Best laid plans etc. You think you’ve figured out all the anglesI even did a test run yesterday to Paris-Bercy station on ligne 14, the fastest metro in Paris, because last time I went in 2019 to Rendez-vous du carnet de voyage in Clermont-Ferrand I got awfully lost in the pitch dark finding the station…the train always departs at 6:57 am (a 4 hour ride to the l’Auvergne). You miss it, you’re toast.
Rendez-vous du carnet de voyage is one of the most fun-filled events for any sketch artist to go to. And there is relatively no food! I left the house at 5:30 to be on the safe side. But at Chatelat, (s**t happened). An announcement was made - the wonderful ever-reliable ligne 14 (because of perturbations at Gare de Lyon) would not be running until 7:00 🕖 That’s 3 minutes after my train at Bercy departed 😳😭 What to do? Take a taxi from Chatelat with other harried travelers? Somehow I found an RER A, went 1 stop to Gare de Lyon, where…hallelujah 🥂🍾🎉 the 14 was running👏 Only one speedy stop to Bercy station. Naturally I never leave the house on a trip without repeating the family incantation, ”We’re off in a cloud of dust. In fact we’ve already left” My father would not start the car until we said it.
I never go anywhere without my lucky horseshoe and dice bracelet. Do you have similar lucky charms and words you depend on when you travel? Do tell 🙏 This has been an eventful week. For literally months I have been pretending I was not losing my hearing 👂 There are hearing boutiques in Paris! Big Merci to art historian, tour guide, writer Rosemary Flannery❤️ I finally got tested and my inner ear👂videoed. Just wax 🕯️ in there (élimination de cérumen). A visit to a lovely doctor on Wednesday and 10 minutes later I could hear like I haven’t heard in ages. In fact I wouldn’t mind if I could tone it down a bit. A pencil falling on the floor sounds like a car crash. The phone 📞 ringing is a shock.everyone else is happy I’ve got my hearing back😊 A petite aside. In France there is Doctolib You go online and make a doc appointment yourself. I proudly thought I’d made a rendezvous for Tuesday. I arrived at the doctor’s office only to find my appt. was for 14 mardi, FEVRIER 2023 !! Even Acuitis didn’t notice the error. I consoled myself with a kouglof from Stohrer - one of the great joys of living in Paris is consolation rewards are just around the corner, especially if you’re on rue Montorgueil. New York was never le this. A second consolation stop at a café to sketch. A long-standing travel habit - I never go off without a hard-boiled egg 🥚 in my coat pocket in case I should get hungry. When we went to Colmar, Alsace, a tiny, free shuttle bus was waiting at the station to take us to centre ville/old Colmar. I reached into my pocket and dried-up bits of boiled egg spilled all over the floor of the bus. The driver saw it all in her rear-view mirror & was not best pleased. When we arrived in town she made a great to-do getting out her vacuum cleaner before allowing the next riders onboard. We all giggled like mad 😅 Another boiled egg 🥚 fiasco at breakfast at hotel de l’Anges. Some French hotels have complicated DIY egg boiling gizmos but I forget how I messed that egg up…quelle disastre. *Note the Christine Ferber confiture at breakfast. The hotel owner as a friend and just across the street. There were beaucoup CF jam flavors to taste at breakfast. I was imagining locals could bring their own jars and get refills like at wineries and olive oil farms, but Christine said no. This has become a very long ‘shaggy dog story and I’m 30 minutes away from my destination👏👏 I put 🎄holiday letters on Etsy. Please take a look. I’ll be back Saturday to mail them out💌📬 Thanks for your patience 🧳 😊❤️ Bon Friday PBers ❤️❤️❤️
Glad you made the train to C-F but sounds STRESSFUL! Enjoy the full volume hearing you now have, good it was literally a quick fix. I think your consolation is better than what I usually buy, fresh cake is always good!
ReplyDeleteThanks Kirra for understanding!
