25th June 2006 - Sunday

Shity Motel. Notice the ‘M’?? No aircon, no fan, no door lock, no kettle. It’s like a bedroom community & shops/restaurants are closed Sundays and Mondays. So no food, nothing. Decided to go try find the supermarche(supermarket). Supposed to be 5 min walk away. We walked for more than an hour & still no sign..turned back & got lost!!

When we got back, we were making so much fuss that the guy at the reception offered to drive us to the train station -Saint Quentin for 10€. So we went off, fumbled around alot & took a train to Champ des Elysees (the shopping area with big boutiques & restaurants, cafes etc) On the way, we passed a train on fire!!! We were on the hunt for Laduree, a cake shop. Found it after much walking & we were so in awe of the stuff on sale! The french pastries & all were pretty much traditional french, some were quite modern but they were all cut throat expensive! Bought  few cakes to try out and of course MACARONS!!! Yummy!

We passed an art museum, wanted to go in but the queue was so long we skipped. Only took pictures of the grand entrance though!

Passed by Gap & Zara & I got all excited!! Didn’t go in though.

The underground subways are dark & scary especially after all the terrorist attacks & suicide attempts in the past. Yikes! Always at the back of my mind, wondering, what if…..

Halfway through shopping, started pouring & we got drenched. No umbrella nor raincoat. It was a long journey back to the motel. We ended up at a different terminal! Went through the hassle of asking people for directions again(tough considering we can’t speak a word of french!) So after much questions, we finally got back on track. Then…some ‘clever girl’ pressed the button on the train but not hard enough so the door didn’t open & there goes our stop!!!! Fed up….SO, when we finally did get to the right station, we needed the people to help us call a taxi. Had to ask the girl at the info counter again. The both of us stood in front of the counter, I was waiting for her to open her big mouth to ask but no! She was waiting for me to do all the askin! Dunno why the hell she can’t ask! Like as if I speak french!! Why do I have to ask all the time? I don’t speak anymore french than she does! I feel like I’m mothering her! Shit! And…she’s supposed to know more french than I do!! Fed up!! Fed up!! Fed up!!