Today stated early; 3:30am for a 4:30 taxi for a 5:40 train to Paris. Everything went well...the Eurostar "chunnel" from London to Paris is easy and comfortable. I had no problem changing stations in Paris for my train out to the countryside, and that train ride was also easy and comfortable. However, it was on that train that I realize I don't remember packing my phone. Now, my phone doesn't work in Europe, but I brought it anyway thinking I could use it as an alarm clock. The phone is old and nothing special, except it has a voicemail from Mark on it. I had no idea where it was in the room...I didn't realize until I arrived in London that the whole phone, clock and all, is useless. I think I may have stashed it in the nightstand. Anyway, long story short, the hotel found it, so that drama was short lived after a few hours of 'oh crap'.

Train arrives in Metz, and I hustle to get my rental car because the office closes from 12:30-2 and my train arrived at 12:10. That process when ok; the girl spoke enough english and I had done the whole reservation ahead of time. The were shutting down for siesta (or whatever the French call it) as I was leaving. The girl gives me specific instructions for finding the car; 2nd floor, way down on the right, slot a10. OK, the 2nd floor is just the trains and train tracks. I walk all over (and this place is not that big....its not like you can hide rental cars easily!!!) and finally ask at another office, but they send me to the wrong place. Again, long story short, I spend an hour looking for the car. Turns out it was in the garage on the 2nd floor, far right....but I never knew where the garage was! (It was hidding behind a construction project.) That was annoying, but it was done. Oh crap, I just now realize they did not give me the gps I requested!!!! Fortunately, I had printed out directions. Getting out of Metz and finding the right roads out of town went surprisingly easy. It was fun to zip around in a 5 speed again, and the countryside was pretty. I'm back on track!

I headed to my ancestral villages, which are about 45 minutes west of Metz. There are about 6 I wanted to see, all within a few miles of each other, and all in the middle of nowhere. It took me about 15 minutes to see all I needed to see. I was prepared for this; someone had told me the area was depressed and the wars with Germany had not left much for amatuers like to me to track down. Sorry, the only way I can think to describe this is in St. Marys terms: imagine if you take all the homes in Glynnwood and packed them around the church, all next to each other. No stores, no stop signs, just one or two roads with maybe MAYBE 50 houses and some animals. That's what these villages are. No gas stations, no grocery, no cafe. They are just a few miles apart, and the land in between is all farm land (but no farms....they are in 'town'). Sometimes they are really close. Four of the villages I wanted to visit where each about a mile from each other. There are no sidewalks, and there are no places to park, except for people's driveways. Even the churches do not have parking lots, and from what I saw, the churches likely have not been used for years. (I think the merged parrish phenomenon is big here.) This, of course, means I will not be getting into these churches, which is a letdown.

Ok, next I find the bed and breakfast. It is about 4:30 and no one is there, so I drive around some more. I get back at 5:15 and still no one there. I dig out my confirmation e-mail and read that I told them I'd be in around 6, and they said they would see me about 6. crap. I can get their wifi from my car, so I pull out the laptop and check e-mail. 6:00 rolls around...nothing. And they still have to make my dinner!! I wait until 6:15, then leave them a note so they know I was there, and I go in seach of another option. (To their credit, they have a phone number posted to call if no one is home, but that doesn't help me since I don't have a functioning phone. Go ahead, say "I told you so"...) At this point my options are to go back to Metz or continue going west to Verdun, which is a bit of a tourist attraction with its WWI battleground. Since it is closer, I go with Verdun. I arrive, find a McDonalds with free wifi, and go about looking up some hotel options, keeping in mind I don't have a gps. I realize i had just driven by one well ranked place, so I go with it. Again, the front desk speaks just enough English that it isn't a big deal. The place is dated but clean, and I liked the guy at the front desk. It smells of stale cigarette smoke, but so does the rental car and my last hotel.

I get into the room and think about what the reception guy had said about 'dinner served at 7.' It has to be well past 7! I left the B&B at 6:15, drove to Verdun in the pitch dark, ate at McDonalds....I check the TV...oh crap. The clocks (there were 2) in the rental car were an hour off. I left the B&B at 5:15, not 6:15. NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!! (I probably have not mentioned up until this point that my watch battery died the day I arrived in London. Given that my fav battery guy is in Columbus, I was going to use this as an excuse to buy a new watch in Paris so I had something of a souvenir that I could use daily. Now I'm sick; I blew the B&B people off, and I missed the opportunity to ask them my litany of questions about the area. I just sent them a profusely apologetic e-mail and set up payment for the missed night. Of all things I did not want to screw up this trip, that was the big one. Damn!

That all being said, I'm still on vacation, still in France, and have too much knowledge of what a truly lousy day is like. Today was annoying, nothing more.

Plan for tomorrow: who the heck knows? I have to return the car to Metz by 6PM, and I have a hotel there for the night. I'm going to bed and dealing with tomorrow in the morning.