On Saturday morning, we rather spontaneously decided to take the train out to Dieppe for the day. It is only a 45 minute train ride from Rouen, via the French SNCF train network. So, basic plan in hand, we hopped the Metro into Rouen to the train station.
The Gare de Rue Verte (or train station) in Rouen is built in the art nouveau style and is quite convenient; there is a metro stop right at the train station.
Upstairs, there are a whole series of ticket machines making it very convenient to buy your tickets without ever having to talk to an actual human. At this point, dear reader, you might be wondering where the whole "Thwarted by a Flea" title comes in. Patience... in fact, we're there now.
In most of Europe, bank debit cards are different from those in the US. In addition to having the magnetic stripe, the bank cards here (generally referred to as Carte Bleue) also have a small chip in them. In French, the chip is referred to as une puce, or a flea.
So, I walk to to the ticket machine, punch up a couple of tickets for the 10:15 train to Dieppe (it being 10:05 at this point), put in my card, and have the machine tell me "no no no, you don't have the right card". Well, actually I do have a French bankcard with une puce, I just haven't gotten my bank in the US to put money into my account in France. So while I have the right card, I CAN'T BUY THE DAMNED TICKET with it! Given now that it is 10:10, and there are 15 people in line for the ticket window, we waved off on the trip for this weekend.
On a very up note, we did have a fantastic dinner at at La Toque d'Or (which translates as the Gold Cap).
We each had a delicious meal, right by the fireplace below.
- foie gras with a fig and preserved fruit compote, served with brioche toast
- tagliatelle and wild boar in a sauce with a wine poached pear,
- cheese course (a creamy goat cheese, and an unexpectedly salty, rich Neufchâtel),
- all topped off with a warm apple tart with vanilla ice cream
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