Yesterday Lady Magnon was walking the dogs, when a distinctive Dutch motorcar pulled up beside her.
The dogs went mad, the Dutchies rolled down their window, and Lady M listened attentively as the dogs tore off (complete with their leads) into the distance.
"Do you know where is 'Cap du Bost'?" they asked.
Cap du what? asked Lady M.
Cap du Bost, Cap du Bost, Lumberjack!
Never heard of it, she replied, just as two small girls turned-up struggling to control the retrieved dogs.
Then Fabienne (a neighbour) arrived, and they thrust a hand drawn map at the two women, the two girls, and the two dogs.
They all looked at it, turned it upside down, looked at the back, and declared 'Ce n'est pas évident'.
Then Jean-Claude arrived on his tractor. He looked at the map, turned it upside down, looked at the back, and said it could possibly be somewhere down near the saw mill.
Eventually they all agreed that they didn't know where it was, and suggested that it was probably best to start again at the roundabout, which was the only bit of the map that anyone recognised.
An hour or two later we were enjoying a cold beer by the pool, when Lady M suddenly jumped up and pointed to the distance. 'There they are!' she shouted, as she spotted their car heading uphill towards the church (miles from the roundabout).
Then ten minutes later she said 'There they are AGAIN!' as they came back down the hill again.
Maybe they eventually found their Gite, maybe they didn't. Maybe they gave up and returned to Holland.
Finding lost foreigners is part of everyday life now that Summer's here!
Oh dear, poor things ! sometime addresses and directions are very difficult with holiday gites. Sometimes even the locals have never heard the streets/ laneways called the names that are on maps given to tenants and it is left to kind locals to help tourists find their way. Hope they made it !
ReplyDeleteThis brings back memories of many years ago spending hours driving around the french countryside late one night with tired kids looking for our rental house......the directions and maps issued by the owner were absolute rubbish....as was the house.....I hope the poor dutchies found their place.
ReplyDeleteI shouldn't laugh, but I did and wholeheartedly. I'm a bad, bad person lol x
ReplyDeleteWe laughed our socks off too!!
DeleteI often feel guilty after giving directions realising I've sent them to the wrong place - your little incident sounds like something from a West End farce - made me chuckle.
ReplyDeleteSumer is icumen in ,lude sing Cuckoo. And drive Cuckoo, and travel cuckoo? :)
ReplyDeleteand the nest is here!
DeleteWe had a similar experience in a hotel in Spain last year - the Japanese tourists were still trying to find their rooms the night we came back from a long day of sight-seeing.
ReplyDeleteSounds like someone was having fun at their expense. Naughty.
DeleteWe always knew when summer had arrived. The Dutch caravans would pour down the Col de la Faucille. It would have been easier to use the autoroute to get to the Alps, but our theory was that they wouldn't pay the tolls.
ReplyDeleteWhat I never worked out was where they store the caravans in the winter. When we visited my sister in The Hague we never saw any caravans.
The other story that came to mind was one about my brother-in-law. He was a plod on the beat. If he didn't know where somewhere was he would give the most complicated set of directions so that when they didn't find the place they would assume they took a wrong turn.
Helen
Perhaps Mr Garmin does not speak french?
ReplyDeleteOh dear, poor cloggies. Made me chuckle though. I expect they're still driving round in circles now!
ReplyDeleteWe'll look out for them this evening.
DeleteYou could offer them the summer bedroom and make some money.
ReplyDeleteSell them a decent map, maybe!
DeleteWhere was their TomTom? The Dutch invented that apparatus! Linda@Wetcreek Blog
DeleteHere in Savannah the tourists come year round, the heat and humidity slow them down a little in the summer.
ReplyDeleteWhat is it about tourists that bring the devil off our shoulder?
ReplyDeleteYes Cro, the same happens here. Must say there begins to be a temptation to send them in the wrong direction after a time.
ReplyDeleteTourists are here as well. A couple times, some people who didn't live here but live in the same state i do, got lost and used my driveway as a turnaround. In one case, i was able to pull out my atlas and help the older woman regain her bearings and send her on her way.
ReplyDeleteHaving been that lost stranger in an unknown place, i try to pay forward the kindnesses shown me and help as i can.
A bit like 'What goes around, comes around.'
ReplyDeleteHope they found their destination OK in the end.
We've all been tourists at some point in our lives...I hope they found their way.
ReplyDeleteI don't go anywhere without my GPS, even around the block. I feel for those tourists as I have traveled around in circles for years.
ReplyDelete