There was a line and, yeah, we had to wait a while to climb. But at least it wasn't raining. AND you get to observe fun things on line when it's not raining. Like:
* The pissy couple in front of us, right out of Central Casting, decked out in their REI finest. No low-rent Target or K-Mart or Goodwill travel clothes for them. They're the couple in the movie that the leading man & woman, who are ever so cool, meet on their trip. They are the comic relief -- scheduled to within an inch of their lives with the wife fretting over every detail. Man, they just would not talk to us, even though we were all from the States. They chatted up a storm with the younger couple in front of them, but gave us the stink eye and answered any questions we had with a clipped "I so don't want to talk to you" voice. And the wife was indeed fretting over the fact that they just could not get to Versailles because the train people were staging a 1-day strike (wasn't impacting the Metro or the train we're taking today). She had Rick Steve's guidebook that she kept referring to -- that sucker was about 1 1/4 inches and had to be heavy. He had an overstuffed backpack with supplies. Every tag that showed on their clothing read REI. I think ultimately they were going to rent a car and drive to Versailles. Any suggestions on alternate route got a very clipped "we've been using the Metro for a week now. We know how to get around." Yeah, well get around this, baby (makes gesture NSFW)
* The Japanese couple who walked around arm-in-arm. The woman had a towel completely over her head, front to back, and every few steps she'd lift it up to see where she was going. Apparently, she was trying to avoid getting too much sun because when she entered a store, she removed the towel.
* The couple who apparently rented a "bicycle limo" and were being driven to their destination, courtesy of the poor guy who was pedaling like crazy. Like the kind you see around Phoenix, except this "limo" had a nice roof and sides to protect the passengers from the elements. He was in his late 70's at least; well-preserved, but old & Caucasian. She was in her late-30s/early 40s max, dressed to kill & Oriental. As the song goes, things that make you go "Hmmmmmmmmmmm"
* It was very difficult to tell it was noon, because all the churches in the area rang their bells and I lost track at about 52. I guess that was my first clue it was an "important" hour, huh.
* The young couple in front of the pissy couple, who were honored with their conversation, mentioned that they were Diamondback fans, even though they were from Louisiana (I think). This was because Wade Miley went to their school when they did and he was a nice guy and now he's in the majors pitching. The young woman added "But man, he. is. dumb. I don't know how he ever graduated."
Finally it was our turn to go up and all the parking of my car in the farthest corner of the lot at school and walking to class with weights on each ankle and doing the treadmill at a 17% incline paid off because although I panted a bit, I made it up almost as well as I did the last time I climbed Notre Dame's internal circular stairs -- 42 years ago!!!
Time to get the train to Normandy. Photos to follow later this evening.....
Go, Carol! That is an awesome climb!
ReplyDelete