I have been meaning to put this post up for ages but haven't managed to find time. So, exactly 2 weeks and 4 days ago on Wednesday the 26th of November I decided to head into Rennes after school. The night before my little adventure I spent a good 20mins taking screenshots of Monfort-Sur-Meu (where my school is) and Rennes on google maps.
My plan for the afternoon was as follows: Firstly I had to find my way to the train station in Monfort. School on a Wednesday finishes at 12:30 meaning I had 37 minutes to find the train station, purchase a ticket and get to the correct platform before my train left at 1:07pm. However I didn't manage to leave school until 12:40pm, I then discovered that I had no idea how to orientate the screenshots I had taken from google maps. Luckily I had data on my phone so I was able to use that. However the trip to the station just seemed to be taking a lot more time then I thought it would! I walked down windy street after windy street watching the time tick nearer and nearer to the trains departure. Just as I was beginning to panic that I would never make it in time I found it! I ran (not kidding) to the ticket machine but found myself facing a very complicated purchasing system in French. Luckily there was a lovely French woman behind me to whom I said "Je ne comprend pas! Je ne sais pas!" The woman was kind enough to do the whole transaction for me and hand me my ticket at the end. After that, finding the station was easy and I had about 10mins to catch my breath before the train arrived.
The helpful but not so helpful Monfort-Sur-Meu screenshot. You think it would be easy! But I can tell you it wasn't!
Train rides in French countryside are a little bit different to the ones I have taken in Melbourne
Saying goodbye to the station I was so happy to find!
Pulling into the station in Rennes. A very reliving moment to have made it into the city!
The second part of my plan was to meet Callum (another exchange student which whom I flew to France) at the train station and find the Columbia shopping centre together. However, It did not go exactly to plan. Firstly, I took the wrong exit out of the train station and ended up in a shabby car-park with some stairs to the street below. In a call with Callum we decided the best plan was for me just to see where the street below lead and try and find the other exit where he was waiting for me. So, I began to head down the doggier side of Rennes surrounded by lots of houses but no high-rise buildings. It was in the following conversation that Callum and I discovered that we were in fact at completely different train stations! We then changed the plan to meeting each other at the shopping centre. I managed to go in a full circle before heading in the right direction. It took me about 40mins longer to find the shopping centre then I thought it would and my feet were beginning to hurt. When I finally found the shopping centre it took around 20mins to find Callum due to the presence of 2 christmas markets, 2 McDonalds and 2 H&M entrances.
A little caravan I found in my travels down the doggier side of Rennes. It even had a portable toilet!!!
Celebratory photo of finally finding some more high-rise like buildings.
An amazing Macroon stall I found in the Christmas markets.
This photo doesn't include the massive loop I went on but I does show you how far I had to walk after my little wandering. No wonder my feet hurt!
When I saw this chocolate stall I just stopped and starred! I was pretty tempted to just buy one of every type!
We had a good time shopping once we had managed to find each other. I bought two things from the Christmas market, a delicious macron and a meringue covered in chocolate with honeycomb bits. They were both amazing! Callum bought a meringue bigger then his head which I thought was pretty funny.
My incredibly delicious macron
This is what it looked in the inside! The meringue was fluffy and delicious!
The most amazing chocolate meringue I have ever seen or eaten.
Callum and his huge meringue. (He looks so enthusiastic about having his photo taken in public with a meringue held to his head. Sorry about that Callum. Haha)
After a pleasant few hours of shop browsing Callum and I headed to the Republic Station to take our buses home. The journey to the station was a bit of a rush as we didn't know how far away the station was, Callum couldn't remember exactly where it was located, I had no idea where in the station my bus stop was and my bus left in 10mins. Luckily we found the statin and bus stop and Callum had enough time to duck off and by drinks before my bus left. As I waved goodbye to Callum I prepared myself for the ticket purchasing encounter with the bus driver. The transaction went really well until it came to the part where I had to pay. Being a girl from Darwin where children catch the bus for free I had no idea that buses didn't take credit card! (I was however informed later by my exasperated mother that buses have never taken credit card in Australia of Europe. Whoops!) The ticket cost €1.50 and I had exactly €1.40 in change. However no-one on the buses seemed willing to lend me the extra €0.10 so to my horror the bus driver kicked me off. As I watched my bus depart I began I began to panic because the next bus cam in an hour and I was stuck alone in a city I didn't know. I quickly sent a message to Céline (with the help of my best friend Google Translate) explaining the situation and inquiring what I should do next. When Céline replied she told me to get out some cash and catch the next bus to Mordolles which just happened to come in 10mins. I quickly ran to the nearby News-agency where I waited inline for what seemed like an hour to find out that they didn't exchange money. As I raced out of the shop I noticed an Automated Teller machine across the road. I managed to figure out how it worked from the numerous years I've watched my parents use them. With my new cash, I hurried back to the train station where I found my bus just pulling in. I jumped on the bus, purchased a ticket, sat down and took a huge breath. I met Céline at the bus stop in Mordolles and went to the near by Library to pick up Lisa. It was there that I borrowed Harry Potter in French (which I was and still am very happy about!). All in all it was an extremely eventful day and I was very happy to get home and relax. I slept very well that night!
Another celebratory photo! This time out the bus window.
Snape Harry Snape Harry Snape Harry .... DUMBLEDORE!
Well that was an eventful afternoon. What can I say?I have a New Zealander's sense of direction! Nice post
Reply
Georgie
14/12/2014 02:50:55 pm
Haha! Yeah, you really need to improve on your sense of direction! You had just come from the Republic station and you still could not remember which building it was! Was the meringue any good?
Reply
Mausie
19/12/2014 05:29:16 am
Ginny that all sounds (& reads) so stressful, but I would go through it for one of those chocolate meringue things - yum, looks good! Glad you had fun and it all worked out! Enjoy Harry Potter! Mausie xxx