I finally made it! It has been a long 48 hours of travel, but I’m happily settled in my dorm room now at the university!
Sunday afternoon I took off from San Francisco and landed in Frankfort, Germany. It was the smoothest leg of the trip for sure: 12 hours, 2 movies, 7 episodes of the Office and one really good Lunardi’s deli sandwich! Once in Frankfort I just had one more leg, a 40 minute flight to Paris, then I could indulge myself in a shower and some room service!
2 hours delayed. Ok, not bad, I’ve had worse. No biggie.
After the two hours we boarded a bus at my gate in the pouring rain to take us to the tarmac where we would climb up the stair-car (“Watch out for hop-ons!”) to our plane. The bus stopped right in front of our plane for 20 minutes. I saw lightning strike and knew we were screwed. So, they drive us back to the terminal to wait out the storm. Every flight at the Frankfort airport was grounded for another 30 minutes while the lightning passed. Finally, the announcement comes on and we can get back on the bus! Yay! For a second time we load up and drive out to the plane. And for a second time the bus circles back to the gate.
Back inside the airport, the passengers are getting restless, this poor baby is crying, a couple from Texas is fuming, saying that they “took off in a tornado in Dallas, Texans aren’t afraid of a little weather” but me? Well, in the past 24 hours I didn’t sleep at all and I only ate some candy and a sandwich, so I was delirious. I probably looked crazy, but at least I was in a good mood as I was laughing to myself.
Finally, we get the OK to get on the bus one last time, we actually board the plane, and we land just as the drink service ended. I make my way to the hotel in the airport terminal, order myself an overpriced grilled cheese and a glass of rosé, I take a bath, and pass out. (All while air drying my clothes, because apparently my suit case is NOT water-proof, and it was outside during the storm in Germany).
I take a shuttle bus to Caen (a city in the region of Normandy, about 3 hours from Paris by car). As I lug my suitcase up some stairs, I think maybe Aunt Patti was right and I DON’T need this many shoes, but too late now! As I unpack, I leave my door open in case someone wants to be my friend, and luckily enough it worked! My neighbor peaked her head in, and we decided to get dinner together and explore the town a little bit! Emily is from the East Bay and her brother is an actual Oakland A baseball player.
Orientation is tomorrow and then all the fun can begin! Right now I’m just glad to be here, excited that I made a friend, and trying really hard to stay awake!