Date 10/13/2022
I had a very stressful day today.
I went to St Pancras Station to buy a train ticket for the 10:22 train from London to Paris at 9:30 and was told it was sold out. There was a system error selling the ticket of the next train at 12:30 pm so the earliest train I could take was at 1:30pm meaning I wouldn’t be able to make it to the two sites I had planned for today.
I was disappointed and spent a few minutes debating what to do but eventually decided that I had no choice. So I paid for the ticket. Amazingly, the time shown on the printed ticket was 10:22am!
After I arrived in Paris, I picked up my rental car at the train station. It was a French car and it’s dashboard looked so different. For example, the power window switch was at the center console instead of on the driver’s side door. It took me a while to figure out where everything was. I had to go back to the service desk to ask where to find certain controls. That significantly disrupted my schedule.
Of course the traffic in Paris was horrible, which caused more delays.
When I picked up the car, the gas tank was only 1/4 full. Because of all the delays, I didn’t have time to go to the gas station because I wanted to visit the two sites I had planned for before their closing time.
My first destination was Château de Monte-Cristo as Dumas was my favorite French writer. But I wasn’t able to find the entrance (Google Map wasn’t helpful at all).
I eventually gave up and headed to Monet’s Garden in Giverny. By the time I arrived, it was already 5:20 (closing time was at 6:00 pm).
I did a quick tour of Monet’s garden and the famous lily pond. It was raining. But the garden was beautiful even in rain.
Next to the garden was Monet’s House. It was said that Monet lived here for 54 years, from 1883 to 1926.
Now it was time to fill my gas tank. I followed Google Map’s direction to the nearest gas station. But I didn’t see any gas station there (pic below).
The next gas station Google Map took me too was closed.
The third gas station had no working pump. All of them had “out of order” signs on them.
Each gas station was a few kilometers away. I watched the gas meter closely and became more and more desperate. Most gas stations in the area were closing at 7 pm. It was already after 6 pm.
I finally saw a gas station that seemed to work as there was a long line of cars waiting. I was so relieved!
It was a full service gas station. I paid for the gas after someone filled the tank for me. But after I left the station, I noticed that the tank wasn’t even 1/2 full.
It was too late to do anything at this point. At least I had enough gas to reach the next destination. I’d just have to figure out what to do then.