And We Were Worried About the Chunnel

Today we left London and headed to Paris, France via the infamous Chunnel. Erica seemed a little apprehensive about the idea of taking a train that goes underwater, and I shared in that a little bit, but as soon as we got on the train to leave London we were asleep within minutes. Before I knew it, the next moment I opened my eyes I saw green countryside and we were in France; neither of us spent a conscious moment in the Chunnel. We had spent all our time worrying about something so insignificant and were oblivious to the culture shock that was about to hit us…France, i.e. French, i.e. no English. We did have fairly good instructions to get from the train station to where we were staying, but those were in English, everything else was in French (duh, right?). It didn’t take us very long to get a hang of the London Underground so we thought it shouldn’t be any different in France. A couple of things about the French transportation system: there are multiple rail types which can make transfers and connections a chore (Metro, RER, SNCF…maybe more) and the signage is very poor in certain areas. So even after figuring out that sortie means exit, if you can’t find a sortie sign it’s hard to know where to go. We did eventually make it to our destination, and boy was that a relief! We’re staying at a place called Cecilia’s Guesthouse, and even though Erica found the place on HostelWorld.com, it is more like staying with grandma. Upon arrival we were greeted with pastries and juice, hugs and kisses, and a cozy room we could call our own. Cecilia and her husband Jean Claude have transformed their three main level bedrooms into fully functional guesthouses with bed, kitchen, and bathroom. Cecilia’s place is fantastic and is even better in comparison to the places we’ve stayed so far that have simply been a place to lay our heads at night. After settling in Cecilia walked with us around town and showed us where to get groceries, what bakeries to go to (and which ones not to), where the local garden is, she even helped us do our laundry. I don’t know if Erica and I will be able to get the smiles off our faces tonight. One thing is for sure, we will definitely sleep well tonight!