Cara Mia, Oh My!!!: What do Jackie and Thomas Hardy have in common?

OK, my literature base is slowly slipping away. I believe it was Thomas Hardy who said you can't go back home. I believe it was Jackie who said basically going to St Chamas to visit old friends was not a smart idea.
Bingo on both accounts.
Dan Graber and I went to St Chamas in 2011, renting a house in the old part of town. Long story: We fell in with a group of locals at a corner bar. There were three who were the key people: Nayma, a teacher at a local secondary school and an excellent speaker of English; Yves, a local character who had a sense of humor once you got over the fact that he insulted us three days in a row; Marcell, owner and operator of Petite Cafe de France. Yves spoke some English, more than he would admit to. Marchell spoke about three words of English, which made conversations with him an adventure.
I told them i would come back one day to visit.
That was my mission on this part of the trip. I had planned to rent a car, visit Chateu du pape (which has great red wine at affordable prices) and Salon de Provence, where there is a soap factory with great soap. I just ran out from my 2011 trip and wanted to replenish.
When my pocket got picked, and my driver's license disappeared, that prevented me from renting a car. No problem, bus service and train service will take me anywhere I want to go.
I had two options: Bus from Arles to Salon, then Salon to St Chamas. Chateau de pape was out.
Or: Take a train to Miramas, a bus to St Chanas and then the bus back and forth to Salon. Dan and I did that trip and it was pretty easy.
Unless there is a major construction project in St Chamas and the bus stops are relocated. If I had known that, I would have gone with option 1.
Instead, I arrived in St Chamas at 11:00, unaware of the 11:21 bus to Salon. I knew there was a 1:26 bus, so planned to take that.
When Marcell saw me he beamed and shook my hand. Since Nayma usually eats lunch there, I decided to wait until about 12:45 and catch the later bus, visiting with her and possibly having a sandwich.
Well, I got hungry and got a sandwich and a red wine....then a Coke. Marcell served that in a glass with ice. At 12:45, when he was perplexed she had not come, I headed for the bus stop only to find it was gone. I asked a local woman in my best French were it went. She explained in her best French where it was. I said, "Merci," and proceeded on my way, her way.
In hindsight, she must have thought I had a car. She said, I think, "Go up to the road for Miramas and turn right." I did...and walked for 20 minutes, never finding a bus stop or hint of a bus stop. So I went back into town, ended up where the bus stop was and started to go back to the tourist office for info. About 10 meters down the road, at about 1:31, I found the bus stop.......but had missed the bus.
At the tourist office she said the next bus was 3:16.....but the return bus to St Chamas was at a time I could not ride because the bus from St Chamas to Miramas left at 6:15. Plus I would miss seeing Nayma after school and Yves when he finally showed up for lunch.
So I wandered around, got back to the cafe and had a Coke, with ice, and waited. And waited. And waited. At 3:30 I had another wine. And waited. And waited.
It turns out Yves just returned last night, late, from a trip to the US where he went to Utah. I saw his postcard. He has been asleep all day and not answering his phone...Marcell evidently called. And Marcell kept saying, "She's usually here by now. She passes here on her way home and always says hi." At least that is how I interpreted his endless flow of words. He kept looking at his watch, shrugging his shoulders, and saying "I don't know." That phrase I understood.
At 4 I guess I had enough, of wine and waiting. I said good bye to Marcell, asked him in my best French to tell Yves and Nayma hello and perhaps I'll see them on my next vacation.
But I doubt it. I loved the time Dan and I had there, I loved the laughs and the wine we shared with Marcell, Yves and Nayma. But it is a memory that can't be recreated.
I tried going home. It was a mistake.
And here's the upside: I had a two foot ham and cheese baguette, two glasses of wine and two Cokes.....and spent less than 10 Euro.
And the downside: When buying my return ticket from Miramas to Arles the station agent asked me if I had any discounts. I told him I did not think so. He asked my age. I said 65. He said the pensioner discount starts at 60 and is 25 percent off the cost of the ticket. You don't have to be a resident, you just have to be 60.
Would have been nice to know that on my 98 Euro ticket.......