Today is sightseeing day. I wanted to go out at around noon instead of in the morning because I wanted to eat outside. I am now getting quite sick of bread and noodles. But I wouldn’t go to a restaurant of course. I would perhaps just buy a burger or bread along the streets. They cost around 2 to 4 euros and are quite filling. At 11am, I went to take a bath but found the door was shut and someone was inside. So I guessed maybe it was a girl again and decided to bathe when I come back. I reached the bus stop at around 1120 and realized that the bus would only arrive at 1147am. The frequency on Sunday is lower. I also checked the earliest arrival time for Sunday and found that it was 827am. Which meant that if I were to go to St Malo next weekend, it would be better to go on Saturday rather than on Sunday because the earliest train to St Malo is 920am. And to get to the train station, I needed to take the 827am bus. It would be a bit risky. For Saturday, the bus service is available from 7am onwards.
Anyway, having checked that, I didn’t want to stand there and wait for the bus, so I went back to the area with pretty flowers which I saw yesterday. So I brisk walked there and took the picture. Then I saw some squirrels jumping from trees to trees but they were too fast for me. So I stood there quietly waiting. Then I realized it was almost 1147am and if I missed that bus, I would have to wait another 20min. I quickly walked back to the bus stop and just then, I saw the “Shi Wai Gao Ren” beggar with his head inside the rubbish container (those type with wheels and very big). He was there all along when I was waiting for the squirrels to come out. If he were to attack me, I would be in big trouble because there won’t be anyone around to rescue me. And I don’t think I can overpower him. So walked back to the bus stop at double-quick time and boarded the bus.
I reached the destination about 15min later and took out my map. The train station was quite a distance away from the city centre. Along the way, I past by the Museum of Fine-Arts and it is open between 10am to 12 noon and 2pm to 6pm everyday except Monday and public holidays. I would definitely visit it but not today because I had to ask some information from the train station and later go to the Park. And then suddenly church bells were ringing everywhere. It was 12 noon then, and there are many cathedrals here so the ringing of the bells echoed one another. It was quite a long walk to the train station and I thought it wouldn’t be possible to walk there with all my luggage when I leave Rennes in June. Here the pavements are uneven and so it would be difficult to push my luggage. I guessed either I have to take another bus or take the metro. Hopefully IRISA could use the company transport and send me to the station.
When I reached the entrance of the train station, it was the same place where I waited for IRISA people to pick me up when I first arrived here. It brought back some familiar memories. Out of the sudden, a man approached me and spoke in French. I said I couldn’t understand and he said he wanted money. Wah! Robbery in broad daylight. I said no and quickly walked away but still managed to catch a glimpse of his angry stare at me. He was well dressed and didn’t look like a beggar. Maybe he needed a few coins to make a phone call or something. If that was the case, then I was being quite rude. Anyway, I didn’t bother and went to the information section. There I saw some Asian girls and I thought they might be Koreans. They didn’t look like the locals and didn’t seem to speak French. I thought of approaching them and make friends with them but dropped the idea because they dressed like “Ah Lians”. I don’t really associate myself with this sort of people. At the counter, I said I wanted to buy the 12-25 card which is a card that grants 25% discount to youths for train rides. The lady spoke good English but still needed some assistance from me to complete sentences at times. She said this card can actually entitle me 50% reduction (she pronounced as re-duke-sion) if I reserve the ticket earlier. She couldn’t say “earlier” so I helped her by saying “en avant”. Then she asked when do I want to have my first train ride so that she would set that as the starting date of validity. This card would last for a year. Either because she was beautiful, or I was too happy about the discounts, I told her next Sunday, 20th February. Damn it! I wanted Saturday not Sunday. How could I forget so quickly that Sunday would not be a good day because the bus would be late. I just checked the schedule in the morning and cleanly forgot about it.
The most attractive part of the card is it also entitles me 25% discount for EUROSTAR train and not just TGV. That means I could go to England at a cheaper rate! The card cost me 49 euros and required a photo. I also have to show her my passport. She also asked for my address in Rennes but I could only give her Beaulieu as I didn’t bring the INSA attestation letter along. She said that was ok. I also asked about how to get to St Malo and Mont St Michel and she said for both places, I could buy the train ticket from her. For Mont St Michel, I could either buy a train ticket to Pontorson Mont St Michel and then take a bus from there or I could buy a ticket for a direct bus. However, I am not entitled any discount for the direct bus. I shall find out which is cheaper or more convenient and decide later. So feeling happy that I have bought what I wanted (except for the starting date mistake), I went to look for food. There were many confectioneries around probably because travelers would normally buy some bread and eat in the train. I bought 2 sandwiches packaged together for 2.50 euros. There were tomatoes, mayonnaise, eggs and some other stuff inside. With the eggs, it was pretty filling.
