The Number One Bus

Today was a day for taking the bus.  I have always been tied to a car, and bus schedules have always been a mystery to me. But I wanted to see where this #1 bus went. I stopped in the office and picked up a line schedule.  I learned that it's just a guide-there are usually more stops than are on the schedule, and sometimes the map is not necessarily what the buses are doing today.

I want to go to the arboretum and see some of the surrounding countryside.   I took the bus that goes to the southeast--toward a lake that seems to be quite popular with residents of the area.  The stop for the arboretum is along this route.

The route took me out into the suburbs.  The Carcassonnais equivalent of the big box stores are depressingly similar to the ones in the United States. Everyone likes a bargain and families can save money buying in bulk.  I passed these by on the way out of town.  

The countryside is beautiful in spots.  There has obviously been a building boom in the outskirts, with housing developments in various stages of completion just accessible from the autoroutes.  What I was unprepared for are the walls...there are walls around most of the housing developments.  I guess the residents don't want anyone looking in.  The roads are narrow and pretty twisty; I marveled at the skill of the bus driver.  

He reached the end point and turned back to town. I got off at the St. George market stop and bought a few things-some cereal that I hadn't been able to find in town, as well as some yogurt.  The Geant, at which you can get a TV, cereal and socks, and a laptop, was doing a brisk business.  There were lots of cars in the parking lot, mostly from the suburbs.  

St George market bus stop.

I went back out to catch the #1 bus back into town.  That's where my real adventure began. Apparently today, the bus wasn't going to follow the prescribed route. I figured I would ride it to the turn around point to the northwest of the city and then, on its way back in, get off at my stop, Le Dome. Not today. The bus came to a stop in the middle of an industrial park and the driver turned to me and said, "C'est le terminus."  Okey dokey-now what?

I hoped I was at the correct bus stop

I showed him the schedule I'd been following and told him that I needed the return bus.  He pointed me in the vague direction across the street and around the corner.  "Vingt minutes." 20 minutes. No problem. Maybe he was going off duty for lunch.  It was about that time.  

Industrial park

So, out in the middle of nowhere, I made my way across the road and did find the bus shelter.  The weather was nice, there was a bench to sit on, and only vague and distant stirrings of my bladder gave me the slightest of worries.  It was a beautiful day, I had no timetable to obey, I may as well enjoy the out of doors.

A woman came by, looking for the supermarket.  As it so happened, I could point her in the right direction.  I know Leader Price--I learned it in Paris all those years ago and had just seen one as I was "thrown off" the bus.  We struck up a conversation.  She is Armenian and newly arrived in Carcassonne--she's been here two months. She, too, is trying to learn French. How wonderful!  She and I could understand one another's French, even as both of us struggle to understand French people's French!  We were both using our fledgling skills and we could actually carry on a conversation and communicate. It was so great, for both of us.  She told me that she was alone.  I believe in my heart of hearts that I was supposed to be there today--we were supposed to cross paths. It gave me a lift of my spirits and I could tell she was lighter of heart as well.  She is not alone, after all.

 

She left to find the supermarket. I had only to wait a few more minutes before my bus arrived and I was headed back into the city once more.  I see no advantage for me to take the bus out there to shop. I can find everything I need at little markets here in the Bastide.  If you are shopping for a family, I suppose it makes good money sense to go there, but for me, I will stick to the butcher shop up the street and the boulangerie around the corner.  

I now know where to buy a car, where to find granite counter tops, the location of a McDonald's, a discount shoe warehouse and where to get replacement windows.  You never know when that kind of information will come in handy.  I am going back on the bus tomorrow-out to the arboretum, weather permitting.  I don't know how much longer this glorious weather will hold.  I will pack a picnic and my sketch book and see where the trail takes me.