NICE Testimonial: International Assistance

Yeah, I know I said yesterday that I probably wouldn't be able to post while I was away, but I figured I'd at least schedule a testimonial to hold you over. This one comes from Kristine. She tells a tale about how a stranger abroad helped her and a friend, just in the nick of time!

In May of 2000 a friend and I traveled to France, staying in Paris. I wanted to tour Claude Monet's home and gardens in Giverny as he is one of my favorite artists. Instead of a group tour, we decided to take the train to Vernon and then a bus to Giverny by ourselves. It would be cheaper and probably more fun.

We had a great day at Monet's home and it was time to go. In order to get back into Paris by 7:00 p.m. we knew we had to be back to the train station by 5:30. After much discussion and translation the bus we needed to be on had just left and the next one wasn't for another 2 hours. It was approximately 4:00p.m. This would put us back into Paris around 10:00, meaning we would miss our dinner reservations. We decided to walk into Vernon as it really wasn't that far and basically if we walked along the Seine we would reach Vernon. Unfortunately, between my limited French (even after 12 years of schooling) and the people of Giverny and Vernon's limited English as well as the beginnings of a rain storm we were not getting very far.

On the journey we walked past a woman putting her laundry in the back of her car (I'm sure a Citroën) and considered asking her, but assumed she wouldn't be able to help either. We kept walking, rain is starting to come down a bit harder (and of course we have no umbrellas) and about this time the lady with the laundry drove past us. All of the sudden we see brake lights and then reverse lights. I go up to the car and she motioned for us to get in. As best I could, I told her that we needed to be "à la station de train à 5:30,
tres vite". She drove, like a mad woman, into town and at a round about the traffic came to a halt. I should probably add that it is now, around 5:20ish. She proceeds to back up and go up a one way street, the wrong way, with a large "camion" (truck) headed our way. She veered, she accelerated and we landed at the train station with about 1 minute to spare. I asked "pouvons-nous vous payer, s'il vous plaît?" (can we pay you, please?) to which she shook her head and replied "non, non pas, c'était mon plaisir" (no, no, it was my pleasure).

And with this, we boarded the train, headed back into Paris with the knowledge that I have my own personal Ange (Angel) in Vernon, France.

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