Once upon a time, a girl named Ruth (Lily to those she meets in France) decided to travel and see some more of France. She had a 4 day weekend, and ended up booking to go to Rennes quite spontaneously. She had hoped to go down south, but being a bank holiday weekend and leaving it to the last minute, all trains were fully booked, so Rennes it was.
She was anxious about travelling alone. She had reserved 2 nights in a hostel, and was a bit nervous as to whom she would be sharing a room with! Equally, she was a bit scared about wandering around in unknown places by herself, as she has a habit of getting into cars with strangers ... Anyway, as soon as she arrived at the hostel she felt very comfortable and welcomed. It was a bit of a treck from the train station to the hostel but she managed. The staff were very friendly and gave her lots of information about what to do. Ruth was in a room of 2, which meant she only had one other person to worry about! She fresehend up, and set out on her adventure. First stop, tourist office to get a map and some info about what was around. She spent the afternoon walking around, following a suggested 'tour route' , seeing the cathedral, parks, an abbey, and other monuments. So Rennes was done pretty quickly! But as it was sunny, she decided to go for a run along the river. Which was very refreshing! Following her shower, she met her room mate. A kind French lady called Peggy who was staying one night. Despite her snooring, she was a pleasant room mate, and they even shared toothpaste! That evening, Ruth went out to find something to eat. She treated herself to a traditional Brittany crèpe, with a little glass of Chardonnay on the side! She felt very proud of her sightseeing and was quite tired from walking around all day! She did feel a bit silly being alone in a restaurant, but she didn't care. Sometimes it's nice to have time alone. Coming back that night, she bumped into two guys at the hostel, an Australian and a Canadian. Both young travellers, and it was nice to chat to some people in English without them being creepy french waitors and inviting her for a drink in Rennes.
On Saturday morning, Ruth wanted to get up early to see the market and then get an early train to St Malo. She did manage to see the market, which was splendid, but unfortunately all food stuffs which leant she couldn't really buy anything as it wouldn't keep! Then she got the train to St Malo. It wasn't that nice of a day, but it wasn't raining at least when she arrived. She had no idea where she was going, and saw someone with a map of the town. She made the mistake of asking him where he found it, and this lead to him talking to her all the way to the tourist office,interrogating her, and then suggesting they spent the afternoon exploring together, or exchanging numbers to meet up later. Despite him calling her 'adorable', she politely refused. 'Creep', she thought.
So her St Malo adventure began! A very cute place with lots of character. She walked all around the forts, took the little train ride, visited the Hotel de Ville and museum, and unfortunately got quite wet as the rain began to pour in the afternoon! Because of srupid French train times, she had to wait 2 hours for the next train back to Rennes when she arrived at the station, and so took shelter with a cup of tea in a nice warm bakery!
On her arrival back to the hostel, she bumped into her two friends again, who invited her to have some drinks. However, after her nap, Ruth had planned on visiting the Musée de Beaux Arts as there was a special free late night opening for the public!
She felt
very cultural going out to the museum and admiring the paintings, even if she
didn't really know what she was looking at! It was quite late when she started
walking back, and her hunger had got the better of her, so she stopped off in a
little Sushi bar which was lovely, and enjoyed some maki while watching
Chelsea win the champions league. When she got back to the hostel, she joined
the boys in the TV room. Another Canadian was with them too who was just as
friendly. They chatted and had a laugh, and then Ruth decided it was time to
for bed. ‘I wonder who will be in my room this night’ she wondered.
Luckily, no
one! It was a bit lonely but at least she could have a snore-free night’s
sleep! However, about 4am, Ruth woke up as she needed the toilet. As she turned
on her light, she noticed an envelope next to the door marked ‘To my Ruth’. ‘That’s
strange’, she thought, ‘as I’ve introduced myself as Lily to EVERYONE I have
met here…’ . She was desperate for the
toilet, so quickly ran to relieve herself, and she bumped into one of the
Canadians on the way, who was just getting back from a night out. ‘Perhaps it
is him!?’ she wondered, but again it couldn’t have been because he knows her as
Lily. She rushed back to her room and eagerly ripped open the letter. A smell
of mens Eau de Toilette filled the room.
It was a love note, written in quite bad English but by a French person.
He said that she thought she was charming, and wants to meet for coffee before
she leaves tomorrow. It was signed ‘the fan of your heart’ and he had left his
number.
‘WHO ON
EARTH?!!’ were Ruth’s immediate thoughts. Not only does this person know my real name, but also my room number and
my date of departure… Similarly, she had no recollection of ever meeting a
French boy in the hostel and introducing herself. Very strange.
Obviously,
curiosity got the better of her, she immediately texted the number to find out
who this mysterious stalker was. ‘Lorenzo’ he replied. Lorenzo??????? This
meant nothing to Ruth. She asked who he
was exactly, and if they had ever met before. Apparently, yes, they had met and
had a conversation in French and that she spoke ‘well of aillior’ (whatever
that means). He said he wanted to meet
her before she left, and that it would be a surprise when she finds out who he
was. Ruth was literally baffled. She
decided to leave it and have a think over night. This really was a head
scratcher. Yes, she had chatted to the hostel staff in French, but the only man
she talked to spoke fluent English so he couldn’t have written the note. The lads she made friends wih all spoke
English and called her Lily. WHO is this person?!
After
breakfast and checking out of the hostel, Ruth made her way to the station to
get the bus to Mont St Michel. She had always wanted to see the site, and as it
was so close she figured now was the best time. Except it wasn’t. It rained,
hard, ALL day. She arrived, and since the rock is in the middle of nowhere surrounded
by the sea, it was obviously like walking into a storm with wind, rain, puddles
and greyness everywhere. Ruth had two
options: Due to irregular bus times (France’s favorite thing) she either could
do whirlwind tour and then get the next bus in 90 minutes, or wander aimlessly in the rain killing time to
get the last bus in 3 hours. She took
the first option. To be honest, an hour was enough to see the church and walk
around the Abbey. When it’s pouring with rain and full of tourists, ambling is
the last thing anyone wants to do. She found Mont St Michel very cute, but it
was just a shame that the views were spoiled by the rain. Still, ‘I can tick it
off my list now’, she thought to herself.
Getting on
the bus back to Rennes, she had a message from her mystery man. He wanted to know if she had a boyfriend, what
time her train was, and what she was doing this afternoon. Ruth answered all of
these things truthfully, still completely unaware of who this dude was. She got
off the bus and went straight to the cinemas. She had a lot of time to kill
before her train back, and obviously everything was shut with it being Sunday.
Again, it was sad that she went on her own but she liked the film and being
dry! Afterwards, she told Lorenzo that
she was coming back to the hostel to collect her suitcase then go to the
station, hoping he’d be there just so she could find out who he is! He wasn’t,
so she decided just to leave it and go to the station.
As she was
waiting for her train, she received a message saying that he was on his way to
the station to see her and say goodbye. ‘Oh my gosh!’ Ruth thought. This was like something in a film!
But the departure
of her train was fast approaching, and as much as she wanted the mystery man to
be revealed, she had to board the train. Sitting in her seat, she sent him a message to say that she
was still in suspense over it all and that she’s gutted she’ll never get to
find out his identity. His response…
None.
So,
following a wonderful weekend in Rennes, she arrived back to yet more rain, but
was content. She still has no idea about
the guy who knew her name and room number, and she will carry on living her
life never ever knowing who he was. It’s a real mystery, even to her…
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