De-I and Wife vs MUPGT on the Streets of Paris!

Yesterday was a travel day. Because of our little sojourn in Avignon, we were faced with driving back to Nice, a 2.5 hour drive) to drop off our rental car and catch a train to Paris. Fortunately the train was not too early and we gave ourselves plenty of time. That was good as it took longer to turn the car in than we thought and we didn't have very long to wait until we caught our train.

As we were the first stop for this train we had no problems with space for our luggage. I'm not quite sure why but the TGV (high speed train) in France has relatively little room for luggage. When you consider these are long distance trains and people going long distances are going to have luggage, it is a bit of a mystery why they don't do something to add more.

It was a bit of irony that this train went back through Avignon. I joked with Wife that we'd been traveling for 6 hours just to get back to where we started. But it would have been difficult and expensive to change all the reservations particularly without internet access at the Avignon rental.

So we got to Paris without problem, got our cab, went to the new rental apartment, one that is a number of apartments in a building owned and operated by a friend of ours in Albuquerque. We'd communicated just days before and I'd sent our arrival time. Got there, rang the door bell. Nothing. Rang the door bell, nothing. I'd texted that we were on our way in the cab. I called the owner's cell, right to voice mail. It's cold, it's starting to rain. I get out my computer and call the office number. No answer. We see a light on upstairs on the third floor. We ring the door bell many more times.

The Magical Unicorn Pony God of Travel is quaffing mead and laughing her horn off. Surely now she has defeated de-I at last. He will die miserably of exposure among his bags on the streets of Paris. How sweet. But her glee and ecstatic joy are interrupted. "What? Not the use of technology again?" De-I, he is using Booking.com to make a nearly instantaneous last minute reservation! He is using Uber to get picked up exactly where he, Wife, and bags are. In less than an hour from the time to bail, he and Wife are installed in a warm, nice comfortable hotel! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

We were exhausted and went to a bistro right next to the hotel to eat. While eating the apartment owner called, profusely apologetic. His partner was in the building and for whatever reason he did not hear the bell (Did he have headphones on or what?). He said he would reimburse our hotel cost (without my even asking) and we will be back at the rental this morning.