Leaving Lyon is
always a little sad. So many nice folks to say au revoir and à la
prochaine fois to. We were off to Estelle and Laurent’s for hugs and
good-byes to them both and to drop off David’s bike to be babysat by
Laurent. David was obviously going to ride his bike so I was going
by metro and bus - pas de problème. We’ve done it many times – a
short, easy trip.
 |
| Metro B arriving at San Genis Laval station |
The end of the line for
the B metro is in Saint Genis Laval and the station is a short bus ride away
from Estelle and Laurent’s cul-de-sac. So, I came out of the metro
station and walked over to the #78 bus stop. But, there was a paper
sign where the schedule should be. My knowledge of French was not up
to the wording on the sign, but it was pretty obvious the 78 would not be
arriving any time soon. So, I walked over to the #18 bus stop since it
would also get me to Estelle and Laurent’s cul-de-sac
entrance. Hmm. Looked like the same sign I saw at the #78
stop. Not good news. So, I pulled out my phone that I had
set up to work in France, and tried to call or text
Estelle. Mysteriously, the phone had decided not to work on anything
but WIFI. Great! Now what?
 |
| Inside the station. |
Unfortunately for me, the
French have been very efficient in converting their metro stations to totally
automated. Never-the-less, I walked back into the station for
inspiration and in search of WIFI. (Also, because it was nice and cool
inside and blazing hot outside.) I noticed a man at work at a desk
in a glassed-in office. He seemed to be the only other living,
breathing person in the station. So, I knocked on his glass
door. He seemed surprised to have anyone knocking on his door,
but he was very gracious and after the obligatory bonjours, asked if he
could help me (in French, of course). I explained my problem, also
in French, (with a lot of repetitions of “ne marche pas”). He
explained that those buses weren't working because some bus drivers were on
grève (strike). And, there was no public WIFI in the station.
Then he asked me where I
was from and if I would prefer to speak in English. (Between his
English and my French, we actually ended up conversing pretty well in
Franglish.) He asked where I was trying to call, and I told him I was trying to
reach Estelle or Laurent. He whipped out his personal phone, asked
for a phone number, and dialed Estelle's. He left a voice mail
message, then he handed me the phone and told me to call Estelle to confirm
what was going on. Estelle picked up and said they were wondering
what had happened to me, and I said I was sitting in air-conditioned splendor in
this kind gentleman’s office. She said she was working from home and
couldn’t leave, but Laurent would be home soon and would rescue
me. The man in the office, and I had a little time to chat a
bit. We talked about where we live. He was surprised to
hear that David and I had actually been to his hometown on one of our exploring
adventures. And, then he said, “see – not all French people are
rude!” I laughed and told him I had honestly never found the French
to be rude. He responded, “Not even in Paris?”, and I said, “not
even in Paris!”
Then his phone rang; it
was Laurent calling to say he was on his way to pick me up. The nice
station man gave Laurent directions telling him how get as close as possible to
the station door. As I was getting up to leave, I asked this
gentleman if I could have his card so I could write to thank him when I got
back to the US. He said he didn’t have a card but would give me
his home address instead. Then he insisted on walking outside and waiting
with me. Laurent soon drove up. I thanked this kind gentleman
again, the two men shook hands and chatted quickly, Laurent greeted me, and we
got into the car and drove away.
Another strange Anna
adventure - this one with a very happy ending thanks to Monsieur
Gregory Simonnet!
