Metro Misadventures

Well, we must go back to our time in Paris and recount our Metro adventure to Versailles. It's worth a blog entry all its own. By our third day in Paris we were feeling fairly confident using the Metro system and hadn't had any major glitches. We knew from the start that this day would be different--our morning devotion was on patience. Uh-oh.

We set off quite happily on the Metro towards Versailles. But I discovered we weren't going in the direction I thought we were so we hopped off and thought oh well, we'd just get on one going the other way. Frustratingly we couldn't figure out how to get to the platform on the other side so I hopped on the next train hoping the next stop down would be easier to figure out. Horrifyingly Mom didn't understand what I was up to and the door closed before she had a chance to get on! I was speeding off to the Eiffel Tower stop and she was left standing there waving to me that she'd stay put.

When I returned to the stop she'd found her way to the other side so we just waited there for the next train to Versailles. Phew, we were finally on our way with not too much time lost. About a half an hour down the track, in the middle of no where, I got up to see how many stops were left before Versailles only to discover we were going in the wrong direction!! Turns out, Versailles is at BOTH ENDS of the line, but direction takes you all over creation before putting you out at the wrong place for visiting the castle. ARG. We got going the other direction AGAIN and Mom commented in true Pollyanna form: "Well, I'm glad we're on the Butt Train. It's where we get to see the backside of Paris."

Ah yes, a great way to spend 2 hours of our afternoon in Paris. But at least we finally got to Versailles. We even found a free toilet inside McDonalds. As we set off towards the castle, Mom exclaimed: My camera! Sheesh, you'd have thought the worst was already behind us. Perfectly aware that the camera was a goner (I mean who gets a camera back that they left on the Metro in Paris?) we hustled back into the station and asked around. A man behind a desk informed me that the Metro is quite full of pickpockets but he humored me anyway and made a couple of phone calls. As Mom was praying under her breath, we heard someone say, "Un appareil de photo?" and the man said, "Oui, oui, oui, oui." I translated for Mom and we waited to see if he had a bit of good news for us. Suddenly, he appeared with the camera in hand!! I'm sure the story of the luckiest woman in the world is still spreading around Paris.

As we FINALLY walked towards the Chateau de Versailles, we crossed the streets very carefully, thinking perhaps getting run over by a truck was the next event of the day. Happily, we toured the beautiful estate without further incident. I'm sure it tasted all the sweeter after having worked so hard for it! We think our lesson on patience was quite sufficient. Hear that God?! :o)

PS: I've dubbed my mother the Patron Saint of Lost Cameras. Get this: when she was in Nicaragua she left it in a taxi and the driver delivered it to her the next morning!! Unreal.