All I really have to say is...JET LAG! Ben and I got in two hours apart from one another to Charles De Gaulle airport. I made my way out of the old smelly (oooh, bad!) terminal to the terminal he came in on, which was more like a nice mall (yes, he got to miss that icky part of Paris). We were so glad we chose to reserve a door-to-door shuttle because with all of our huge bags (54lbs, 51lbs, 42 lbs) and backpacks (3), we did not want to be running all over Paris trying to find our way. We got dropped off at the front door to Laurie's apartment (Ben's cousin, ish) and were immediately engulfed in hospitality. Laurie had figured everything out for us...she had food in the fridge, ideas for our trip, etc. We walked around Paris for a bit and then even though we told one another we would stay up until at least 8:00pm, 5:00pm came around and we conked out. However, 5 hours later I was up finishing my book and 3 hours after I fell back asleep Ben was up fixing us lunch, organizing our stuff, and showering. We slept 'til 9 however and felt a bit better.
Day 2
Another travelling day. This morning we got ourselves ready for the next portion of our trip, Arles! A quick 1 hour 2o min plane ride and we would be in the beautiful south of France...sounds simple right? Or not. Five minutes before we planned to head out the door I took a look at my boarding pass and....hmm, there it was in big bold letters: Nationality: United Arab Emirates. The beginning of our first adventure in Paris...looking for the internet. We called the airline and they emailed me another boarding pass (with my correct Nationality) and told us to print it before we got to the airport. So...with an hour an a half before we had to be at the Shuttle pickup location we needed to find internet, AND a printer. We spoke with about 15 people (some in English, some French, but mostly what I guess you could call Frenglish). After being sent from location to location with no luck, we decided to just get on the metro and look again at our first stop along the way. Talked to 5 more people and finally found what we were looking for...problem solved (phew!). The rest of the day was fairly uneventful compared to that start to the day, however there are a few key moments to mention:
1. We had a bottle of beer to bring to Guillaume (friend in Arles) and were not allowed to take it on the plane (we knew this of course, but had not thought of it until headed to the flight). I would never recommend this..but of course Ben has some sort of magic ability to convince people to do things and he managed to get the bottle of beer on the checked luggage of the people behind us!! We picked it up after and all was good.
2. Once in Marseille we met up with Guillaume and headed for Arles, a drive that should have taken us over an hour. However, 45 minutes later we arrive with my heart in my mouth and eyes tightly shut. Apparently there are no rules of the road in southern France and speed limits are just for decoration. We sped along those roads, in and out of traffic, around tight curves and across the countryside....80 miles an hour was considered slow. Being someone who hates driving (or being passenger), this was not a fun experience! However, we did make it there and enjoyed a nice drink on the beautiful streets of Arles (I don't usually drink, but after that drive, it was necessary....and as it turns out, very expected in that area). Guillaume's parent's (Andre and On) are SO very nice. We experiences our first dinner in the South of France at 10:00 (appetizers, meal, cheese, and dessert), I stopped after the meal (so much food), and Ben tested the stinkiest cheese I have ever smelled (he stunk for hours!).
Despite the jet lag and interesting start to the day....we ended it relaxed and feeling good.
No comments:
Post a Comment