Aubergue 101 or I am not a hostel person
Note: As I type, Dorian has already been destructive and taken lives and is on its way to one of the areas we love. We will continue to blog (I start it and sometimes, Steve edits). We will keep our friends and neighbors all along the East Cost in our hearts as the storm arrives. We wish it would magically disappear back out to sea.
Back to the trip and back to Monday. Jean-Jacques, our proprietor, showed us and two other couples to our room. Yes, three couples to one room. He told us the rules. (He has a “take no prisoners” perspective on the RULES!.....like you can have a shower and he gives you a token, but the water will stop at 5 minutes. That’s it. And breakfast starts at 7:00 and ENDS at 7:30). In the end I liked him.
We met our roommates. A couple from Queensland, Australia. Another couple from near Orlando, Florida. Both were very nice. We all admitted to our sleeping issues...snoring most prevalent. We got our “sheets” from Jean-Jacques to put on our beds....with zero thread count--most likely insecticide treated. Same material for restaurant workers nets.
At dinner (rules: dinner begins precisely at 6:30), we sat with our new roommate friends and Luis from Brazil. Shared stories of our different experiences with travel to each other’s countries. We asked questions about each other. Will James would have loved the dinner. After dinner, we were asked to stand up and give our names, where we are from and why we are walking. Most people were not from the US. Norway, Australia, Ireland, UK, Brazil, Mexico, Spain....Reasons for walking were mostly for the “experience”, but also for health, for spiritual reasons and because they had recently fought cancer or lost a spouse. There were about 70 people who reported and believe it or not, it went pretty fast. And it was lovely. Just out of a scene from Martins Sheen’s “The Way.” That was the best of things...
Soon, time for bed....Two toilets, no toilet seats, four showers for about 24 people...no showers after 10:00 (rules). I didn’t shower. Slept in the clothes I wore all day. (Wore them again on Tuesday!) So....everyone settles in our group room, picture below, and off to sleep some of them go. And off to snoring some of them go. It was a bit of a symphony, a really bad symphony. Then my leg cramps started. I won’t give more details than this: I was up at lest six times in the night....stomping my legs and feet to get rid of the cramps. So.....finally at 6:15, folks started stirring and we got up. They were very polite because no one mentioned that one time, when I got out of bed, I slammed my foot into the edge of the ladder that goes up to where Steve was sleeping and yelled (out loud) “S..t!). No one mentioned it.
Here’s a picture of our bed and Jean Jacques.
So, the best of things was making new friends and amazing dinner, but truly the worst of things was not sleeping a wink. On to the next day.....
Back to the trip and back to Monday. Jean-Jacques, our proprietor, showed us and two other couples to our room. Yes, three couples to one room. He told us the rules. (He has a “take no prisoners” perspective on the RULES!.....like you can have a shower and he gives you a token, but the water will stop at 5 minutes. That’s it. And breakfast starts at 7:00 and ENDS at 7:30). In the end I liked him.
We met our roommates. A couple from Queensland, Australia. Another couple from near Orlando, Florida. Both were very nice. We all admitted to our sleeping issues...snoring most prevalent. We got our “sheets” from Jean-Jacques to put on our beds....with zero thread count--most likely insecticide treated. Same material for restaurant workers nets.
At dinner (rules: dinner begins precisely at 6:30), we sat with our new roommate friends and Luis from Brazil. Shared stories of our different experiences with travel to each other’s countries. We asked questions about each other. Will James would have loved the dinner. After dinner, we were asked to stand up and give our names, where we are from and why we are walking. Most people were not from the US. Norway, Australia, Ireland, UK, Brazil, Mexico, Spain....Reasons for walking were mostly for the “experience”, but also for health, for spiritual reasons and because they had recently fought cancer or lost a spouse. There were about 70 people who reported and believe it or not, it went pretty fast. And it was lovely. Just out of a scene from Martins Sheen’s “The Way.” That was the best of things...
Soon, time for bed....Two toilets, no toilet seats, four showers for about 24 people...no showers after 10:00 (rules). I didn’t shower. Slept in the clothes I wore all day. (Wore them again on Tuesday!) So....everyone settles in our group room, picture below, and off to sleep some of them go. And off to snoring some of them go. It was a bit of a symphony, a really bad symphony. Then my leg cramps started. I won’t give more details than this: I was up at lest six times in the night....stomping my legs and feet to get rid of the cramps. So.....finally at 6:15, folks started stirring and we got up. They were very polite because no one mentioned that one time, when I got out of bed, I slammed my foot into the edge of the ladder that goes up to where Steve was sleeping and yelled (out loud) “S..t!). No one mentioned it.
Here’s a picture of our bed and Jean Jacques.
So, the best of things was making new friends and amazing dinner, but truly the worst of things was not sleeping a wink. On to the next day.....
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