The Arrival

I have arrived in Strasbourg after a very long 2 days!  My trip went relatively smoothly- no problems at the airport until I brought my carry-on luggage on the plane.  A flight attendant stopped me as I was finding my seat and said, "That carry on is too big."  What? I responded, "Are you sure?  The person at the ticket counter said it would be okay..." "No.  It was illegal for him to tell you that.  That carry-on size is illegal.  It won't fit in the overhead compartment, you're going to have to check it."  Illegal?  So I followed her around the plane while she tried to figure out what to do with my "illegal" luggage.  She finally brought me around to the entrance of the plane and had a guy from the boarding counter put a tag on my luggage and take it away to get it checked in.  Not too stressful, but it was annoying nonetheless.  On the plus side, I had a bag checked for free.  She also gave me crap about that: "You should have paid to have this second bag checked.  Next time you'll have to pay."  Now that I know a way to beat the system, we'll see about that ;)  Just kidding.  Maybe.

I arrived at Charles de Gaulle airport around 6:00 AM (France time, midnight at home), 35 minutes before my flight was scheduled to arrive.  I got through immigration and got both of my suitcases pretty quickly so when I called Cecile and she wasn't quite there yet, I wasn't surprised.  When she got there, II realized just how much I had missed her!  Her dad was waiting for us outside in the car.  We quickly shoved my stuff into the car and headed back to Cecile's house.  After dropping my stuff off at her house and having a small breakfast, Cecile and I took the train and metro into downtown Paris where she has her internship.  I decided to accompany her instead of going home and sleeping all day in an attempt to get over jetlag as soon as possible.  (It didn't really work.)  After a pretty lazy day for me, we went to buy my 12-25 train card (a discount card on trains for people between the ages of 12-25.)  Then we met up with Brice and Mariza for dinner at Les Belles Miettes.  (Brice and Mariza are two of the French students who studied at Longwood last year) It was great to see them again and catch up!  As far as the meal goes, to say it was delicious would be an understatement.  Here are photos of the 3-course dinner.

Entree: Fried egg, toast, a sort of greens, and salmon.  Sooo good.

Plat principal: Duck thigh with a mushroom sauce, rice, and green beans.  It was one of the best things I have ever tasted. My first duck experience but it certainly won't be my last.

Desert: Chocolate tart with pear baked in and cream and whipped cream.  It was so rich.

After dinner, Cecile's dad, sister, and brother picked us up downtown and her dad took me on a driving tour of Paris.  It was great to see the city all lit up.  We even drove down the Champs Elysees and then around the l'Arc de Triomphe.  It was really cool but I was exhausted (and in a food coma).  However, when we got home and I got into bed, I had a really hard time falling asleep.  Jetlag sucks.

The next morning, Cecile's sister went with me to the Gare du Nord (one of Paris' train stations).  She was so nice to help me with all my luggage (roughly 70-80 pounds total) but she had to be at work so she couldn't accompany me all the way to my train station (Gare de l'est).  I had to take the metro (with all my luggage) by myself to get to the train station.

Once I was there, I had to go up stairs (there was no escalator) to get to the platform.  I dragged my luggage to the platform that was indicated on the screen for my train to Strasbourg.  While I sat and waited to be able to board the train, all of a sudden, the platform changed on the screen.  The train was leaving from the other side of the station.  I had to drag all my stuff (and now plastic bag of lunch stuff, I bought lunch at the station) across the train station to get to the new platform.  

When the time came to board the train, I found as I was walking the length of the train that my designated car was alllllll the way down.  (By this point I was getting pretty tired).  When I found the car, I had some difficulty pulling my stuff up onto the train and then finding a place for it near my seat.  I think I annoyed a lot of people who were already seated in the aisle as I dragged my fat suitcases down the aisle and bumped into their knees.  Woops.

The train was a TGV, which is a high-speed train in France.  I got to Strasbourg in about two and a half hours.  When I arrived, I walked across the station to the front where I had to take a bus to the station near my host family's apartment.  From the bus stop, I walked another ten minutes.  When I got here, everyone was at work/school so I had a chance to unpack everything.  Around 6 PM everyone got home and it was great to see the de Crevoisiers again.  I hadn't seen Astrid since I was 16!!  We had a great dinner together and then Astrid, Amicie, and Astrid's roommate Clare watched a French movie together.  My first night in Strasbourg was relaxing and wonderful. :)