As I exited the train station, I saw the same man approaching passer-bys asking for money. Basket! So he really was a crook. He didn’t look pathetic at all and if he were to approach me again, I would tell him off. I made my way to my next destination, Parc du Tharbor and along the way I passed by a mansion with a beautiful garden inside. I wondered how can I get inside. Then I saw at the side, the gate was opened and I just entered. The entire place was empty. People were passing by the place and I was the only one in there. The whole garden was mine! Later I found out this is the Jardin Saint-Georges (Garden of St Georges). It used to be a Benedictine abbey founded in the 11th century by the duke Alain III. Later, a palace was built in replacement of it in the 17th century and kept until now. It is very beautiful but too bad no one comes here except for tourist like me. And there aren’t many tourists in Rennes I guess.
So I had stumbled upon a place of interest. I continued on and found the Parc du Tharbor. Again, the place looked deserted. It is something like the Botanical Garden that we have in Singapore. By then, the sky was overcast and the wind was blowing fiercely. It would rain any minute. At first I thought I was the only one here again, but after awhile, I saw some joggers in the Park. I also saw 2 swans eating the grass. At first I dared not approach them because I mistook them for geese which are notorious for attacking people if they were to approach them. But when I neared and taken a closer look, I realized they were swans and so I took pictures of them. I walked about in the Park and throughout the walk, it rained for awhile then the sun was back and then it rained again. This park was built in the 19th century and its uniqueness is its combination of the characteristics of French and English park. Frankly, I couldn’t tell the difference. But personally, I feel it was not very interesting and think that our Botanic Garden is more beautiful (even though I haven’t been to there for ages). Perhaps it wasn’t as appealing to me as those medieval buildings because I am used to seeing green and floras back in Singapore.
I left the park after 40 min but felt a bit disappointed. Maybe because the weather wasn’t good today so that was why there weren’t many people in the park. But come to think of it, I really didn’t see many people around in Rennes. I don’t have to purposely avoid crowds here. There just isn’t any. I didn’t want to turn back to Republique to take the bus back and so continued to walk on. Maybe that Parc du Tharbor was the wrong one and the real one would be just ahead. I walked on along Rue du Paris and it was a quiet street with private terraces at the sides. I passed by Parc Hamelin Oberthur but didn’t want to go in as I had enough trees and flowers for today. As I moved further away from the town centre, I decided to walk back to INSA. I took out my map and started navigating. It then started to rain, and it was getting heavier and heavier.
This was really a bad idea but I couldn’t possibly turn back. So I carried on and I couldn’t use my map often as it was raining. I only took it out when I encountered a junction. Else, I would just continue eastward. I was afraid that I would be lost because I couldn’t have the map in hand as I walked. It had already started to crumple in the rain. I was afraid it might disintegrate into pieces. The rain had turned into a downpour and the wind was beating against my face. I couldn’t bear it any longer and ran towards the nearest bus stop. As I pondered what to do next, I turned around and saw the sign “Universite Rennes I”. I had made it back! And the rain stopped suddenly too. It took me about 1 hr to complete the journey. Back in my room, the first thing I did was to spread out my map and dry it. Next I ran hot water on my hands because they were red and painful due to the cold wind. Then I went to take a hot bath.
It seemed like I couldn’t possibly go to St Malo on next Saturday as my 12-25 card would not be valid. So I have a few options to choose.
1. Go on Saturday still and forget about the discount (no way!)
2. Go on Sunday, take the 8:27am bus and catch the 9:20am train. I guess if I take that bus, I would reach my destination at 8:47am. Then I have to brisk walk to the station which would take me 10min, so 8:57am. Then I would have to queue up (this I can’t predict the time. It took me 10 min today.) to buy the ticket, say another 10 min. So 9:07am. This would leave me 13 min to buy food for the train ride and to find the platform to board the train. Even if I booked the ticket online, I would still have to queue up to collect the ticket. Although making early reservation would entitle me 50% discount, I don’t think I would do that because if it rains heavily, I won’t go. And 13 min of buffer time seemed too risky.
3. Wake up early and start the long march at 7:00am. Would reach the train station around 8:15am and that would leave me ample time to do what I want. But I would be walking in the dark because I only get to see the sun after 8am. And it would tire me out and I wouldn’t have the energy to enjoy myself at St Malo.
