Day 4 – The Day Tom’s Load got Lighter

It was now Friday and we were getting very comfortable with our surroundings. Simply put we slept in this morning. The goal was to go to Menton today, a small town about one-hour east of Nice by train. Often compared to the small villages in Liguria, Italy, Tom especially wanted to go here. The station was a fifteen-minute walk from the apartment, and of course uphill.

The trains in France were prompt, but always overcrowded. The queue to buy tickets was insane and the automatic machines were less than friendly. Depending on the time of the day, the wind direction, and one’s reported age the ticket price for a journey is determined by a less than enthusiastic agent. The ticket price for Sally and Rich and the ticket Tom and Janet got were different amounts.

Oh well, the train was pointed in the right direction – let’s go! The four of us along with 1000 close friends we had never met scrambled on to the train. We were lucky and got a seat! We were happy that we were not stuck in the entry landing with 70 other people, bicycles, and baby carriages that were not fortunate to get a seat. Enough on the French train system, we are headed to Menton.

Arriving in Menton we studied our map and decided to go ahead and follow the recommended route.

We headed downtown towards the waterfront through Jardins Biovès. There were all types of art on display in the gardens.

Lined with citrus trees, predominantly lemon which Menton is known for, we stumbled across a game of boules. It appeared to be very intense as people were reaching in their pockets to pull out measuring tapes, fingers pointing, and onlookers getting closer to see the dispute. Mathilde was right yesterday; the French do take this lawn game seriously.

We continued through the gardens until we reached the sea. Well by now, it was eleven o’clock and well within the time zone to enjoy a pastis. A wonderful anise-flavored liquor which is served with cold water.

The libation quenches one’s thirst, settles their tummy, and is just doggone good. We settled in and ordered our drinks as beach goers began to filter the shore.

The beach is rocky, but nowhere near as rocky as the beach in Nice. The sound of the waves, the beauty of the sea, and the warmth of the sun were like glue in our chairs, but we had not come to Menton to sip the day away. At last we stood, and the adventure got underway.

We followed the map and cut off the beach into the shopping area. It was a happening place! We stopped in a few stores, but we were not in the market for anything.

There was a lemon store that was handing out a taste of limoncello and other lemon treats. A pleasant stop indeed.

There was a young girl totally enjoying the colorful carousel in one of the many squares. It was not long before we had wandered out of the shopping area and took a break for lunch.  Following lunch, we walked around the point to a lovely beach near the harbor.

Turning back into the city, we started retracing our steps to the train station. The city of Menton has posted signs which are old photos of times gone by. There are some amazing photographs! While Tom was looking at this picture trying to decipher the French, the group decided we needed to go to the church before heading to the train station.

Reversing direction, we headed straight ahead to a large set of steep steps visible in the picture above. Janet was still being a trooper, but one could tell the knee was tired.

We made it to the church after a few missed turns and being extra quiet not to wake the sleeping cat.

Like most churches in Europe scaffolding adorned the façade. The new church was not open, but we went into the old church, which had a very ornate altar.

The square where the old and new church resides afforded us some wonderful views.

It was now time to head back, but the lure of narrow alleys hypnotized us to follow where they went. They were beautiful, but the angles and steps were now taking a toll on all of us, especially Janet’s knee.

It did not take long before all sense of direction was gone, and we were no longer on the map. Some might say lost, and they would be correct.

After walking up and down streets, back and forth between alleys for almost an hour we arrived back at the steep steps where our journey had begun.

We made our way to the train station only to find one was leaving in seconds.

What happened next was not photographed but left us with many lessons for the future.

We bought our tickets at the counter and rushed to catch the train. People were packed like sardines in entry area and a man was standing in the doorway in a Mr. Clean stance staring out. Richard and Sally went to the right of him and Tom and Janet to the left. He refused to budge making it very difficult to board the train. A small jump seat had been folded down off the wall on the right side making even more difficult for Sally. As the door began to close, a major push from behind was felt as more people tried to force their way onto the train. Sally fell over the open jump seat. A split second later the door tried to close striking Janet’s knee and reopening. With all the commotion and confusion ongoing the man finally bent over and asked if Sally needed help. She replied, “no I am fine”, and he turned and forced his way to the next car. It was at this moment that Tom realized that the whole thing had been set up and someone had lost a wallet or purse.

The door closed and the train began to move and Tom felt his front pocket for his wallet. Tom had been keeping it in his front pocket for safety and taking it a step further by putting his point and shoot camera on top of it. The camera was in his pocket, but something was wrong, the lens had been extended and his wallet was gone. The victim of the ruse was Tom.

We got off the train in Monaco 30 minutes later. Tom activated his phone and fraud text messages began coming in fast and furious. Living in a rural community has one major advantage, Tom called Grace at the bank and she immediately closed all the accounts.  The texts stopped immediately.  Grace told him to call the fraud folks and report it.

Within those 30 minutes they, the thief(s), got about 250 euros in cash, two credit cards, and a debit card to the tune of $4000s in 40 pulls at 100 euro each, a Virginia drivers license (Brand New Real Id), and a health card. Ironically it was a brand-new RFID safe wallet.  In Monaco, Tom contacted the train station back in Menton to see if a wallet had been turned in, but no luck. The wallet was gone forever.

We returned to the apartment and it is only fair to say that Tom, and for that matter all of us, were a little down. Tom contacted the fraud people as directed by his bank and spent the next thirty minutes on the phone pushing 1 for Yes or 2 for No. Then he had to continually say customer service over and over before a human finally answered. He was so glad Grace at his local bank was his savior.

This is way to heavy… Here is a picture that is totally not related, but something sunny.

The sounds of water on rocks is very calming…

Now with our all of accounts shutdown, we had 450 Euros, 350 in dollars, and two of the best friends in the world. Sally and Richard came through big time! We were here to have a good time and yes today sucked, but we still had lots of fun things to do.

There had been an advertisement along the Promenade for chateaubriand for two at a reasonable price. We were all growing tired of pasta and risotto dishes, Tom especially, so we headed to the West End Hotel restaurant. Sally is a practicing vegetarian, but she took one for the team. The wait staff greeted and seated us immediately. The head waiter cracked a few jokes and we ordered wine. By all appearances we had chosen wisely.

The dinner was quite the show as the meat was finished table side in flames… and overcooked. The vegetables were less than acceptable, and the service was heading south quickly. By the end of the meal we just wanted out of the place. The jokes were no longer funny and we thought we would have to wrestle for the check.

Totally unsatisfied with the meal we walked back to apartment. Opening another bottle of wine, we watched YouTube like it was the original MTV by picking and choosing the next artist. It was a great way to end a pretty crappy today. But tomorrow the sun will rise, the water will be blue, and it is Tom’s Birthday!

Side Note: All the lessons learned on the great train robbery will be covered in the wrap up the blog.