Debbie and Sara's air-conditioning was broken!!!! And Sarah and Jeanne Marie's didn't work well. The night manager told Debbie and Sara there were no more rooms available. So he brought them a noisy fan and a bucket full of ice and opened their window! What a champ...he was a true rude Frenchman to boot. He told Sarah D their air was working, but it would not produce zeeee snowflakes, in his snotty French accent. Meanwhile, Patsy and Gina were sleeping like babies in their icy cold room. We swear if Sara R. could have gotten hold of a guillotine, she would have said "Off with his head"!!!
Note, Sara R still pulled the covers up tight around her neck so the vampires wouldn't get her. Don't ask. It goes back to childhood.
The next morning after a hot and noisy night, the rod that holds the shower head fell on Sara R. in the bathtub. I guess that was the crowning blow Needless to say, Debbie and Sara R. were not happy campers, which they let the day manager know. She was very nice and comped their room for the night. .
On a good note, the hotel breakfast was amazing. This blog would be waayyy too long if we told you everything they had. Fruits, cheeses, fresh juices, eggs any way, waffles, meats, cereal, breads, sausage....the list goes on and it was beautifully presented.
We didn't have to check out until 12. So we all went our separate ways and toured the walled city, the basilica and shops. Little did we know Sara R. and Debbie were back at the hotel trying to convince the people we had paid in advance. I think the arena and the lions were looking more appealing to them than the guillotine at this point.
Thank heavens for e-mail and iPads!!!! It took a bit of time, but the confirmation for the money transfer was found in Patsy's emails and they could not stop apologizing for doubting us. We don't know who was happier to see us go, them or us. It was a beautiful hotel but not so much on the service!
Off we headed to Avignon to return the rental cars and catch the train to Paris. We got separated at a toll booth. So the Sara car pulled to the side. As the Debbie car pulled through they waved and honked, but a truck pulled between the two cars at that very moment and the Sara car didn't see the Debbie car. Once the Sara car caught up, they once again used the universal language to the Debbie car who returned it double ditto.
Upon arrival at the station, we drove around the mulberry bush, a/k/a roundabout, a few times, before ending up at the station where we dropped off the luggage and four magnolias. Our driver magnolias returned the cars. Oh, what treasures they've been on this trip. The non-drivers can't thank them enough. It is not easy driving here.
Sara reappeared looking for the contract -- she has not had a good day-- but it was nowhere to be found. She handled it like a pro and returned to the station ready for vin. The train left at 6:00 and we all made it on safely.
Once on our way, we whipped out our wine glasses -- don't all Parisians travel with wine glasses? -- and a hot bottle of ro
se'. Sara R pulled out her trusty wine opener, worked on the bottle a minute before she handed it to Patsy. Did we tell you Patsy has been working out with a trainer? Well, with her Herculean strength, she twisted the wine opener and, voila, it was decapitated -- as in she broke off the top part of the bottle!!!! Completely!!!! But nothing comes between magnolias and their vin. We filled our glasses and even shared a glass with our Parisian seat mate, Philippe, shards and all. He didn't mind the shards of glass, but he didn't like our hot rose'.
Sara "has been came out" on the train ride. The responsibility of driving a car was over and she was letting loose. We were having so much fun until the train stopped and Philippe explained that our stop was indeterminable. Oh, well, more vin. We sent Mary Jane to the bar to get more vin before they ran out. We waited a while, but she appeared with more vin and announced she didn't get food because she didn't think we wanted to mess up our buzz. Never fear, we have our Walmart almonds and Kroger's peanuts. Our Girl Scout training coming in handy.
Well, there we sat talking with Philippe, exchanging ages, info of grandchildren, what he will tell his wife about six magnolias, to which he said he would tell one of two stories. Either he never met us or he met us and we were crazy Americans.
Once the train started again, we began to notice the countryside. Agricultural with livestock. Philippe saw a deer -- bambi was how he translated it -- run across the road. It really is beautiful country. It is still daylight here. Oh, no. We had another hour on the train!!!!
Thank heavens we haven't traveled by train before now. I think we would have been kicked out of the country!!! You just had to be there. That's all we can say. This is for magnolias only.
Things went south when we arrived in Paris. We left the train with multiple bags each headed to the Metro to get to our hotel. Little did we know there was a music festival in the whole city. Evidently, the metro couldn't handle the crowd. After an announcement we couldn't understand, everyone started leaving the platform. So we did too and headed to the taxi line. We are exhausted even trying to relate this. It took almost an hour, two cabs, one of which had a crabby driver to get us to our hotel. We were never so glad to get in bed. Hopefully tomorrow will start better than this one ended.
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