Schengen Visa, St Malo and the French Couple – part deux

It was bitterly cold, I was wet, I got lost and I was alone. Also, I don’t speak French and unlike the Girls Aloud, I didn’t have the funky music to do the talking for me.

So that pretty much sums up my first few hours in St Malo. And just when I thought things couldn’t get any worst, it turned out that I lost my phone and my digital camera.

Intramuros, St Malo, France

I was really trying hard to talk to the taxi driver hoping he would understand even a bit of what I was talking about. I asked him if we could go back to where he picked me up earlier as I needed to check if I dropped my phone and camera there. Lucky for me, the driver actually understood what I said.

So there I was, out in the rain, looking for my phone and camera in front of the apartment building where I met that French woman earlier. I found my phone at the side of the road covered with fallen leaves. Its LCD was broken either because I dropped it or because it was soaking wet. Either way, it was no longer functioning when I checked it. Next thing to look for is my camera. I’ve searched the area where I may have dropped it but it wasn’t there. Then I heard somebody shouting. I looked up and I saw a man at the top floor of the apartment building waving and shouting something. Again, I don’t speak French, so I didn’t get what he was saying. Few minutes later, the woman I’ve met earlier showed up at the entrance of the apartment building with my camera on her hands.

She was explaining something whilst smiling and then she handed my camera to me. It was in that moment that I really wished I could speak French so I could express how grateful I was for her kindness. I said thank you more than I could remember. I even bowed my head whilst saying it just to make my point across.  I gave her husband (I just assumed he’s her husband) a thumbs up sign and then I got back to the taxi.

My heart was full of gratefulness that time that if it would have been in a different circumstance I would have started singing. However, the fact is that I have no mobile with me and without it I couldn’t call my friends. I knew we’re supposed to meet at Intramuros but as to where exactly I didn’t know, we only agreed to just call each other once we’re there. On top of this, I couldn’t seem to remember the name of the hotel I booked for 2 nights. My mind was blanking out. If only I had my phone, it was all in there.

I figured that without my phone, there’s no way that I could find my friends in Intramuros. Also, without the name of the hotel, there’s no way that the driver could take me there. So I asked the driver to just drop me at the nearest hotel as I really needed to change my clothes, and to sort myself out.

He dropped me in a youth hostel.

The staff in the front desk speaks English which was really comforting. I booked for the night and paid 12 euros. She gave me the key and the map of the building to find the room. As I haven’t really stayed in a hostel before, I didn’t know what to expect.

I walked towards the direction of my room as per the map. The hallway was dimly lit. I could hear people chatting and laughing as I passed by each room. It was like a typical horror scene in a movie. The rain outside, the deserted hallway, the people talking and laughing at the background, and myself walking on a very poorly lit hallway. It was very creepy.

My room was at the right side at the far end of the hallway. As it turned out, the room was like a typical dormitory in college. It has 2 double decks, a small table, a sink and a small closet. The toilet is outside the room shared with other people in the building. There were 3 guys in the room when I arrived, they’re my roommates. They were chatting about their camping experience and the horrible weather. We introduced ourselves and started making small introductory conversation. They were all from Scotland (with their accent, I think that was a give away) and they were just in St Malo for the night and will head to Paris the next morning. I told them I’m from the Philippines and then I went on rambling about what happened earlier.

John, one of my roommates, lent me his laptop so I could contact my friends. And as I suspected, my friends sent me an email. They were so worried what happened to me. Although the subject line of the email was “You stood us up…”

We exchanged few emails and we agreed that they will wait for me at the hotel the following day.

I went to sleep that night with a heart full of thanksgiving. Although my mobile didn’t survive its first day in France, I did. And the experience I had will always reaffirm my belief in the goodness of human race.

The next day will surely be better!