Arrival...

I know this is well over a week late...but I had no internet connection...so...for your reading pleasure, my thoughts, direct from my journal...

Le 24 Septembre 2008
So, for all intents and purposes, it appears that I am stranded at Gare Montparnasse in Paris, France. Well, at least for the next hour or so… I have been traveling for nigh on 24 hours and I am trying desperately to stay awake. I woke up at 4:15 am, California time. Alli drove me to the airport and I was checked in and waiting for my plane by 6:15 am. We left at 8:05 am. I can honestly say that was one of the more enjoyable flights I have ever flown. I had a window seat and was seated next to a nice elderly couple. The woman proceeded to list every cruise that she and her husband had ever been on, but she stopped before my eyes started to glaze over. After landing in Dulles, I had a nice leisurely stroll to the other side of the terminal where I arrived just in time to board my next flight. I managed to sleep a good deal on this flight, which was good considering we landed in Paris at 6:36 am! I also managed to finish Inkheart. Except now that I’ve finished, I want to read Inkspell and Inkdeath, the sequels…but they’re at home! The third book in the Eragon trilogy comes out in a couple of days…I think it’s called Brisingr, but I suppose I would have to read Eldest, the sequel to Eragon, before I get to Book 3. Anyhoo, back to France.
After going through immigration and baggage claim (not to mention meeting 4 other assistants on the same flight bound for different regions!) I located the 15 euro bus that would take me to Gare Montparnasse directly so that I wouldn’t have to take the metro. Besides, it appears that metro workers are on strike (again) and some of the lines are down. So, what should have taken maybe an hour max stretched into three wretched hours on a bus, because of an accident on the freeway, time I had not planned on spending stuck on a French freeway somewhere in-between Charles de Gaulle and Paris. So, I ended up missing the first train out of Montparnasse to La Rochelle by minutes. That was at 10:40 am. It is now 1:36 pm and my train does not leave until 2:45 pm. So, I’ve been sitting here in the station surrounded by my luggage, wanting nothing more than to go to sleep. It’s rather hard to be cheerful when one is tired. So far, I’ve been able to buy tickets and ask questions when I’ve been lost and nobody has asked me to repeat myself, which I guess means that my French is pretty decent. When I first arrived at the station, I was hauling my 2 big pieces of checked luggage, plus my 2 carry-ons…needless to say it was difficult to maneuver. I knew I had to do a few things right away once I arrived at the station and I knew they would be difficult with luggage to haul around. 1.) had to pee. 2.) needed to buy a ticket. 3.) needed to find an ATM and get Euros. 4.) had to call home and my contact Malika. 5.) MUST EAT! This is what actually happened…I walked into Montparnasse and was like, “Holy crap, Lauren! What do I do now? I’ve got to act like a grown-up…no adult to tell me what to do…this sucks…” So, I went up to the ticket counter and managed to purchase my discount youth card for the trains and a ticket to La Rochelle…for a train 4 hours later… Objective 2 taken care of…even if the guy who sold me the ticket got a kick out of learning how to say “Lauren Kay” instead of “Laure Ka-i?”. From there I called home and woke my parents up at 2 am…I felt some satisfaction in this…if I wasn’t allowed to sleep, why should they? I then tried to call my contact, Malika…the number didn’t work. I’ve since tried every possible way of getting a hold of her, but no dice. I tried the wifi in the station, but you have to have an account with a French internet provider to access it. So, I can’t even email Malika and tell her what time my train comes in! So, I’m praying that God will work everything out…otherwise I might be staying in La Rochelle. Back to the list!
On my way to the restrooms, I noticed luggage lockers. At this point I was fed up with hauling around my suitcases, so I decided I would cough up 10 euro to store them for an hour or so. Once I had stowed them, you needed 10 Euros in change to lock them. I said screw it and left my luggage in an unlocked locker and set out in search of the restroom. Once I found it, I rediscovered that restrooms cost money in France. So, I trekked back up the stairs to an ATM, got some Euros, attempted to pay for luggage lockers a second time, but they couldn’t break a 50. Having said screw it a second time, I walked into Columbus café and bought a sandwich, where I got some change. I was then finally able to walk back downstairs to the restroom. Unable to locate a drinking fountain, I filled up my water bottle in the bathroom sink. I am so beyond caring at this point in time. After the restroom, I sat down and ate half of my sandwich while the dirty Parisian pigeons molested me. Why there are pigeons INSIDE the train station, I do not know. I decided to go recover my luggage before someone could steal it (keep in mind, to get into the luggage area, you had to go through security. This was my 4th or 5th time through…I’m sure the luggage guy thought I was nuts…). Luckily, no one had taken my luggage, so I hauled it back upstairs to the waiting are where I have been ever since. Did I mention that most of the pigeons in this station are missing toes? One in particular, has no toes at all…just stumps. I have dubbed him Stumpy. It’s slightly disconcerting all the same. I must admit that I’ve felt like crying once or twice since I’ve arrived in Montparnasse, but I’ll chalk it up to exhaustion. Anyways, I’ve managed to kill a good 45 minutes or so and now the only thing left to do is stay awake until I get on the train! Talk to you all soon!