Getting to the Office

(Dave here) I've been settling into my Adobe office in Lyon (the french pronounce Adobe as "ah-Dohb"). Adobe's office is located out by the Bron airport, an area little served by public transit, but I found a route with only one connection using the buses. The bus is actually a relaxing way to get to work until I get to my last bus, bus 78. The french pride themselves on being fast drivers (although Laurent at my office admits they are not as crazy as the Italians). Signs or laws will not stop a french driver from attempting to pass you. However, the french bus drivers must consider themselves, as professional drivers, to be better and therefore faster drivers than those little trolls below them in their Peugeots or Smart cars. After boarding, you learn to brace yourself for the initial lurch as the driver puts the pedal to the metal and find a seat once you're in traffic. Buses zoom through the roundabouts and woe betide the driver who thinks the bus will slow down or yield according to law.

Each bus has a cool LED display which slowly shows four messages one after the other like this: "This is Line 25," "destination: Sept Chemin", "Next Stop", and "Rouget d'Isle". I think it uses GPS to figure things out, because the drivers don't interact with it. In keeping with french tradition about half the buses display this instead: "." Fortunately for me, my first bus is 25 and I take it to the end so I don't need to watch the signs, broken or not. Next I take bus 78 and here I have to pay attention. My stop is "Bron Droits de l'Homme" which comes right after "Bron Aviation." And, lucky day, this bus has a working LED. While bus 25 is frequent and packed, bus 78 is infrequent and nearly empty. Our highly trained driver knows that with less weight, he can go much faster. Faster than I'd ever have thought possible, we whip around corners and roundabouts, the two other passengers and I hanging on for dear life as we are tossed about. My driver looks bug eyed and perhaps holds a grudge that he has been assigned this backwoods route instead of a prestigious train station or commute route. The back of the bus fishtails 5 feet to the left as a rear tire clips a curb. I'm watching desperately for my stop. "This is line 78" - Yes, yes, I know that, where are we? "Destination: Memoz Pinel" Come on, come on! "Next Stop" Aaargh! "Ecole de Santé". Yikes! That's the stop after mine. We've been going so fast the sign can't keep up with the driver. We've zoomed past several stops between updates. We're in the right lane at the first red light of this trip. Just behind us is Droits de l'Homme! I only missed it by 15 feet! I jump to the front and say "Monsieur! Monsieur! Monsieur!!! MONSIEUR!!!" The driver stares red faced and bug eyed at the red light and I wonder if he's considering driving over or around the car in front of us. Desperate, I try again: "MONSIEUR!!!!!" He turns and I say "I forget my stop, please to open the door." I get a rush of angry french way too fast for me to understand, but he pushes a button and the door opens.

Over the last few days I've noticed I always get the same driver of bus 78 no matter when I catch it - day or night. I've come to think of him as my own driver and take pride in his crazy speed. I like to think he is even crazier than the other, lesser bus drivers. Yesterday, he caught up to bus 79 which shares a few stops in common with 78. He tailgated it, then I saw him leaning to the left looking for a chance to pass it! That's my driver! Beat him to the next stop! Darn narrow windy streets, you might be able to get the inside lane at the next roundabout!