Adventures to St. Sulpice

I woke up early and got everything ready to go. It was nice to be able to pack up in my two bags so quickly. I brought a Nordstrom bag from back home for the extra shoes. Through my travels it has ripped and I need to find some tape. I have been looking but unable to find any so I will search again when I am settled.

On the way out of the hotel, the man informed me that I had not paid. Apparently, when I made the reservation and gave my credit card, it was in case I did not show and they would charge me. However, I showed up and now needed to pay. Of course my credit card did not work (stupid capital 1) and begrudgingly hand him my debit card as I know I will get an additional fee for using it. Just my luck, it does not work. Thankfully I had enough money to pay the bill and then I decided I needed to get to an ATM fast.

I had about one hour to find an ATM and return to the bus station. I took my stuffed to the brim book bag and began my journey. Luckily, last night I took the list of locations of the bank in Toulouse (I got this in Paris before I left) and mapped it out on the city map I got at the airport. I did not think that I would need to go, but I did and I was prepared. Walking briskly down hooker lane (now pretty empty) I went looking for my bank. I found the cross streets that it should be located at. In fact, there should be two on this street, I know I am bound to find at least one!

I walk down the street until it ends, no bank. I ask a baker and she does not know where one is. I ask a post office employee, I do not think she understood me. I was ready to go back and try my luck in St. Sulpice and Italy with about 30euro when I come across the bank. I got my money and headed back to the bus station.

I returned in about 15 minutes and had about 45 to kill. It is funny how quickly you can get somewhere when you know where you are going. I decided to sit where the bus would be and ate my day old baguette. It really is no good after the first day. Most of it crumbled and would become pigeon food. As I enjoy my breakfast, I keep repeating “Bonjour, le premier arret a St. Sulpice sur leze s’il vous plait.” Hello, the first stop in St. Sulprice on leze (the river) please. Of course the bus I try it on first is not the correct bus, which is okay since I did a good job with my wording and pronunciation. I wait five minutes and try it again on the correct bus. It comes out badly and I am unsure if the driver understood me, so I point to the sentence in my notebook. With a “oui bon” and exchange of 2 euro for ticket, I am on my way.