Trip Home

I took the train from Barcelona to Paris, overnight, thinking it would be 70 Euros to London. It was 225, or $400.00, because it was a ten day school holiday, and the trains were full. I bit the bullet and paid it. Then I took the train from Paris to Chartres, where I was blown away by the beauty of the Cathedral. I stayed there watching the sun set from a cafe beside the Cathedral, and talking with a young man and his father, who had been a priest. Late that night I took a hotel room in Chartres, a lovely prosperous and beautiful little medieval French village, got up at five thirty, took some early morning pictures of the Cathedral, then ran to the train station where I caught the commuter train to Paris, to the Gare du Nord, where I was booked on the Eurostar chunnel train at ten fifteen. I retrieved my luggage,which was HEAVY, despite the fact that I had sent so much home, so heavy that I tripped backwards on an escalator with it Thinking I was falling, I looked backwards and there was a security guard right behind me, smiling. Angels everywhere! I reminded myself that nothing happened, and enjoyed the trip to London with a French family, father and two teenaged kids, and a family from Canada, two gay men, the sister of one of them and the mother of one of them. Got a detailed explanation of how the Chunnel was built, while I drank a litre of wine that I had kept from Spain. Only 2 Euros! Drunk, I arrived in London Waterloo, and found I had to go to Victoria Station. No Sterling, not accepting Euro coins, buying a ticket for the Underground took half an hour, but then I was off to Gatwick, where I bought gifts for my girls, perfume, etc. I was down to one rolling bag and a backpack, but it turned out I had to check in my backpack, because it had makeup and liquids in it, toothpaste even! And I had bought perfume. So I put the backpack and perfume inside a new suitcase, and checked in, and then, when I got to the other side, I was allowed to buy new lipstick! Made no sense whatsoever to me, but it was a good enough excuse to go shopping at Gatwick. The plane was an hour and a half late leaving London, couldn;t even get a gate until half an hour before departure, and the lounge was full! Arrived home only forty minutes late, and then I had to wait for my bag to come off the plane until the very last. An hour and ten minutes in baggage! Thank God my kids waited for me. It was so good to see them.Now I am home, knackered, and, of course, cannot sleep! I have sorted through my mail. My apartment is lovely, and clean. It is missing pillow slips, and the shower curtain has been replaced for some weird reason. But other than that, everything is hunky dory, except I cannot get my computer reconnected. Can't remember how. I'll sort it out in the morning, whenever that is. I haven't slept in three days. This is a torture technique designed to get me to agree to anything, which I am quite sure I have done, or am willing to do. To bed now!

On 30/10/06, David wrote:

Hiya
Hope the trip back was smooth and enjoyable. Chat soon
D

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May peace prevail.
Shelora