4. Check the 2nd earliest time of the train. If there is one that is at 10 plus, it would be perfect. I can then take the 8:27am bus. And if I am fast, I might be able to catch the 920am train. But if the 2nd timing is 12 noon or later, then it would not be ideal because it takes 1 hr to reach there. And it is supposed to be a full day trip for St Malo.
5. Postpone the entire plan to the following Saturday.
It seems like option 4 is the most feasible.
Anyway, having checked that, I didn’t want to stand there and wait for the bus, so I went back to the area with pretty flowers which I saw yesterday. So I brisk walked there and took the picture. Then I saw some squirrels jumping from trees to trees but they were too fast for me. So I stood there quietly waiting. Then I realized it was almost 1147am and if I missed that bus, I would have to wait another 20min. I quickly walked back to the bus stop and just then, I saw the “Shi Wai Gao Ren” beggar with his head inside the rubbish container (those type with wheels and very big). He was there all along when I was waiting for the squirrels to come out. If he were to attack me, I would be in big trouble because there won’t be anyone around to rescue me. And I don’t think I can overpower him. So walked back to the bus stop at double-quick time and boarded the bus.
I reached the destination about 15min later and took out my map. The train station was quite a distance away from the city centre. Along the way, I past by the Museum of Fine-Arts and it is open between 10am to 12 noon and 2pm to 6pm everyday except Monday and public holidays. I would definitely visit it but not today because I had to ask some information from the train station and later go to the Park. And then suddenly church bells were ringing everywhere. It was 12 noon then, and there are many cathedrals here so the ringing of the bells echoed one another. It was quite a long walk to the train station and I thought it wouldn’t be possible to walk there with all my luggage when I leave Rennes in June. Here the pavements are uneven and so it would be difficult to push my luggage. I guessed either I have to take another bus or take the metro. Hopefully IRISA could use the company transport and send me to the station.
When I reached the entrance of the train station, it was the same place where I waited for IRISA people to pick me up when I first arrived here. It brought back some familiar memories. Out of the sudden, a man approached me and spoke in French. I said I couldn’t understand and he said he wanted money. Wah! Robbery in broad daylight. I said no and quickly walked away but still managed to catch a glimpse of his angry stare at me. He was well dressed and didn’t look like a beggar. Maybe he needed a few coins to make a phone call or something. If that was the case, then I was being quite rude. Anyway, I didn’t bother and went to the information section. There I saw some Asian girls and I thought they might be Koreans. They didn’t look like the locals and didn’t seem to speak French. I thought of approaching them and make friends with them but dropped the idea because they dressed like “Ah Lians”. I don’t really associate myself with this sort of people. At the counter, I said I wanted to buy the 12-25 card which is a card that grants 25% discount to youths for train rides. The lady spoke good English but still needed some assistance from me to complete sentences at times. She said this card can actually entitle me 50% reduction (she pronounced as re-duke-sion) if I reserve the ticket earlier. She couldn’t say “earlier” so I helped her by saying “en avant”. Then she asked when do I want to have my first train ride so that she would set that as the starting date of validity. This card would last for a year. Either because she was beautiful, or I was too happy about the discounts, I told her next Sunday, 20th February. Damn it! I wanted Saturday not Sunday. How could I forget so quickly that Sunday would not be a good day because the bus would be late. I just checked the schedule in the morning and cleanly forgot about it.
The most attractive part of the card is it also entitles me 25% discount for EUROSTAR train and not just TGV. That means I could go to England at a cheaper rate! The card cost me 49 euros and required a photo. I also have to show her my passport. She also asked for my address in Rennes but I could only give her Beaulieu as I didn’t bring the INSA attestation letter along. She said that was ok. I also asked about how to get to St Malo and Mont St Michel and she said for both places, I could buy the train ticket from her. For Mont St Michel, I could either buy a train ticket to Pontorson Mont St Michel and then take a bus from there or I could buy a ticket for a direct bus. However, I am not entitled any discount for the direct bus. I shall find out which is cheaper or more convenient and decide later. So feeling happy that I have bought what I wanted (except for the starting date mistake), I went to look for food. There were many confectioneries around probably because travelers would normally buy some bread and eat in the train. I bought 2 sandwiches packaged together for 2.50 euros. There were tomatoes, mayonnaise, eggs and some other stuff inside. With the eggs, it was pretty filling.
