TRAVELLING WITH ADRIENNE

Close to Tears and Swearing in Frustration

I left my hostel at 9.03 am heading to Giverny and Monet’s Garden and House. It’s 12.15 pm and I’m sitting at Montparnasse Station. That’s still in Paris if you’re wondering. I was organised. I had my destinations on my phone so if my accent wasn’t understood, I could show my phone.

After finally locating the toilet with the help of a lovely Parisian lady, (she actually walked with me), I paid my one euro and thanked her quickly but immensely. I hope she doesn’t miss her train because of me. I would have paid whatever they wanted to use that loo. It was tucked away in a corner with only one sign pointing to it (on the side of an escalator, not highly visible) – this may explain the smell on some of the streets!

So now the nightmare of buying a ticket started. I was sent from one ticket office to another I’ve lost count of how many times but finally I reached a machine and managed to put in all the necessary information. ( that’s an amazing feat in itself -I have a love-hate relationship with automatic machines except there’s no love.)