Once again, we were very lucky in getting a lift within half an hour of our start to the day. Marion, a student on her way to an exam she was worried about, unfortunately dropped us off at an unimaginably quiet turnpike. After two hours of no luck, stranded, we decided to walk down the motorway to the next junction, convinced there was no chance a police car could possibly pass us during the three hours the trek was predicted to take.
A police car ride and an €11 fine later and we were at a service station. Believe it or not, it wasn't even close to being the most expensive taxi fare I've ever had. Marie was next to pick us up. She is a cosmetics sales woman, who had a very long drive ahead of her, scoffing at our lack of ambition when asking to go to Bordeaux, she took us all the way to Toulouse. We were desperate to keep her entertained for the whole four hours, but she didn't speak a word of English, so it was exhausting. Aguet has really helped with the hitch-hiking, knowing a little more French than Nat and me, plus her ability to just keep trying really keeps the drivers happy.
In Toulouse, we were dropped into the town centre by Mahmoud, who showed us where all the cheap hotels are and which streets have too many prostitutes to safely walk down. At one point, Nat and I thought we had lost Aguet and began genuinely considering calling the police when we couldn't reach her on her phone and she wasn't where she said she was going when we searched for her. After about an hour, she sauntered back to the rendezvous point, where we should have met her after 15 minutes, with a McDonald's in hand.
We've explored a bit and plan on doing so more in the morning before we head south into Spain. We know even less Spanish than French, so that should be interesting. For now, though, bed.
A police car ride and an €11 fine later and we were at a service station. Believe it or not, it wasn't even close to being the most expensive taxi fare I've ever had. Marie was next to pick us up. She is a cosmetics sales woman, who had a very long drive ahead of her, scoffing at our lack of ambition when asking to go to Bordeaux, she took us all the way to Toulouse. We were desperate to keep her entertained for the whole four hours, but she didn't speak a word of English, so it was exhausting. Aguet has really helped with the hitch-hiking, knowing a little more French than Nat and me, plus her ability to just keep trying really keeps the drivers happy.
In Toulouse, we were dropped into the town centre by Mahmoud, who showed us where all the cheap hotels are and which streets have too many prostitutes to safely walk down. At one point, Nat and I thought we had lost Aguet and began genuinely considering calling the police when we couldn't reach her on her phone and she wasn't where she said she was going when we searched for her. After about an hour, she sauntered back to the rendezvous point, where we should have met her after 15 minutes, with a McDonald's in hand.
We've explored a bit and plan on doing so more in the morning before we head south into Spain. We know even less Spanish than French, so that should be interesting. For now, though, bed.
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