Navigation system

What to blog?  Yikes.  I didn't have anything on my mind today, so let's see what happens.

The Christmas market in Strasbourg is in full swing.  There are hundreds of booths covering every open area in the city.  That makes getting from point A to point B a little challenging sometimes.  I must admit that the French do seem a little "happier" at this time of year.

The entrance to the market near our apartment

A "double decker" horse drawn carriage

David and I went exploring the market here in Strasbourg and then in a village named Obernai this past weekend.  While there are a few vendors who sell handmade items in the Strasbourg market, I would say that  almost all of the village vendors are solely responsible for supplying their own stock.  Consequently, most of my purchases were made in Obernai.

Earlier in the week I went on an adventure with my Greek friend.  She lives about 30 minutes north of us and so I took the car.  Her exit happens to be at a toll road entrance so I encountered a little bit of difficulty.  As I approached the toll booth I knew her exit was close and on the right (thanks to my car's navigation system) but as I glanced to the right lane I saw a sign that said "RÉSERVÉ".  So into the toll gate I went.  As I was waiting for the gate to go up I could see that there were actually TWO lanes off to the right and only one of them was "Reserved"….bummer, that meant I missed my exit.

As I slowly moved through, I could see a car parked in an area just past the toll gate and that there was a "space" between two of the concrete barriers.  Hmmmm, maybe LOTS of people are thrown off by that "reserved" sign.  I decided I would try to get my car through that space and save myself 30 km of driving.  (The next exit was 15 km or 9 miles away)

It was tricky.  As I approached the "entrance" of this little pull off it had a big "no entry" sign….oh well, I backed my car up through that sign and continued about 300 yards to where I had seen the break in the concrete barriers.  Rats!! There was a metal bar blocking my way.  I got out to see if I could raise it, but it was locked in place.  Ok, I had to give up and call my friend and tell her that I would be late.

As I was making my call another car "pulled in" to the "no entry" lot and tried to do exactly what I had just done.  I was feeling justified.  What made it better was that she spoke French!!  She went up to the toll gate worker and I could see her hands flying as she explained that she missed the exit and wanted to go through the barrier.  He must've told her she was out of luck because she headed back to her car.

I was resigned to driving the extra 20 minutes and set off.  As I exited the "no entry" lot, I immediately came upon the entrance ramp to the highway….hmmmm.  Split second decision and I threw my car into reverse and backed up the entrance ramp!!  I was praying the whole time….you see it was a one lane ramp and it was curvy.  If someone was coming the "right way" they wouldn't see me until they were locked onto my rear bumper.  It was a dicey 90 seconds for sure.  As I neared the "end" or the "beginning" depending on your perspective, a car approached.  Luckily, the road was somewhat straight and we could both see each other.

I slowed down and got over as far as I could and let them drive past me.  Now to my next obstacle….that car had just come through a "gate" to enter the toll road.  ACK!!  God had answered my prayers though, another car was just approaching the gate.  As they were taking their ticket and the gate went up to allow them through I zoomed past them (going backwards) through the open gate.  I wish I could've taken a picture of their faces….I am sure that I was the dinner time story that night.

Whew.  I was finally driving in the right direction on the right road.  What a relief.  We were going to a Saint Louis crystal store and then to a Lalique museum.  I'm all for a sale, so why not?  My friend had no idea what the address for either of these places was, she just "knew the way".  I'm not a fan of "knowing the way", I prefer addresses that can be put into a GPS.  This probably stems from my days as a Tupperware manager and having people give me directions like, "go to the last red light and turn left"…how in the heck are you supposed to know when you've gotten to the "last" red light?

I was able to google the address for the Saint Louis store and we were on our way.  I now have some very nice water goblets for you to use the next time you visit.  On to Lalique.  No GPS, she assured me that she knew the way.  Well, she did, but she didn't know that the museum was CLOSED on Mondays.  Her husband had asked her if she was sure that it was open before we left…..I would've loved to have been a fly on the wall when she got home.

We weren't finished.  She had a friend in another village that she wanted me to meet.  I have to tell you, I was ready just to be done, but ok, let's go visit someone that I will never see again in my lifetime.  I turned the car around and followed her directions.  We were about 20 minutes into the drive when I heard her say "ooh la la" (yes, they really do say that in France).  She told me that we were not in the right place.  She wasn't sure where we were or where we missed our turn.  SEE WHY I AM A FAN OF GPS??

No problem, I said (that is NOT what was going through my brain).  What is her address and I will load it in the GPS.  She didn't know her address.  Let's call her and ask her for her address.  She didn't have her phone number in her cell phone.  PROBLEM!

I finally asked if she knew the NAME of the village that we were supposed to be going to and she did. Praise the Lord for the navigation system.  I entered the name of the village and we were off.  Once we were in the village we were able to find the house of her friend.  Turns out it was a retired doctor and his wife and they lived behind a locked gate.  After about 3 minutes of her trying to get them to answer the buzzer the gate swung open and I drove through.  I am not at all certain that this lovely, unsuspecting couple even knew we were going to stop by.

They were the best part of the whole day.  A wonderful couple in their early 70's, happily married for 45 years on the 28th of this month.  The wife whipped up a pot of tea and served some delicious cookies that she and her husband had just made the day before.  They showed me their paper weight collection (very extensive and very EXPENSIVE), a postcard book that belonged to his father during his Naval station in Japan in the early 1900's and we talked about their family.  Turns out that their youngest daughter had heart surgery in Birmingham, Alabama in the 80's.  The doctor spoke very good English, but his wife couldn't speak any.  He gave me his "calling card" and I gave him my phone number.  I asked them to stop and meet David when they came to Strasbourg to visit the Christmas market.

It amazes me that God sets these "divine" appointments and how many times we miss them because we are "too busy" following our own agenda and never give Him the opportunity to direct our path.  I wish you an unexpected appointment during this Holiday season... going what seems to be the "wrong" direction can turn out RIGHT.  Blessings!!