We made it ... to Frankfurt .... actually we're in the airport waiting to leave ... but I have some serious catching up to do .... Firstly our departure from Dijon
All my fears...
1. where to catch the bus...As I started to explain ... we found out through a series of events that we had to catch the Eurolines bus outside a different station in Dijon. Not inspired with confidence ... even though we had checked it out earlier in the day ... the station buildings were closed and we would be waiting on the footpath in a quiet neighbourhood... Noice!!!
When we arrived, 2 hours early, there were already a couple of people there... it was starting to look a likely place. Not much language in common ... the word 'Eurolines' but other than that we seemed to be going to different locations. Should be fine.
2. Could we fit on the bus???More people started to arrive ... maybe the bus might be full. Was purchasing a bus ticket over the internet similar to purchasing airlines tickets? I had managed,
with difficulty, to print a copy of the email with our ticket number on it.
This is not a ticket ... you cannot board the bus without a ticket... NOT what I wanted to hear.
A woman arrived less than an hour before the bus was due and started checking tickets. Apparently our email would not get us on the bus. After letting us sweat for a while and telling us ... mostly in French ... what we should have done, she told us that she would be able to write us out a ticket to get us on the bus!!! Merci beaucoup!!!!
Even getting seats at midnight on a fairly crowded bus ensured the nightmare continued. More language problems .... a guy who appeared to be talking to himself ... or maybe that was to us ... situation manipulated by 'said' guy ... and a young girl, whose seat we stole. An uncomfortable bus ride indeed. Not much sleep happening that night.
To top it off ... a 'nice' official who boarded the bus after we crossed into Germany in the wee small hours and discovered that 2 young men ... of African ... and possibly French origin ... only had very poor photocopies of passports ... no passport ... no visa ... no 'carte de jour'. A situation only made worse it seemed because they appeared to change their stories. What was the truth? Or did language problems contribute to the confusion when confronted with a barrage of questions which alternated between German, French and English? Who knows. They were threatened with arrest ... before being allowed to remain on the bus on payment of a 25euro penalty.
Forgot to mention that were were the only ones from the group waiting at the station to board that bus... Was this bus going to Frankfurt???
Apparently it ws. We were bundled off the bus outside the Hauptbahnhoff ... main station .. at 7.30am. Same questions arise ... where to from here ... and how do we get there? We opted for a taxi this time ... too far to walk. Good choice ... really long way.
All my fears...
1. where to catch the bus...As I started to explain ... we found out through a series of events that we had to catch the Eurolines bus outside a different station in Dijon. Not inspired with confidence ... even though we had checked it out earlier in the day ... the station buildings were closed and we would be waiting on the footpath in a quiet neighbourhood... Noice!!!
When we arrived, 2 hours early, there were already a couple of people there... it was starting to look a likely place. Not much language in common ... the word 'Eurolines' but other than that we seemed to be going to different locations. Should be fine.
2. Could we fit on the bus???More people started to arrive ... maybe the bus might be full. Was purchasing a bus ticket over the internet similar to purchasing airlines tickets? I had managed,
with difficulty, to print a copy of the email with our ticket number on it.
This is not a ticket ... you cannot board the bus without a ticket... NOT what I wanted to hear.
A woman arrived less than an hour before the bus was due and started checking tickets. Apparently our email would not get us on the bus. After letting us sweat for a while and telling us ... mostly in French ... what we should have done, she told us that she would be able to write us out a ticket to get us on the bus!!! Merci beaucoup!!!!
Even getting seats at midnight on a fairly crowded bus ensured the nightmare continued. More language problems .... a guy who appeared to be talking to himself ... or maybe that was to us ... situation manipulated by 'said' guy ... and a young girl, whose seat we stole. An uncomfortable bus ride indeed. Not much sleep happening that night.
To top it off ... a 'nice' official who boarded the bus after we crossed into Germany in the wee small hours and discovered that 2 young men ... of African ... and possibly French origin ... only had very poor photocopies of passports ... no passport ... no visa ... no 'carte de jour'. A situation only made worse it seemed because they appeared to change their stories. What was the truth? Or did language problems contribute to the confusion when confronted with a barrage of questions which alternated between German, French and English? Who knows. They were threatened with arrest ... before being allowed to remain on the bus on payment of a 25euro penalty.
Forgot to mention that were were the only ones from the group waiting at the station to board that bus... Was this bus going to Frankfurt???
Apparently it ws. We were bundled off the bus outside the Hauptbahnhoff ... main station .. at 7.30am. Same questions arise ... where to from here ... and how do we get there? We opted for a taxi this time ... too far to walk. Good choice ... really long way.
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