Things thus far

Mon dieu, what a trip.

A metric sh*t ton of snow fell in Lethbridge and Calgary the day I was supposed to leave, so I flew from Lethbridge to Calgary to avoid catastrophe on the highway.  After a teary farewell at the airport, and some mechanical issues, I was on my way. The plane was itty bitty (it sat 14 including the pilot and copilot), and the turbulence was terrible. I had taken half a Gravol and a full Tylenol, so I was high as a kite getting into Calgary. Thank goodness Angela came to meet me and hang out with me while I was waiting the 3 hours between flights! Love you, Ange.  :)

The weather delayed my flight from Calgary to London by an hour and a half as well. Thank goodness I had such a long layover in Heathrow. I still had a 3-hour wait, but it could have been worse.  As it was, I sat next to a woman from Romania who spoke no English, and hogged the armrest between us. She also poked me in the side with her tiny, sharp elbows while I was trying to sleep. I got about 3 hours of rest on a 9-hour flight.

My best friend in London. Thank God for Starbucks. 

London to Paris was lovely. 48 minutes in the air, zero turbulence, and no one sitting next to me. And a fabulous view through the window!

Paris!

I arrived in one piece in Paris, but I can’t say the same for my luggage. It was still in Heathrow when I landed. There are not words in any language to express my stress and frustration. The lady at the airport told me they’ll have it delivered to me when it arrives (later today), but I won’t get it till the day after tomorrow. Merde. Thank goodness I had the foresight to pack a change of clothing in my carry-on, but that’s about all I have. That, my identification documents, and my computer. The important stuff.

After all that stress, I hoped Prosper would still be waiting for me (I was waiting for over a half hour before I was done with the baggage claim ladies).  Nearly had a meltdown when I was the last person at the baggage claim, waiting for bags that didn’t show. But Prosper was there! And fantastically nice. As promised, he was wearing a hat and made me a sign:

I safely made it onto my train, and freaked out for 2 hours to Dijon. I refused to fall asleep lest I miss my stop.

De train, boss! De train! Also note the purse under the jacket to deter thieves.

I nodded off a couple times, but not for long. The inside of the train was pretty cool, but very bright. I couldn't see anything outside the window.

And I nearly missed my hosts at the train station! Frédéric was on the wrong side of the terminal. Pretty scary for a bit, but we found each other. And now I'm here, and exhausted. More adventures tomorrow. 

À bientôt!