We packed our bags and checked out of the hotel before spending the morning at McDonald’s. Our final concert was two more Graupner and Bach cantatas, again sung with stellar soloists, Dorothee Mields, Damien Guillon and Peter Kooij. The chorus was just 12 singers, as before, and Carl says this is the ideal number for this type of music with these musical forces. A perfect sendoff to our trek back into Paris.

We left the concert right away because we hoped to catch the 4:07 pm train from Poitiers to Paris. But alas! although I tried to book reserved seats online a few days before, I was unable to do so. We arrived at the train station, having put nearly 1000 km on the rental car, then found out we would have to take the 5:28 pm train which was not a high-speed, but would take us 4 hours!

By the time we finally got to Paris, Carl was too tired to think of schlepping all our luggage through the metro, so he wanted to take a taxi. (By now we are carrying an extra suitcase filled with souvenirs!) However I had spent our last cash putting gas in the rental car, so I had to search for an ATM. I found out the hard way there wasn’t any in the train station, so I had to ask someone where the closest one was. It happened to be at the post office, about a 5-min. walk away.

After getting the cash, and finding out our hotel was on the outskirts of Paris, we didn’t check in until 10:30 pm. Of course, we were hungry, and all the restaurants were closed. We finally got a snack in the hotel bar next door at 10:45 pm! It was only a cheese and tomato sandwich with a drink, and it cost us almost $30. Yikes!

I also discovered that the hotel clerk double-charged us for breakfast and I’ll have to rectify the situation in the morning.

We’re hoping tomorrow is a better day!