DeleteI don’t know how you do it all Carol!! Chatelat was always my biggest nightmare in Paris. I did everything possible to avoid it. When I travel my luck is with me when I have on my angel charm necklace which I purchased in Lourdes years ago. As a matter of fact I wear it each day. Luck is always needed. I touch the outside of the plane before I board. Good for you to get the hearing aid. According to some members of my family I could use one. But that member speaks in a voice so low that only her dog could hear it! Have a great time Carol. Hopefully we will see some fruits of trip🗼❤️🧳🎨
ReplyDeleteBut I did NOT have to get a hearing aide, Merci Dieu. It was only an accumulation of wax, easily removed in 10 minutes…and then I was blasted to the moon with all the background noise.
DeleteCarol, I thought I was the only one who got Into those predicaments in Paris- you are an inspiration, and I loved hearing this story. About the good luck charms, for me it's a buckeye, always in my pocket when I travel. I give one to anyone I know who is going on a trip. My grandfather carried a buckeye in the pocket of his overalls (which he word pretty much every day) and Ive never forgotten it.
ReplyDeleteLordie…I don’t know what a buckeye is…must look that up but glad I’m in good company
DeleteOhhh…I am always saving chestnuts I find on the ground and keeping them because I think they are lucky. Not sure if it is a family tradition or what. My father from Iowa said his sister used to color their hair with them!?
DeleteBon voyage and bravo for making it all work! You definitely have the travel-in-France thing down, Carol.
ReplyDeleteCan’t wait to see all the sketching you get up to in Clermont-Ferrand. In the meantime we have your holiday watercolors to enjoy. Happy travels.
Hmm…I got up this morning at 2:45 I just collapsed into bed at my Isis hotel for a very long nap after visiting the event. I am not the dynamo you imagine Bonnie
DeleteWow -- that had to be a moment of nervousness! Here's to being such a Paris "native" now you figured it all out in time to make it. I can't wait to haer more about this -- it sounds like such fun! Lovely photos, all! Feels like we are with you!
ReplyDeleteI was very close to bawling Jeanie, but who was going to come to my rescue at 6 am. I had to rescue myself 👍 and hope for the best.
DeletePretty fast thinking there, that only a well traveled Parisienne could muster!
ReplyDeleteAww…thanks. There definitely was some luck thrown into the mix. I couldn’t believe at Gare du Lyon the 14 train was actually working but I just blended in with the crowd of early workers going down the escalator and crossed my fingers 🤞Sometimes the stars are aligned in your favor when traveling. And sometimes they are not. Luck 🍀 of the draw.
DeleteTraveling requires some luck along with savvy - that's why it's so stressful, we never know if luck will be in our favor or against us. Maybe I need a good luck travel charm. Enjoy your sketch adventure.
ReplyDeleteYou’re so right Suki. Why they call travel an adventure. I just had a non-adventurous, much-needed 2-hour afternoon nap 💤
DeleteTHANKS, CAROL. LOVE IT! YOU ARE LIKE 6 PEOPLE WRAPPED INTO ONE JUBILANT LADY!! WHAT SPIRIT!! INDEED AN INSPIRATION TO KEEP MOVIN’ ALONG!! HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO YOU . . . . AND BEAR . . .❤🥂🤸 CVH
ReplyDeleteJealous you’re there. Always wanted to see all those artists and wonderful sketchbooks.
ReplyDeleteOur family didn’t say anything going, but coming home, we always say “ home again, home again, Jiggidy-jig!” Sz
ReplyDeleteHahaha!
DeleteMy dad used to take us on trips where he wanted to surprise us where we were going, so we’d ask “where are we going?” And he’d always reply, “we’re going to see Booksty-Hootery!” We had no idea what that meant, but we knew we’d be headed somewhere exciting if he said that. Sm
ReplyDeleteI’m glad you have all your consolation spots. And hard boiled eggs. You’re a riot.
ReplyDeleteL’oeuf & moi 😊
DeleteMake sure you see everything for me! I would definitely love it. Have a blast!
ReplyDeleteCannot wait to see your next post of sketches and paintboxes. And I can send you all the buckeyes you want! Ohio is the Buckeye state and we live right on the line. Buckeyes are smooth and shiny. Alas! No eating allowed. 😝
ReplyDelete