TGV Boarding a success!

I am hoping that my figurative language about the “travel bug” was not taken literally by anyone. Fortunately everyone has stayed well and there have been remarkably few complaints about anything including any minor illnesses or gastric upsets. The main moans and groans have involved our accommodations which by European standards have been amazing. The hotel rooms in Paris are notoriously small even by French or European standards. That is just the way it is. Our second hotel was big, modern and luxurious but they were disappointed that it was outside of town. The new hotels like that are always outside of town because that is the only place where a new property of that type could be built! Every inch of these old towns is taken. Our third hotel had rooms that were all completely different. The hotel had two different adjacent buildings and one was more updated than the other. Some had a huge loft with beautiful provençal fabrics and appointments. Others may have had a smaller room without air conditioning on a ground floor. Frankly I never used my air conditioning even if I had it but many Americans just expect it as a matter of course and so it can be a surprise not to have it in a hotel. Many hotels large and small adapt buildings of all sorts and turn them into hotels and bed and breakfasts and each and every space is utilized in some manner, so there is no “cookie cutter” set of rooms. Properties such as these are less common in the U.S.

I am writing this on the bus from Sarlat to Bordeaux as the sun hits us for the first time today. We left Sarlat very early today to make our way to the train station to catch the TGV train to Paris for our last night of the trip. We boarded the bus at 7:30 a.m. and although I know that most of them would have preferred a later morning, they all seem to have gotten quite used to the routine and understand how to function in a group. Our group dynamic will be tested today when we eventually get to the train station and have exactly three minutes to board the train together with all of our luggage. We are setting up a teamwork strategy to do this and it will require organization and consciousness of time constraints.

From what I hear the weather we are currently experiencing with rain, cool temperatures and overcast skies has been more the norm this year in Europe. I have enjoyed the cooler temperatures and have loved sleeping with my windows open, something I rarely am able to do in Illinois in the summer. If you follow the international news, you may have seen that there is a good bit of flooding in England right now. Our cluster of beautiful days was an aberration in an otherwise somewhat nasty summer here. We seem to be due for more of the same today as the metro is predicting rain in Paris. Everyone seemed to pack for the changeable weather and take it all in stride.

Passing by us are rows and rows of sunflowers, something I associate with France, particularly in the south in Provence. They are grown as a crop here and are used for their oil. They are beautiful to see by the side of the road and the word in French describes them even better than our word ~ tourne-soleil ~ they turn towards the sun and do so in unison. There is still so much lovely unspoiled countryside in France and I love to just sit and look out the window of a car, bus or train. The buildings and homes are different in the different regions as styles are largely dependent on local building materials and the topography of the area. There is also something comforting about seeing buildings that have withstood the test of time, passed down from generation to generation. The individuality of each structure characterizes the manner in which it was built.

We arrived in Bordeaux and had about 45 minutes to explore. It is quite a lovely town with wide avenues and wide walkways along the Gironde River. It is quite well known for its famous wines. We were able to get a small taste of the place and then we headed for the train station to await the boarding of our train for Paris. The line that runs from Bordeaux to Paris is the fastest of the TGV lines and the journey takes about 2 and a half hours. We had gone quite a ways south and west from Paris slowly throughout the week and this opportunity to take this type of high speed train is a unique experience. Getting on the train in a large group is quite an event. We had a luggage chain set up to get all the luggage loaded in the luggage compartment and the rest of us boarded the train and were told where to sit. It is quite a quick three minutes. The TGV does not wait for anyone and the line is fined if it does not run on time. The teamwork paid off and we were on the train with time to spare. That five minute passing period is going to start looking very long after that experience!

Our trip on the TGV was enjoyable. Most of us bought sandwiches either at the train station or on the train itself. After we arrived in Paris we were picked up at the train station and traveled by another bus to the hotel. We checked into our rooms and then had about two hours until our scheduled dinner. Most students went out to the Galeries Lafayette, Rue de Rivoli or other areas to shop for last minute purchases and souvenirs. Our last dinner was an excellent meal, a tomato tart, chicken cordon bleu with a delightful sauce and saffron rice and creme brule for dessert.

We depart for Chicago tomorrow. Charles de Gaulle (Roissy) airport is not one of my favorites. It is somewhat chaotic and everything takes long periods of time. We are allowing an hour to get there and three hours before the flight for the check-in. The adventure is drawing to a close and it has been close to flawless. I told them that it was the first time I have been in France when there was not a major strike of some kind. I have been here during air baggage employee strikes, metro line strikes and the most painful of all museum strikes. One time I was here for 2 weeks and never got to go to any museums because they were all closed because of the strike. So I am glad that none of these types of things got in the way of our fun.