just called. Argh.)
I went back. I tried everything again. It (still) didn't work. I found a nice couple who couldn't help me, but were very sympathetic. By this point, I was getting really hungry (I hadn't eaten since lunch), and panicky. In all fairness, the situation wasn't completely terrible. I understood, intellectually, that at worst I would check into another hotel or hostel, go back to the hostel in the morning, and work everything out. I'd miss my morning train, but it would be okay in the end. However, my emotions were still going haywire.
After about an hour, I did what many panicked young people do in stressful times: I called my mommy. (Hi Mom!) She listened to me crying for a while and recommended I phone the police and see if they could do anything about it.
So I did. I called the gendarmerie (sp?). They said they really couldn't do much. I asked if they had a contact person for the hostel. They told me they'd check and call me back at the payphone I was using. So I waited in the phone booth for about 25 minutes. At 8:15 they called me back and said (in French, and somewhat more formally), "nope, nothin' we can do. No contact name on record. Sucks to be you."
I walked to the town center. I still wanted to use the internet, and I was still hungry. I called my mommy (again) and updated her on the situation. She offered me love and support, but there wasn't much she could do from overseas. I liked the love and support, though. (Thanks mom!)
My new plan was to use the internet for a while, get dinner, and then go back to the hostel and shout at the windows until someone opened the door for me. The internet place was full and I couldn't use a computer. Argh. So, I turned around and went for dinner. I had two choices: 1. get a kebab to go and eat it back outside the hostel, 2. have a good dinner and attempt to forget about my problems for a while. My choice was made for me when the kebab place closed down after the customers in front of me.
I went back to the awesome place I'd discovered Friday night. I had dinner. It was very tasty. My attempt to forget about my problems didn't work quite so well, but at least I was finally well-fed.
I went back to the hostel and started shouting. After about 5 minutes, someone apparently heard me and took pity on me. He came downstairs and opened the door, and I finally got inside at around 10 o'clock. I would have gone to call mom to let her know I was finally in, but that would have involved going back outside. So I stayed in, showered, packed, and breathed a HUGE sigh of relief. The Night of Hellish Obnoxiousness (tm) thereby ended.
This morning I woke up obnoxiously early (5:45 am) to catch my 7:00 train. I had 3 trains to catch today. I got here to Sarlat at about 1:30 and was checked into a very nice Chambre D'Hote (B&B) near the town centre by 2:15. It's only 32 euros a night, and it will be a nice change from the hostel.
Tomorrow I'm planning on going to Castelnaud (it was featured in Timeline, if anyone saw that). I'm trying to decide between walking the 12 km there, or doing a slightly longer bike loop. I'm sure I'll figure it out. Incidentally, the town of Sarlat is great! It's got loads of character!
So... that's what I've been up to. As always, I love receiving emails, so please send them!
For those who have asked, I'm coming back Monday, June 20th in the evening. I start work the following Monday, and am going to attempt to day-trip to a local SCA even on the Saturday in between. Otherwise my time is mostly free (so far!).
Hugs and love from abroad,
Julie
I meant to write late night but couldn't, so here I am in Sarlat in the Dordogne Valley. My time in the Loire was overall great, except for last night which I have named The Night of Hellish Obnoxiousness (tm). I shall deal with it in its proper place. For those who are concerned: don't worry! I am fine, all my stuff is fine, and everything worked out in the end. It was just 3.5 hours of obnoxiousness.
Before I start, just a piece of advice for anyone traveling overseas: never believe people at internet cafes when they tell you they have no English-layout keyboards. A lot of these places let you access the control panels, and if they do, you can add the English layout to the keyboard in less than 30 seconds. I am now typing much faster on an English keyboard that is not supposed to exist. So there! (Of course, this only works if you're a touch-typist that doesn't need to look at the letters on the keyboard.)
