Flying in Antibes

We need a desk. We learned of what was described as an Ikea-like store called Fly (I consider the description only correct in that it has directional arrows on the floor). I went online to have a look and discovered what looked to be the ideal desk for 40 euros. So far, so good. I even found that there was a Fly location relatively locally and figured we could transport a flat-pack desk on the bus without too much trouble - Ramsay is a fairly robust fellow.

After navigating the seemingly impossible Envibus website, we figured out which bus we should need, but some places indicated that it leaves from Place de Gaul (just around the corner from home) and other (more accurate) places said that it didn't. In addition, there didn't seem to be any indicator on the schedule that it stopped where we needed, yet the route map still said it did. So, off we went to take the number 9 bus to Fly. I should probably note that this is my very first bus trip out of Antibes in the month that I have been here.

As we were merrily trundling along, Ramsay points out Fly and leaps for the stop button, only to realise he is too late and we are stuck until the very next stop (which is a very long way away). So, he went to talk to the driver to see what our options are for our stop. This is where Ramsay found out that this bus stop is no longer serviced by the number 9, but a number 22 might stop there.

So, we decided that we should continue on to the end of the line where there is a station that we could obtain 10 trip passes - you can't buy them just anywhere. When we arrived, we discovered that the station is closed on the weekends, so we decided to just take the bus back to Super Antibes (the big box store habitat).

So it was quite a surprise on our way back, when the driver stopped the bus, got our attention and motioned that we could get off. It wasn't until he put his index finger to his lips as we left that I realised that he had let us off at the stop that no longer existed. He meant well, bless him.

While this meant we could check out the desks at Fly, we had to figure out exacly how we were going to get to Super Antibes and the nearest bus stop. It is a bit of a hike, but of more concern is that the only route is along the narrow shoulder of a very busy road. Ramsay was all for trying to find a quieter way (as he had already braved this route on foot before, and was really unhappy at the prospect of a repeat performance), but my blood sugar was getting a little low, which meant that I needed to get to where we were going in the fastest possible way.

Back to Fly - it was a joke. Their shop didn't having anything even closely representative of what they carry and more annoyingly, they didn't have the desk we were interested on display. There was another similar store a short way up the road in which we had a quick wander, but they also had nothing that either of us was interested in lugging all the way to Super Antibes on foot.

So, off we went, trekking along the busy road in search of a bus stop. At one point, we were walking alongside a wooded hill and Ramsay wanted to walk through there instead. We went in a short way, but I didn't have the energy for any sustained uphill and so we continued on the road. Yes, I admit it, I was a touch grumpy.

On a happy note, we discovered a sporting good store along the way and so decided to go in and see about a bike helmet and chain oil for Ramsay now that he has use of a bike. Besides the biking necessities we required, this store had everything from scuba gear to riding equipment.

A little further along the way was a large pet supply store. Just the sort of thing I had been trying to locate as I wasn't thrilled with feeding Maggie grocery store dog food (eventhough she adores it) as well as doggie poo bags (I brought a package with me, but they are going fast). We found dog poo bags and they were outrageously expensive and decided against them and we both knew that there was no way this store would be practical for dog food given our transportation options (or lack of same). Then I saw it.

In the middle of the shop was an island of glass enclosures containing puppies. We walked around to look at the poor little creatures and then we saw the cat. It was a very pretty grey cat fast asleep (but, it could have been dead, who could tell when it was stuck in a glass enclosure with nothing to stimulate). I looked up and then pointed the card on the glass to Ramsay and he started to laugh heartily. It was the price-tag. 1100 euros (or about about $1500 CAD). As we were leaving, I let Ramsay know that we would never, ever buy anything there as I refuse to give any of my business, not even a package of poo-bags, to pet shops that sell dogs and cats.

We got to the bus stop just as our bus was arriving and as an added bonus, we didn't have to stand.

While it wasn't quite the outing we had planned, we did at least manage cross a couple more things off of the list of TARDIS proportions.