It’s really hard to travel through Europe on the cheap. We really try to keep our costs down when we travel, but sometimes it is not worth it to try to save a few pennies. My step-father-in-law, Mike, tried to save €0.30 (about 43 cents U.S.). We were at the train station at La Rochelle, France. [La Rochelle is a lovely city on the coast of France. Some pics are below and in the album.]. Mike and mother-in-law Vicky went to use the restrooms. Seems simple enough. Well when he returned, his shoes were wet and Vicky was laughing hysterically. When I asked what happened, she said that Mike, didn’t want to pay to use the toilette. So when a man came out, Mike caught the door and went in without paying. Apparently, Mike didn’t read the warnings on the door either [warnings were written in French, German, and English] that the toilette went through a self-sanitizing process once it was used.
So here is Mike sneaking into the toilette and suddenly the lights go off in the cubicle and it is filling up with water. The room is being sprayed with sanitizer. Mike is freaking out because the door wouldn’t open and he couldn’t get out. He starts banging on the door. Vicky however is in the other cubicle and told him to press the red release button. Of course, he couldn’t find it because it was dark. Mike says he heard a woman standing outside the cubicle laughing. He tries to slide the money under the door so that the woman can pay for him. He couldn’t do it. But he finally found the red release button.
Happy to say Mike is safe and his shoes are nice and shiny.
Photos from La Rochelle