So, Friday night after I wrote continued the "good food in France" spree. I went to a restuarent next to the hostel. In all honesty, I wasn't expecting much. They had a 12-euro menu (3 course meal), and I was hungry. WOW! Unexpected good food is even better than anticipated good food! I had inadvertantly stumbled across a family restaurent. Lots of families with kids, lots of wonderful ambiance, and (of course) great food.
Saturday I biked to Chenonceau. For someone who hasn't really ridden a bike in 6+ years, I think I did okay for myself. It was a 13-km ride, and I held my own for at least the downhill and straight bits. Admittedly, I needed to get off and walk the bike up some of the inclines, but... well, can't have everything. The countryside was very scenic around Amboise. And I very much like the feel of wind wooshing past me (especially on the downhill parts!).
I got to Chenonceau and parked my bike. I got a ticket and reserved an audio guide. They told me I'd need to leave a piece of ID when I picked it up. I figured this wouldn't be a problem. I was wrong. You see, what they HADN'T told me was that the only valid pieces of ID were passports and driver's licenses. My passport was back at the bike-rental place, and my driver's license is sitting safe and secure in Montreal. I tried to give them my student ID, but they absolutely would not take it.
The woman at the audio rental place phoned the ticket office and told them "J'ai une Americaine ici qui n'a pas son passport, ni un permit de conduire. Pouvez-vous la rembourser?" Now, how this woman figured I was American, do I not know. I had my backpack with my Canadian flag on, and I'd been speaking to her in ONLY French: not one word of English. The worst part was returning to the ticket desk after my visit (where they did indeed refund me), and having them ask, "Ah, t'es l'Americaine qui n'a pas ecoute les instructions!" Sigh.
Nonetheless, the written guide was very good and Chenonceau is a lovely castle. The kitchen there is fantastic! It consists of the kitchen itself, the pantry, larder, butchery, and servants' dining hall, all huge. I took many pictures!
After all that, I biked back. Yay for strong legs. And I only had to walk the bike twice.
I got back in the early afternoon and decided to see the Clos Luce, Leonardo da Vinci's house for the last three years of his life. It's an amazing place. The best part is that IBM managed to build about 40 inventions based on Leonardo's sketches and designs. They had small ones in the basement and big ones in a park that you could play with! I took many pictures of those, too.
Nothing of note happened on Saturday night, except that I was feeling a bit lonely after no substantial conversation all day.
Yesterday morning I took the train to Blois. (Incidentally, since May 25th, there have only been 4 days I have NOT taken a train. I'm getting really good at this train-travel stuff.) I was waiting around for the tourist information office to open when I started chatting with someone else doing the same. His name was Justin, he was Australian (yes, another Australian), and he had just arrived in Blois the day before.
Justin and I were both in "I need substantial conversation and company" moods, so we decided to explore Blois Chateau together. He's a great guy, also a shutterbug (he had a NICE camera), and interested in many of the things I am. We had a great time. The Chateau in Blois was nice. I like the fireplaces best. Yes (you guessed it), I took many pictures.
Justin and I had lunch and then he walked me to the bus station so I could catch my tour bus of Chambord and Cheverny. I waved a fond farewell and off I went.
I did not actually go inside Chambord. By the time I got there and worked out where the ticket office was, I had barely over an hour to see it. After waiting in line for 10 minutes without moving, I gave up. I walked around the outside for a bit, attempted (and failed) to call the hostel to find out what to do with my key when I checked out (probably before the reception would be open), and journaled a bit.
I DID go into Cheverny. It is much smaller than the other Chateau I've been in, but very nice nonetheless. It calls itself the "best furnished Chateau of the Loire." It has many rare or unique pieces of furniture. My only problem with Cheverny is that some of the rooms are only visible from the entrance, so more than 3-4 people creates a bottleneck. Otherwise, lots of fun.
I also discovered a little church across from Cheverny. It was nice to finally be in a real church that wasn't swamped with tourists. It was just a nice, nondescript church. Nice atmosphere.
I got back to Blois around 5:30. I ran into Justin again, who was waiting for the bus back to his hostel. We chatted until my train came at 6, and I got back to Amboise at 6:30.
