My trip into Salies with my Toronto/England friend didn't go quite as we planned. Funny how nothing in France goes quite as I've planned. You think there's some lesson I'm supposed to learn from that?
The ride into town was good, despite sitting at the front of a bus full of teenagers on their way home from school. Once in Salies, we had a lovely time exploring the medieval city and the thermal baths.
At dinner time (6:15pm), we learned that our stomachs were too early. Dinner service didn't start until 7:30. French stomachs feel empty later, I guess. Since we had to catch our bus home at 8:40, we decided against dinner, having a couple of beers instead. We ended up talking to a local family at the table beside us (yet more proof that the French are really nice).
At 8:20, we said our goodbyes and wandered back to the bus stop. By 9:10, we realized the bus wasn't coming. Taxi time! A nearby taxi office displayed its phone number on the sign. I called the number but was told that the taxi driver did not work Friday nights.
We tried the tourist office thinking that it might have taxi numbers displayed, but no such luck. At a bar across the street, the bartender called a taxi for us, but the driver was taking people to Pau and the earliest cab we could get would be 10:30 but it might be as late as 11:00pm.
"Okay," I told my friend, "let me call my cousin and get the number for the Sauveterre taxi." Number found, called and dismissed – they too didn't work Friday nights.
At this point we had three choices:
- Wait for the Salies taxi (with no guarantee of arrival)
- Hitchhike (always slightly dangerous)
- Get a room in Salies (and go home in the morning).
Option three was out because we had a reservation to go rafting the next day. We decided on option two, but then realized half-way out to the road between Salies and Sauveterre that neither of us had hitchhiked in France; we didn't know how people did it, whether anyone hitchhiked and if it was even legal.
So, we stopped and talked it out.
- What was our purpose? To get home that night.
- Would hitchhiking do it? Not certain and we didn't like the idea of a three hour walk home.
That left the waiting for the taxi option. On the plus side, while waiting, we could have another beer (after all it was Friday night).
We didn't much like the atmosphere of the bar near the tourist office (it was a bit sketchy), so we went back to the first one. The friendly family was still there and wanted to know why we were still in Salies. We explained the situation and asked if they knew the number for the taxi to confirm a 10:30 or 11:00 ride home.
One of the men at the table said "Sit! Have a drink – we're going that way in about two hours. We'll take you." Then another said "No, I'll take you now. It's less than 10 minutes either way."
After the requisite number of refusals to ensure his sincerity, we said yes and added about a hundred thank yous. We got our ride home and saved the taxi fare. All in all a great outcome!
Someday Lessons:
- When time is limited, figure out your number one priority and use that as a benchmark for decision making.
- If you are clear on your purpose for a chunk of time, the unexpected but good often happens.
Lunch Today:
A SWELLunch (South West European Late Lunch) – Magret de Canard, Ratatouille and Gateau Basque.