As I exited the train station, I saw the same man approaching passer-bys asking for money. Basket! So he really was a crook. He didn’t look pathetic at all and if he were to approach me again, I would tell him off. I made my way to my next destination, Parc du Tharbor and along the way I passed by a mansion with a beautiful garden inside. I wondered how can I get inside. Then I saw at the side, the gate was opened and I just entered. The entire place was empty. People were passing by the place and I was the only one in there. The whole garden was mine! Later I found out this is the Jardin Saint-Georges (Garden of St Georges). It used to be a Benedictine abbey founded in the 11th century by the duke Alain III. Later, a palace was built in replacement of it in the 17th century and kept until now. It is very beautiful but too bad no one comes here except for tourist like me. And there aren’t many tourists in Rennes I guess.
So I had stumbled upon a place of interest. I continued on and found the Parc du Tharbor. Again, the place looked deserted. It is something like the Botanical Garden that we have in Singapore. By then, the sky was overcast and the wind was blowing fiercely. It would rain any minute. At first I thought I was the only one here again, but after awhile, I saw some joggers in the Park. I also saw 2 swans eating the grass. At first I dared not approach them because I mistook them for geese which are notorious for attacking people if they were to approach them. But when I neared and taken a closer look, I realized they were swans and so I took pictures of them. I walked about in the Park and throughout the walk, it rained for awhile then the sun was back and then it rained again. This park was built in the 19th century and its uniqueness is its combination of the characteristics of French and English park. Frankly, I couldn’t tell the difference. But personally, I feel it was not very interesting and think that our Botanic Garden is more beautiful (even though I haven’t been to there for ages). Perhaps it wasn’t as appealing to me as those medieval buildings because I am used to seeing green and floras back in Singapore.
I left the park after 40 min but felt a bit disappointed. Maybe because the weather wasn’t good today so that was why there weren’t many people in the park. But come to think of it, I really didn’t see many people around in Rennes. I don’t have to purposely avoid crowds here. There just isn’t any. I didn’t want to turn back to Republique to take the bus back and so continued to walk on. Maybe that Parc du Tharbor was the wrong one and the real one would be just ahead. I walked on along Rue du Paris and it was a quiet street with private terraces at the sides. I passed by Parc Hamelin Oberthur but didn’t want to go in as I had enough trees and flowers for today. As I moved further away from the town centre, I decided to walk back to INSA. I took out my map and started navigating. It then started to rain, and it was getting heavier and heavier.
This was really a bad idea but I couldn’t possibly turn back. So I carried on and I couldn’t use my map often as it was raining. I only took it out when I encountered a junction. Else, I would just continue eastward. I was afraid that I would be lost because I couldn’t have the map in hand as I walked. It had already started to crumple in the rain. I was afraid it might disintegrate into pieces. The rain had turned into a downpour and the wind was beating against my face. I couldn’t bear it any longer and ran towards the nearest bus stop. As I pondered what to do next, I turned around and saw the sign “Universite Rennes I”. I had made it back! And the rain stopped suddenly too. It took me about 1 hr to complete the journey. Back in my room, the first thing I did was to spread out my map and dry it. Next I ran hot water on my hands because they were red and painful due to the cold wind. Then I went to take a hot bath.
It seemed like I couldn’t possibly go to St Malo on next Saturday as my 12-25 card would not be valid. So I have a few options to choose.
1. Go on Saturday still and forget about the discount (no way!)
2. Go on Sunday, take the 8:27am bus and catch the 9:20am train. I guess if I take that bus, I would reach my destination at 8:47am. Then I have to brisk walk to the station which would take me 10min, so 8:57am. Then I would have to queue up (this I can’t predict the time. It took me 10 min today.) to buy the ticket, say another 10 min. So 9:07am. This would leave me 13 min to buy food for the train ride and to find the platform to board the train. Even if I booked the ticket online, I would still have to queue up to collect the ticket. Although making early reservation would entitle me 50% discount, I don’t think I would do that because if it rains heavily, I won’t go. And 13 min of buffer time seemed too risky.
3. Wake up early and start the long march at 7:00am. Would reach the train station around 8:15am and that would leave me ample time to do what I want. But I would be walking in the dark because I only get to see the sun after 8am. And it would tire me out and I wouldn’t have the energy to enjoy myself at St Malo.
4. Check the 2nd earliest time of the train. If there is one that is at 10 plus, it would be perfect. I can then take the 8:27am bus. And if I am fast, I might be able to catch the 920am train. But if the 2nd timing is 12 noon or later, then it would not be ideal because it takes 1 hr to reach there. And it is supposed to be a full day trip for St Malo.
5. Postpone the entire plan to the following Saturday.
It seems like option 4 is the most feasible.
No comments:
Post a Comment