Here begins The Night of Hellish Obnoxiousness (tm).
I wanted to drop some stuff off in my room and freshen up, so I headed over to my hostel. The reception was closed and the front door was locked, but I had a card that I was supposed to place over a reader to open the front door. I placed the card over the reader. The door did not open. I tried again, placing the card a different way. Still nothing. I pressed the after-hours buzzer. No one home. I shouted up at the windows: no one answered.
Getting a bit annoyed and frustrated by this point, especially since it looked like it was going to start raining, I went around the building to see if I could find anyone. I found a neighbour, but he was as clueless as I was and only tried everything I did. He eventually gave up and went back to whatever he was doing when I found him.
I tried the other doors to the hostel: all locked. So I tried to call them from a pay-phone about a 5-minute walk away. I got a machine that said to call back Monday at 2 pm, and wouldn't even let me leave a message. (It told me that if I wanted to leave a message, I could call the number I'd just called. Argh.)
I went back. I tried everything again. It (still) didn't work. I found a nice couple who couldn't help me, but were very sympathetic. By this point, I was getting really hungry (I hadn't eaten since lunch), and panicky. In all fairness, the situation wasn't completely terrible. I understood, intellectually, that at worst I would check into another hotel or hostel, go back to the hostel in the morning, and work everything out. I'd miss my morning train, but it would be okay in the end. However, my emotions were still going haywire.
After about an hour, I did what many panicked young people do in stressful times: I called my mommy. (Hi Mom!) She listened to me crying for a while and recommended I phone the police and see if they could do anything about it.
So I did. I called the gendarmerie (sp?). They said they really couldn't do much. I asked if they had a contact person for the hostel. They told me they'd check and call me back at the payphone I was using. So I waited in the phone booth for about 25 minutes. At 8:15 they called me back and said (in French, and somewhat more formally), "nope, nothin' we can do. No contact name on record. Sucks to be you."
I walked to the town center. I still wanted to use the internet, and I was still hungry. I called my mommy (again) and updated her on the situation. She offered me love and support, but there wasn't much she could do from overseas. I liked the love and support, though. (Thanks mom!)
My new plan was to use the internet for a while, get dinner, and then go back to the hostel and shout at the windows until someone opened the door for me. The internet place was full and I couldn't use a computer. Argh. So, I turned around and went for dinner. I had two choices: 1. get a kebab to go and eat it back outside the hostel, 2. have a good dinner and attempt to forget about my problems for a while. My choice was made for me when the kebab place closed down after the customers in front of me.
I went back to the awesome place I'd discovered Friday night. I had dinner. It was very tasty. My attempt to forget about my problems didn't work quite so well, but at least I was finally well-fed.
I went back to the hostel and started shouting. After about 5 minutes, someone apparently heard me and took pity on me. He came downstairs and opened the door, and I finally got inside at around 10 o'clock. I would have gone to call mom to let her know I was finally in, but that would have involved going back outside. So I stayed in, showered, packed, and breathed a HUGE sigh of relief. The Night of Hellish Obnoxiousness (tm) thereby ended.
This morning I woke up obnoxiously early (5:45 am) to catch my 7:00 train. I had 3 trains to catch today. I got here to Sarlat at about 1:30 and was checked into a very nice Chambre D'Hote (B&B) near the town centre by 2:15. It's only 32 euros a night, and it will be a nice change from the hostel.
Tomorrow I'm planning on going to Castelnaud (it was featured in Timeline, if anyone saw that). I'm trying to decide between walking the 12 km there, or doing a slightly longer bike loop. I'm sure I'll figure it out. Incidentally, the town of Sarlat is great! It's got loads of character!
So... that's what I've been up to. As always, I love receiving emails, so please send them!
For those who have asked, I'm coming back Monday, June 20th in the evening. I start work the following Monday, and am going to attempt to day-trip to a local SCA even on the Saturday in between. Otherwise my time is mostly free (so far!).
Hugs and love from abroad,
Julie
