We had arrived at the Euro tunnel and time to show
passports.
That moment when you go through the tunnel thing that checks
if you are wearing any underwear?
Oh no. I mean to see
if you are carrying anything dodgy. You normally can’t go through with anyone
so walk in a streight line? I haven’t been drinking sir, honestly.
Well, we passed with flying colours. All excited. Children
were buzzing. Our youngest was so happy and it was great to see. Our eldest
also laughing with the girls. We were all so happy. My eldest girl guided me
the little one Hub and teen was the weight lifter with cases.
Sounds so foreign and
up and down steps and moving escalators. Rushing to catch our train to Paris.
Well, our second of many trains to come.
It was different to get onto in comparison to our trains in
the UK. Oh but the seats were so good. Best thing was the French transport. Oh
I want to go back as I write this. I could jump with happiness. Anyway, we
drank and ate and laughed. The only down side was the pain in my knees. My Husband
is convinced that I have water retention. I was in agony. But two and a half
hours later we were in gay Paree!
Off the train with our luggage. All children in counting. Oh
that was so good and wait to see what was about to happen? Well on to the
ticket office. We did research before we left; well I did to see where the ticket
office or machine would be. We found one. It wasn’t working, so to the next
one. Got our tickets for the dreaded French Metro.
A long walk how we found it where we needed to be? Well,
with our brains and the kids’ eyes and knowledge as specially the little one,
we did it. Oh it was hilarious. My big girl, not that she is, she is like a
delicate flower, and I walked through passing by a person wanting our money. Haha.
Hub and the little one passed, and then we looked back, oh who is entertaining
the person? Our Son. Our girls shouted on their brother to tell him not to sign
anything. Too late. Hheheheahah.
Really, bless him. Well
we saved him from being conned and on our way. Oh the tube in Paris is disgusting.
My girl told me that there was urine everywhere. The smell was gross. People
were unwashed too. Body odour was all around. And in the heat?
There were soldiers with guns. I was in fear for the safety
of our kids but we all kept together. Well, until it came to getting on the
awful smelly tube.
Teen and my flower got on with me. The little one we call
fairy went on with her Daddy.
Or did she?
I knew it was two stops. Thank God I knew. We got off. You
have to go up and down steps on the tube onto the platform. We got off. Where
was Hub and Fairy?
Not on our tube. Oh my word? Where were they? Well as I went
into panic mode, getting out my phone, our girl told me I wouldn’t get
reception. We were underground. OK, I’m a country bumpkin, alright? Hehe.
Well, what to do? We waited and the next tube came. Was Hub
and the Fairy on? The doors opened. Our daughter said they were there, well
there is Hub who is the traveller and he missed the tube. Of course we had to
cause maximum embarrassment by cheering and clapping as they got off the tube.
OK. Onto our next step. A train to catch for the longest
time yet. A four and a half hour journey to the South of France. We managed to
find the correct train. Always a scary thing to do. Hoping that it is the right
one. Oh that was amazing. It was a double decker train. So our seats of course
were up stairs. So onto the train, down steps along and up a curly staircase.
The challenges of travelling blind. Which way would it curl? Follow the rail
and then to find our seats. It was so luxurious. Everyone was so well behaved.
So quiet. Not like our disrespectable travellers in the UK.
What was out of the window? Who knows? I know that my Son
told me that we were passing country side bales of hay on mass farm land. How I
wished we could have seen out of the windows. Not to see expressions on other
passengers faces. But sight wasn’t needed to feel the joy in my heart. But the
question was, would the house exist?
By now we were all a little tired but running on adrenalin.
We guessed that it was our turn to get off. Nothing was in English. We went by
the time we were due to arrive. Off the train we got and all our cases Teen got
for everyone. Along the long platform down and up more steps I was shattered. I
had done more exercise in that one day than I would at home in four months.
How unhealthy I was. A mess to be honest. But didn’t let it
get to me. No one would know how unhealthy I was feeling at that point. My
weight was a huge issue but only I would know about that. Though our girl asked
if I was OK on more than one occasion. So perhaps I wasn’t such a good actress after
all.
We waited for our taxi. I had found one before I left the
UK. That took some finding too. Oh my word. Because there were five of us, we
couldn’t risk just getting one off the rank, in fact, would there be a taxi
rank? There was, but we didn’t know this until we arrived. So a mini bus pulled
up. A man asked if we were for him we said yes and in the air conditioned taxi
we all climbed into. The seats were leather and the bus was so clean. A really
lovely guy driving couldn’t speak English, but between us all and I had emailed
the owner Ann, and given her the address, so on our way, good news was that the
driver didn’t ask us “What address?” In other words, it did exist. Now, would
it be a warehouse? Or a holiday home and if the latter, would there be anyone
in our house?
Well fifteen minutes later, we arrived. Teen said it didn’t
have a gate. Well the house we booked had a gate. So we found one with a gate
but not a code like the one we were told. Up the drive we went. One of the
girls told us there was a car in the drive.
Oh my God. No!
More later
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