Suitcase Drama! (Houston to Paris to Marseilles to Nice)

Ok so right now, it's about 11:10pm (or should I say 23h10) and Lindsey and I are sitting on my bed (the top bunk) at our hostel, Villa St. Exupery (http://www.vsaint.com/). I've showered and brushed my teeth for the first time in two days, so I guess now is a good time for me to rant and rave about Friday/Saturday, the superday of travel.

Friday morning, Colin took me to the airport and I ended up sitting in the middle seat of the middle row on my Houston to Paris flight. I didn't actually have a seating assignment, and when I asked for one, they told me to come back later. When I came back later, I ended up with awesome 42F. But it was really ok. We had the little screens on the backs of the seats in front of us, so I watched Sex and the City, Friends, and a movie. And at one point, the guy to the left of me started talking to me. I think he could tell I was really nervous/anxious/upset/everything, and although I kind of wanted to try to sleep, he was being really nice and made me feel better for the time we were talking. He was on his way to Turkey, and he told me he was nervous. That made me feel so much better because if a 35-year old man is scared about traveling, then it must be ok for me to be scared too! So he and I talked until about 5am Paris time, and then I kind of attempted to sleep, but failed. So, I just decided to watch another movie. I mean, there's nothing like watching Match Point (for the 50 millionth time) at 6am...right? So yeah, that's the Houston to Paris flight in a nutshell. Oh and Air France's food was pretty good...yeah.

Then when we arrived at Charles de Gaulle airport, we took this bus to the other side of the airport...then I had to (almost) run to get to my terminal, and waited forever in the line for security. I just barely made it to my gate on time, but then they delayed my flight by about 30 minutes. But we eventually got on the plane, and I slept for about 45 minutes, I think. We landed in Marseilles and I went to find my suitcase...which was ripped. So this is when I began pulling my suitcase and looking behind me every few steps to make sure nothing was falling out (which I did for the rest of the day...all over Marseilles airport, Marseilles train station, and Nice). I bought a bus ticket to get to the Marseilles train station, was thoroughly confused and stressed out by this seemingly simple process, and finally made it to Phileas Cafe, the spot I was supposed to meet Lindsey. Then we bought tickets for Nice, ate lunch, and took the train to Nice. We then took a really really nice taxi to our hostel, Villa St. Exupery, and checked in. We went walking around, bought some groceries, and came back to St. Exupery to eat.

Then, I fully unzipped my suitcase to get stuff out to take a shower and aslkjdfklasjkldlkjajk stuff was all wet. Apparently my hairspray exploded and got a red shirt wet...which bled onto a bunch of white stuff and turned it all pink. So Lindsey and I have been trying to get the stains out, and sadly, I had to throw away the card that my Mom put in my suitcase because it was soaked and sticky and runny...but I did read it first, and I really wish I could have kept it. So that suitcase, ripped and drenched in hairspray, is definitely done! I need to buy a new suitcase before I leave Nice so that I'll have a way to transport all my stuff to Aix on Friday. Oh and I need to get a really intense stain fighter too. All in all, things are ok so far though, and where we're staying is really cool.

So I guess what I've learned so far is:
1) Don't try to put too much in one suitcase.
2) Don't pack hairspray in a suitcase that is way too full.
3) The fact that my suitcase made it here at all is probably more important than losing a few items of clothing because of bad stains.

I'm just so glad I'm here with Lindsey right now. Seeing her friendly face at the train station in Marseilles made everything better, and I think it'll be good to be here in France for a week before my program starts. Tomorrow (Sunday) we're off to the beaches of Nice and I have no clue what we'll be doing Monday through Thursday. Then, Friday morning, I'll be taking the 10am bus from Nice to Aix (theoretically...plans may change, but this is the tentative plan). And that will be the start of my program!

So yeah, this was my first post. If you're reading this, there's a very good chance that I miss you a lot and would love to get a facebook message or email from you!