Tuesday, July 28, 2015
When you travel adventurously, "sleeping rough" is part of the package, I reminded myself this morning, after a mean night's lack of sleep.
The apartment of my airbnb host is on the ground floor, so street noises abound, which is not too different from what I hear at home in Manhattan. However, a steady tap-tap-tap from an unidentified source in my bedroom makes sleep almost impossible, despite the convivial dinner. More, the door to my room (which is off the toilet and bath at the end of a corridor) does not close snugly, and pops open throughout the night. In the morning I figure out that if I prop my suitcase against the door it will prevent it from opening.
Throughout the night I hear the to and fro of my roommates going to the bathroom. At 6:00 a.m. Jean-Noel performs his ablutions, followed by Sandrine, and much later, Michelle. Having propped my suitcase up against the door I get a bit more sleep, but rise at 9:30 a.m.
Thankfully, everyone is gone. I make a cup of coffee from the Senseo machine and turn on Radio Classique. Time to get started.
I am sure I will adjust once the tap-tap-tap is dealt with. I know Michele wants only that I enjoy my stay: she left me a note apologizing for not having shown me some things in the apartment I might want to make use of, and urges me to call her if I have any need. Her apartment off Place Marcadieu is next to a parking spot and across from Tarbes' market, in what might be called a cartier populaire, the French term for a working-class neighborhood. Yet there is a fine antiques dealer across the plaza and some of the buildings on the plaza are elegant indeed. The mix of high and low, popular and bourgeois seems typical of Tarbes.
Another cup of coffee and it's time to explore the town.
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