We've had a few days here that have been pretty rough. Today, though, today wants to win the gold medal. It's a transfer/travel day, which is always stressful. We plan these days precisely so that we've got lots of time for things to go wrong. Today, that time we planned was 7 minutes too short. Here's what happened. I woke at 5:45 AM and showered. All our bags were packed and we just had a few things to wrap up. We checked off the list and were ready to go at 6:20 for our 10 minute walk to the train station to meet our 7:05 departure time. Thirty-five minutes is a healthy buffer, except when you get TRAPPED. We left the keys for the Airbnb in the apartment, brought the luggage downstairs and discovered that the main door to the building was locked. I tried different doors, thought of other escape scenarios, and in dispair we called our host to come let us out. As we waited for her, we thought of things like, "sure glad there isn't a fire, cuz we'd be dead" and "hmm, someone probably should have told us that we can't get out of the apartment this early without keys" and "I'm gonna write a sternly-worded letter to our host about this fire hazzard/human entrapment issue." We were freed and with 5 minutes before our train left, we ran/limped to the station, only to miss it by 2 minutes.
You'd think this would be an easy fix, and you'd be absolutely wrong. The next direct train to Rouen was at 5:15 PM, TEN hours later. There was a train to Paris, at which point we'd have to find a train to Rouen and buy those tickets. There was a hopeful idea to rent a car in Lille and drive ourselves to Rouen, but alas, all the cars were reserved. Finally, we cobbled a ticket together that would leave at 11:05 (only a 4 hour wait!) and then switch in a place called Amiens for the final train to our home for the next week. It really was the only sensible option. Mom sat surrounded by our luggage for lengthy periods of time as I made arrangements, procured food, and tried in vain to rent a car. Captain Luggage, I call her now. Oh, and we each paid a Euro to pee in the train station (well not IN the train station - that would be gross and illegal and why would anyone pay for that? The bathroom. We peed in the bathroom). It was the only clean area in the entire station and I appreciated that the attendant who took my Euro spritzed a little air freshener in my stall (and all the others) before I entered. Five stars, Lille Train Station Bathroom.
Hoping to get a good seat, Mom and I waited on the platform for our new-to-us train to arrive. Know what is a not good seat? The one where you stand holding three pieces of luggage in the train entryway for half and hour. Turns out the 11:05 to Amiens was a commuter train and commuting was what most were doing on it, except us. When we first got in, I thought I was being smart and headed for the disabled section, figuring Mom would have more room for that football-sized knee (it really gets in the way - sometimes I wonder why she even brought that thing on the trip). Shortly, we discovered that, no, we were not in disabled seating. We were sitting where all the bike riders hung up their bikes for the train trip. Since I didn't want to share my seat with a Schwinn, we moved. Mom scored one of the last seats. I scored an upgrade to the entryway, hanging on to a handrail while balancing our suitcases in front of me. Never fear, though! About half way through, the lady with the stroller (also sitting in the bike storage area) got off the train, and I made a move to grab her seats. At last, I was balancing suitcases in front of me while sitting! It was a dream come true. After about 18 and 1/2 hours, the train arrived in Amiens (weird, cuz it was advertized as a 1 1/2 hour trip!). Time to change.
I decided to change into a person that books rental cars in every city I travel to in case I need to make an emergency departure. You never know when you may become trapped. Speaking of emergency departures, this is the second day in a row that I've had to frantically purchase emergency tickets to escape a city. If I purchase one more emergency ticket, I'll get a free one on my next visit. Gotta keep that punch card in a safe place. Okay, back on track (train track?). We were very worried about what would happen to us on this last leg of our sojourn after the day we'd been having. But to our delighted surprise, we found two jump seats in the entryway of our new train! We each took one, shoved suit cases under our seats, positioned other bags in front and we were on our way to Rouen, riding in style. Sure, people got on and off the train in front of our first class seating, but compared to the last trip, we found our surroundings quite comfy.
At last we arrived in Rouen. It looks to be a beauty of a city and we took a few happy pictures before the 10 minute walk to our new home. I remember that, being happy to be off the train and only 10 minutes to go. Then, we began the walk. Turns out charming little Rouen is hilly. We walked up one huge hill with roller suit cases (I double fisted those suckers half the way) and then had the pleasure of trying to control the same roller suit cases on the way back down. On tiny sidewalks and cobblestone streets, wearing backpacks, leaking fluid (or sweating as some would call it). We made the last turn onto our street and there for our viewing pleasure was an entirely torn up street under major construction. Rolling suitcases don't like that at all. Door in sight, we crawled towards our oasis, discarding belongings in the street, no longer caring if we had anything but the clothes on our backs, trying to survive that last 30 feet...
We did survive and of course we brought our luggage with us, but not without some very strong words directed their way. And now, we are in a lovely, old, really ancient, apartment overlooking a courtyard. This was by far the worst travel day I've had in all of my worst travel days. So we took extra pleasure in ordering crepes for delivery and watching Moulin Rouge (thanks George for inspiring us!). I want some apology water.
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