Day 32: Legitimately Lost & Fully Exercised

After class today, Paris, Rachel and I went to the flea market. I was trying to find the same place where we'd gone last time so that I could get some postcards that had been used already and use those for a lesson plan...alas, we never did find that part of the flea market. We were there for about an hour and then continued on with our lives.

I decided to just go back to the Vesinet. However, on the RER back to the Vesinet I decided to stop at La Defense stop so that I could see it. Here are some of my pictures:

(La Defense statue)

(The Grand Arch)

Then I hopped back on the RER and again decided to not get off at Le Vesinet-Le Pecq, but to instead get off at Le Vesinet-Centre, hoping to pop in at a book store, see if they had the new Marie-Anne book by Anne-Marie Desplat-Duc. However this is where the theme of my day starts:

I get off at the station. I follow the people. Do I look at the map of the area? Nope--it's le Vesinet-Centre! It's the station just before my station, I probably ran past this place on my run three weeks ago; I don't need to see the map. Hmmm...yeah. I should have looked at the map.

Rather than "popping in" to a bookshop, I ended up getting seriously and legitimately lost. I was in some random neighborhoods in le Vesinet. I did see some lovely houses though.

As you can see by looking the map, the black X is where the bookshop was (though I didn't find that out until several hours later) and the green X is where Nannick's house is. And as you can see by looking at my path (there was a bit more meandering in the neighborhoods that is not reflected on this map), I had absolutely no sense of direction and where I was going. I crossed the Seine. TWICE. I crossed it once because the street signs in the neighborhood were now saying "Le Pecq" and I remembered that when we went through le Pecq with Nannick last week we had to cross a bridge to leave le Vesinet to go through le Pecq. Ha. Yeah...

Instead of the 1.8 miles from the Vesinet-Centre stop to the Vesinet-Pecq stop, it took me about 4.5 miles.

Just above the point where I first crossed the Seine was a big sign that said "Vesinet" with an arrow pointing in the direction behind me. Did I see it? Of course not! Who looks up? Granted, it was raining by this point, but still...

So I crossed the Seine once, walked a little bit on the other side, finally found a map of le Pecq and saw that I was on the wrong side. So I crossed back over the Seine, and noticed that on my right was a store--Leader Price. I needed to stop at Leader Price to get some ingredients for a salad and since I was passing by now, it would save me a trip of going to the one by where Nannick lives when I returned. I figured I couldn't be too far away since I was in the Vesinet now. Then I entered the store and realized it was the store by Nannick's that Grace and I have gone to twice. Ha. Wow, I had no idea it was just down the street from the bridge over the Seine. I'm so observant.

I bought my food, returned to Nannick's, ate some lunch, then headed out again, this time hoping to find a bookstore. Here is a map of this journey, because yes, again, I had no idea where I was going:

(Black X: Nannick's house; Green X: Bookshop; Two Blue X's: the 2 RER stations, the one by the black X is the Vesinet-Pecq stop, the one by the green X is the Vesinet-Centre. So yes, I was so close the first time I got off the RER only I went in the total wrong direction. And yes, I should have just taken the RER to get from Nannick's to the bookshop. Instead of a 1.5 mile walk to a bookshop, it was 4 1/4 miles)

I walked and walked and kept thinking--there's a McDonalds, there must be a bookstore nearby...there's a Carrefour, there must be a bookstore nearby...Nope. However, I did see two rather strange things on my way to where I turned around and on my way back that I took a picture of:

(Yes, that is a real peacock. And yes, it is really in someone's front yard. In fact, there was another one on the front porch)

(I kind of wished I could have bought this car for Jacob; he would love to drive a car like this)

(This is there sign that basically means: Watch out there are kids here because there is a school. However, what it says is: Be careful, 500 children. I think that is hilarious.)

So then I decided to just walk the way that I took a run a couple weeks ago--straight down Boulevard Carnot. I'd run by some restaurants which meant some kind of a downtown, right? Of course! I walked and walked...I ended up following an older lady when I got closer to the "downtown" part of the Vesinet because she looked like she knew where she was going. And what do you know? She pretty much led me to the bookshop!

I ended up getting some of Moliere's plays in French because the new book by Desplat-Duc wasn't there. I also got two of the Petit Nicholas books. I paid and left the bookshop fully intending to walk back down Boulevard Carnot. But again! I am directionally challenged here without mountains to guide me. Instead I turned away from that street (without knowing it) and then I turned and what did I see? The Vesinet-Centre RER station. ha. If I had just gone to the other side of the RER station when I had first gotten off four hours previously.

So what did I learn today?

1. Open my eyes and read signs, even if they are behind me, if I have no idea where I am

2. Look at maps before exiting an never-before-visited RER or Metro station

3. It's a good thing I brought my tennis shoes to France

4. Even though I prayed to find the bookshop when I first got off at the Vesinet-Centre RER station (and then proceeded to get lost...twice), my prayer was answered because I did make it to the bookshop in the Vesinet before it closed.

And that was my exciting day of becoming lost and walking 8 miles in the Vesinet and the Pecq. :)