Grasse Bus Saga

Today I wanted to go into Grasse to go back to the real estate agency to ask some questions since they haven't replied to my email. I was going to go in with Virginie in the morning but I didn't sleep very well and felt like I was starting to come down with a cold, so I decided to sleep some more and try to take a bus into Grasse later.

I've tried many times to understand the bus schedules of this area but they are super confusing and don't list all of the stops they go to. I gave up trying to understand the schedule and decided to just head to a bus stop and ask the driver of the first bus that came by how to get to Grasse. 

???

I got to the stop that I had previously figured out with Virginie that I should use, but I couldn't even tell from the schedule which direction I was waiting for or in which direction I even wanted to go. My best guess was that I wanted to take line 11 into Peymeinade center and then take a different bus from there into Grasse and it looked like both directions would eventually get to Peymeinade center. 

I waited at the stop for about 30 mins before a bus came by, which I thought was a line 11 bus. I asked the driver how to go to Grasse and he said not to take his bus, to wait for line C. I asked if he knew what time it would come by and he said it was on the schedule. But since the stop wasn't even listed on the schedule I wasn't sure how I could possibly figure that out from the schedule. 

The line C schedule at that stop showed the bus starting in Grasse, so I decided to go to the stop on the other side to see if it looked like that side went toward Grasse. The stops weren't right across the road from each other and they were far enough away that I couldn't just wait at one and then run across the road if I saw a bus coming from the other side. 

When I got over to the other stop, it looked more promising that the bus in that direction would go to Grasse. However, as soon as I got there, a line C bus stopped at the stop I had just left. I was pretty sure it wasn't going to Grasse, but it would have been nice to be there to ask the driver.

The stop I was currently at was in direct sun with no nearby shade, so I was beginning to contemplate moving somewhere else to wait, when a line C bus approached! It might have actually been the exact same one that I had just seen going in the other direction. 

When the bus stopped I asked the driver if the bus was going to Grasse. She said no, it was going in the opposite direction, but would be back a little later heading to Grasse. I was about to get off when she said "Wait. I'll take you to another stop where you might be able to get another bus to Grasse." So I stayed on the bus and a few minutes later she dropped me off. She said another bus going to Grasse might come by, and if not she would eventually be back heading to Grasse. 

I waited at that stop for about 40 minutes, during which time a couple buses passed but didn't stop. At this point I was pretty much convinced that even if I did manage to get into Grasse the real estate agency would probably be closed. I figured that in the worst case scenario I could just walk back to the house (about 40 mins) or wait at the bus stop until Virginie or her husband got out of work and could come pick me up.

Finally, after about 40 minutes of waiting at the stop (with no bench or anything), the same line C bus cycled back again, this time heading toward Grasse. So I got back on the bus and was finally heading to Grasse. The ride wasn’t long, and I arrived without further event. In total, it took me over 3 hours to get into Grasse (about 20 mins away by car). When I finally arrived and walked over to the real estate agency, I found this posted on the door:

"We will be exceptionally closed Friday, September 23 after 11:00 am"

OF COURSE. The only fitting ending to this journey. So basically, the trip was pretty much a complete waste of time. At least there was a pretty view:

I have to laugh at the ridiculousness of the day, otherwise I would surely be crying out of frustration, so I really hope you found this story amusing.