Anything I Even Remotely Recognize

So, I decided to venture into Marseille today. Marseille is one of the largest cities in France. I live in Ferrum, Virginia, population: a couple families and a bunch of cows. Marseille population: like...a million. Of course I got lost.

It started out great. I got up at 6:30, left by 7:15, managed to buy my ticket and jump on the 7:26 train right as they closed the doors, arrived in Marseille no worse for wear. (Now that I look at that phrase it seems so weird. Is that even right?) I managed to find the metro station and buy my ticket. Still good so far. Then I got off the metro and began to walk in the direction of my language school, Alliance Francaise. I wanted to make sure I knew where it was before I have to go Monday.

Well, I was on my way and doing just fine when I saw a sign for Alliance Francaise pointing right. I was pretty sure I was supposed to go straight and then left but I figured I should follow the sign. The series of signs led me through all sorts of tiny roads and eventually they disappeared. How incredibly helpful. Now I'm lost and I don't even have faulty signs to blame it on. I managed to look lost enough that a kind man at a cafe thought it would be his deed of the day to help me. It turns out I had ended up on the right road, just not in the right spot. I then found the school, observed its placement, and attempted to get back to the metro.

This is where things got dicey. I think I walked for an hour (it was supposed to take one minute according to google map). I followed any road name I could vaguely remember ever hearing about. I had not yet bought a map at this point. My mistake. I found Boulevard Perier which I was quite certain I should be on since my metro stop was Perier. So I walked, and walked, and walked. Did I mention that Marseille is probably the most hilly city on the planet? This lovely road went straight uphill. If I had gone up the ginormous stairs I eventually stopped at, I would probably have made it to heaven right then.

Then I realized (once I was in a fancy residential area and clearly not getting closer to my destination) that there were tiny maps on the lamp posts. How handy. Apparently I was on the right road and had almost been at my destination when I was at Alliance Francaise, but sadly walked the opposited direction and didn't stop for a very long time.

I walked back. Good thing it was downhill because I basically just rolled down, I was so tired. Remember, I woke up at 6:30 and have not walked this much in probably 10 years. I eventually came upon Alliance Francaise and decided to just follow the incorrect signs to the school backward to get back to the station. The awesome signs that don't even take you to the school like they say, apparently do take you straight back there when you follow them backward. At this point, I saw the school again and that was almost the end. I considered throwing myself in front of the multitudes of honking cars or possibly just laying down and never getting up. I didn't mention that there is a cafe on this corner where I keep finding myself and I'm pretty sure I was the day's entertainment for many a coffee drinker.

Somehow I realized that the road I had found when I first tried to come back was actually the right one and so I walked on it. Wrong direction again but after a really long walk, I found the next station and threw myself into a train. I reached the train station (Gare Saint-Charles) and was so happy!! It has a McDonalds, clothing stores, cafes, and a bathroom (which I'd already discovered charges you 50 euro cents to pee). I ate pain du chocolat (pastry with chocolate in the middle), bought a map, and then looked for the next train home. It was only 9:45 and the next train was at 11:03. Perfect.

To waste time I walked down the one billion steps of the train station and just walked up and down the road, recognizing thing I'd seen my first time here in March. It was nice to know where I was. I returned to the train station 10 minutes later (my legs were giving out) and stood at the railing to look at the view. I was then petitioned for money from an apparently starving gypsy and her ragamuffin son. He was really cute. I've been told not to give them money but she wouldn't leave me alone and he was just so darn cute. I gave them a little and he took it and it was sweet and weird.

Eventually it was about time to leave and my train still didn't say which track to go to. Finally it popped up that it was running 5 minutes late. Not much but it really just made my day so much better. I managed to get home and immediately drank a bucket of chocolate milk, put away clean laundry, and fell into bed for 2 1/2 hours. Then I got the kids from school (not as tramatic a driving experience as yesterday. I seem to have figured out where the school is, after ending up in many miniscule one way parking lots and learning great maneuvering skills over the last few days, and figuring out how to get there and back avoiding all the zillions of parents that have to park in the also miniscule parking lot...but I digress.)

Afterward, Marie brushed my hair and put clips in it, she had her bath, she and Paul played very sweetly, and now they are gone visiting someone. And finally, the incessant screeching sound which has turned the whole neighborhood deaf and is ultimately coming from the construction in our living room has ceased. I now believe that this was a really good day.