flu, electrical problems, and lousy orientation

In France I have somehow morphed into a damsel in distress!

It all began with my couchsurfing request. Last minute, desperate, so appreciative when Thibault said it was alright for me to stay on his couch for 2 days. I arrived Thursday afternoon (late, because my plane was delayed) in Paris and took the metro to Montmartre where Thibault's flat was located. Also the location that most of Amelie was shot in and around, so for those of you not already familiar - extremely picturesque!! It was cold and rainy and I was feeling exhausted already when I arrived, but I explored the city with Thibault's other couchsurfer Gaelo for a little while and it was as beautiful as I imagined it would be, maybe more so. It looks like every amazingly perfect photo and movie you've ever seen shot in Paris.

Next day, Halloween. Gaelo had the only spare key, so we agreed to meet at 5 o'clock and go to the Louvre. I wandered around Montmartre, explored the beautiful cemetary, spent a long brunch at a cafe.. Word of advice - if you're not feeling 100%, don't eat a croque monsieur and drink coffee and smoke cigarettes in the rain. By the time I got to the gorgeous old Shakespeare and Company bookstore, I kind of felt like I wanted to lie down and die. I perked up a little watching the british hipsters working there carving pumpkins and listening to the Nightmare Before Christmas soundtrack.

I halfheartedly went sightseeing for a bit longer, finally ending up at Notre Dame, where I wandered in an appreciative daze for a while. Then when I finally sat down, with the big beautiful organ music and the murmur of tourist babble in many foreign languages enveloping me, I realized that I was really not well, and probably needed to lie down as soon as possible. So I sat for 2 hours in the cathedral, kind of floating in and out of consciousness, and it wasn't a wholly unpleasant experience.
When it was finally 5 o'clock, I met Gaelo, canceled our Louvre appt, went back to Thibault's were he was preparing a dinner party for his friends and crept into my bed with all my clothes on and passed out for hours, waking up from time to time to puke. What a scary halloween indeed!!

The next day, Thibault was leaving early to catch a flight, so I had to leave early with all my bags. I was weak and dehydrated and as I lugged my heavy bags across the city to the luggage lockers at Gare Montparnasse, I vowed to never travel again (or at least not bring any luggage).

Amused myself around Paris til 5 o'clock when I went to catch my train. Got on safe and sound, but then - disaster! After 10 minutes the train stopped and there were all sorts of announcements in French, of which I understood only completely non-vital words. Sitting next to me was a really sweet little 19 year old veterinary student named Yun, who thankfully translated that we were having electrical problems and would be delayed indefinitely.
Eventually after many hours it was clear that I would be missing my connecting coach from Le Mans to the tiny town of La Fleche where I was then going to be picked up by my wwoof host Joyce. Yun was more concerned than me, seemingly, and insisted I use his cell phone to call her. But of course, I look in my bag only to realize I misplaced it. How handy!! So Yun called his friend and had him look up the website and get her number, and then of course he let me call her, and she was already back from trying to pick me up at the station by then, and was really flustered. I ended up taking the train to the small city of Angers and spending the night in the Citotel L'Universe next to the train station, where Joyce would pick me up in the morning. Excitement!

Then of course I only had like an hour to explore Angers in the morning before I got picked up. It's an extremely beautiful city with an old chateau and a big cathedral and little windy cobblestone streets. So lovely. I glanced at the map in the hotel, and happily wandered off, nibbling a croissant and sipping a cafe creme and snapping photos. I thought I was looping in a large circle, but somewhere along the way I stopped paying attention for a few blocks, and after 40 minutes of walking I was totally and utterly lost. I stayed lost even after checking the map at a bus stop, and finally had to ask directions. I asked this incredibly beautiful man who looked like a more rugged frenchier version of Colin Farrell, with a pony tail, rolling a cigarette on the hood of his car. His response was a very concerned "oh la la" (for real!) when I said I was looking for the train station. He showed me on a map and it was ridiculously far. So, he offered to take me there. Now, I know you're not supposed to get in cars with strange hot french men in unfamiliar cities, but it seemed wiser than getting myself more lost, and I was secretly hoping he'd kidnap me anyways! hah. No such luck. He didn't really speak much English, but I gathered that he was a dentist originally from La Rochelle, which was a much more beautiful city on the Atlantic Coast. Why don't dentists look like him in New York? Anyways, I sadly did not get kidnapped, he just drove me to my destination and I was rescued for like the 80 billionth time this trip. What a wimp I'm becoming!















So now I am living at La Bresnadiere, a beautiful tiny farm in Fougere, in the Loire Valley. Along with Virginia, the other wwoofer, I cut back like 8 bramble patches and cleared 5 wheelbarrows full of donkey poo from Poppy the donkey's big pasture. Virginia is leaving tomorrow, and it'll be hard to follow in her footsteps because she's reeeeally wonderful. Smart and sweet and helpful and Joyce has totally bonded with her. It's always a little awkward to be the unfavored new wwoofer. But, I think I'll like it here! Sooner or later, I have to figure out what happens next. Where do I go? What do I do? Damned if I know.