Disoriented in Dijon

As usual I haven't even come close to keeping in touc nearly as much as I'd hoped. From a blogging perspective that is.  On the other and I've spent a lot of my time everday keeping in touch with my girlfriend back home. Skype and google chat have beek great for that. Still, a number of people have asked what's the point of being away from home if so much of my day is spent online? I could pose the reverse question though - what's the point to staying home? This time that answers obvious - my girlfriend...
I guess you could also argue though that in this day in age life is simply a matter of what you do between the times you're online. And from that perspective I've done alright. Had i stayed home it's unlikely I would have scraped the bark off any logs to make posts for fences. I probably wouldn't have taken the goats out to pasture or had the fun of nursing the enthusiastic little calibo with formula mixed in a wine bottle or helping steady justine while we put a cast on her sprained or broken front limb. Nor would I have learned to identify stinging nettle (unfortunately although i can now identify it, i still could work a bit on learning to avoid it).
None of it was particularly hard work. Cleaning out the stable wasn't exactly pleasant, but it was all new and interesting and definitely a learning experience.  And after two weeks I could see a clear improvement in my french (not that i'll maintain any of it).
So I'm glad I came. Since then, england and ireland were fun but expensive. Karen didn't have the same luxury of time so it didn't make sense to sacifoce time for money. I hit a few roadblocks witth my eurail pass. It would have been much better had I taken the time to get that before I left.  After all the money spent in the UK i've decided to tighten the belt and save money by spending some more time on a farm. That left me with too little time to make over to germany in between to visit friends (believe me, i tried). Instead I stayed a day in Strassbourg and two nights in Dijon - which leads us to the title.  I booked my hostel in the morning before leaving Strassbourg so I would't have to hurry out of town or worry about showing up somewherw without anywhere to sleep. Before leaving my wifi connection i made sure to write down the directions:

In 30 minutes, from the S.N.C.F. train station, we propose you to reach Éthic Étapes Dijon:
So, walk to the "SÉVIGNÉ" bus stop (3 minutes) / Take the L7 bus to "Toison D'Or" then get off at the "CLÉMENCEAU" bus stop / Wait 10 minutes for the bus connection / Take the L4 bus to "CAP NORD – CRAM" then get off at the "ÉPIREY – CRI" bus stop / You've just arrived!

Sounded a bit far, but simple enough.  Now let me preface this next part by saying i never again took the bus.  The train station was only a half  hour walk from the hostel, but it took me two hours to get there my first night by bus.  Here's why.  First problem - find the bus stop. Should be easy enough. I walk out of the train station and there are huge signs saying "Orientation."  They should have said "Disorientation!" I look on the map and see 'you are here.' Just below that I see Sevigne and the number 7 bus line.  Great.  I look at my compass and start heading south. Half an hour later I'm back at the train station looking at the map again. My compass must be broken!  Actually i'm starting to question the map.  I eventully find the bus stop but the next day when i return on foot i compare the station's map to the one they gave me at the hostel. Sure enough, the station map is turned sideways.  Somebody in there infinite wisdom went through a lot of trouble to have maps printed up with north being  to the right.   They unfortunately failed to include a north arrow.
Problem two - by the time I find the bus stop it's already after hours and there are only two busses per hour.  I waited 20 minutes. There was a schedule so i knew how long i had to wait and i was tempted to walk to the next bus, but i was also afraid i'd get lost again (bare in mind i didn't know at this point why the maps were so confusing - that and the bus stop maps were fine so they contradicted my current disorientation).
Problem three - apparently after hours the busses follow an alternate route. When I see my stop appear on the bus monitor, I hit the stop button and get off.  According to the directions, "I'm here."  Great. Where is here? No sign for a hostel anywhere in site. I walk around a bit and finally go back to look at the bus stop map.  Interesting.  The name at the bus stop isn't the stop I wanted to get off at. Even more interesting, the bus i was on doesn't service this stop - or even go down this street.  I'm beginning to hate Dijon. I make my way up to the street and bus stop where I was supposed to get off and start looking again.
Problem four - with a name like ethices etapes and directions like that, you'd think they might want to have a sign that was visible from the bus stop. No. They don't even have a sign. And the main entrance is around the corner. At this point i'm regretting that i failed to write down the address or phone number. I start looking around for an open internet connection and thankfully find one. When i find the address it turns out i'm standing at the door. Nice! But it's locked.  I ring it and wait. Fnally I walk around the corner and see the main entrance. Only after entering do i see the name written on the welcome matt inside.
Somebody really needs to fix those directions!