Vive la France

We were up bright and early this morning and on the motorway to Ashford before 6:30 this morning. Mick kindly drove me to the train station which was about 2 hours away. I was surprised that I had to go through security, although it was less rigorous than the airport. I also had to produce my passport. As expected, the Eurostar left on time and I was into the chunnel in a matter of minutes. Travel through the darkness was short lived and we were in France in about 30 minutes.  I remembered that the land near Paris is quite flat and not as beautiful as other parts of France. In addition, the sky is grey, overcast and it is drizzling. Here's hoping for better weather in the south. 

When I booked my train tickets, I made sure to allow a couple of hours to get from Paris Nord (the station I arrived at) to Paris Gare Lyon ( the departure station for my trip to Montpellier). I had literally studied the route from the website www.seat61.com. This guy had all sorts of directions, tips, and even a video clip to get you from point A to B. May I suggest that you check out his website at if you are doing any train travel. Even still, it took me quite a while to find my way to the Metro, purchase a ticket, travel by Metro to Gare Lyon and then find my way back to the main trains. I even did this while lugging my mammoth suitcase and backpack. Generally people were kind enough to help me lift it up and down from the trains. That said, I'll be very glad when I get to my "new home" and unpack this mighty load. 

Right now, I am on the TGV en route to Montpellier. As luck would have it, I spied a Starbucks in the Paris train station, so I filled my mug with some good coffee that I am sipping as I write this. Looking out the window, the countryside is becoming much prettier. Unfortunately, there's no change in the weather. I'll sign off for now and pick up the post once I get to Montpellier.

I made it! The further south I travelled, the nicer the weather became. The sun was just shining here. By the time I met my host Patricia and her friend, I was dripping wet in my pants, long sleeves and two coats. We took the tram back to her apartment which is about a 10-15 minute ride from the train station. The apartment, I believe, is an old granary, converted into a loft like environment. I think it is lovely. There are circular stairs going up to the apartment and it was quite funny getting my luggage up those stairs. Once we got to the main floor, we had to negotiate the suitcase up another flight of stairs to my bedroom. Good thing there was three of us. After a glass or two of much needed water and a brief conversation in broken French, I excused myself and unpacked all my goods while Patricia cooked dinner. We did have a little wine for dinner, but Paticia is definitely not much of a drinker. I may have to hide a stash in my room. Dinner was typically French and very tasty - salad and bread to start, pasta with a meat, vegetable and tomato sauce as the entree with camembert and walnuts to finish.

It has been a long day of travelling so I'll call it a day. Over the next while, I'll check out this city, take a few pictures and tell you more about it. Until then.....

The Eurostar I took

Paris Nord Train Station