We said our goodbyes to Olivia and Bo on our last night in Paris and escorted Ryan to British Airways and the check-in counter this morning at the Charles de Gaulle Airport on the outskirts of town. Poor Ryan, he ended up in line twice. The first time he was in line and unbeknown to us, was for an earlier flight that he was not on. No one flying on BA, or so ''they say," can get a boarding pass until 2 1/2 hours before the flight. I always wonder who the “they” are, don’t you?
So, because we were early since Bill and I needed to catch a train to the South of France in the same terminal before Ryan’s flight to the States, Ryan had to wait in line a second time for a boarding pass to get through security and to his gate—all within the time limit that was required. More drama ensued when his flight from Heathrow to BWI (Baltimore-Washington International) was canceled, and rerouted to a flight into Dulles, Virginia, instead. Ryan is quite a novice at international travel; it was his first solo trip on this leg…and a growing-up experience for sure.
This was all happening during the first hour of the train trip South. I continued to help navigate through Ryan’s dilemma - him at the airport, his canceled flight, and being stopped to go through his luggage and the fact they insisted that after the luggage review, they would check his suitcase instead of leaving it a carry-on, plus his ride home. Thank goodness for technology and the convenience of having wifi to help him through back-and-forth messaging to counsel him through some tough(er) moments.
As I write this, I'm already in Nîmes. I am thrilled everything worked out as Ryan is flying across the pond to a waiting friend of mine to pick him up at Dulles, an hour away from our home.
While the TVG was racing over the French countryside with flowers, vineyards, and rain clouds whizzing by, I finally settled in to read a few chapters of my book by Peter Mayle, A Year in Provence. It’s a laugh-out-loud book about Mr. Mayle’s first year of buying a home in Provence in the 1980s and the characters that he ran into - plus the ones who renovated his home. It’s in the general vicinity we will be in for the next week.
By 3:30 PM, we pulled into Nîmes Point du Gare, one of two stations in Nîmes. We had to make quick work of getting on one more local train to our final destination in Nîmes Centre to meet with our Airbnb hostess for the keys and lay of the land (what we’ve found this trip is that the owners/managers want to meet their renters).
Nîmes is definitely a cultural phenomenon that dates back centuries- we plan to explore more of it tomorrow - an intact (almost) Roman Colesium, anyone?
And as my friend Wendy Coad says, there is never a bad meal in all of France! She is so right! We never had a bad one in Paris, had a great one near our Airbnb this evening. We have dinner reservations for tomorrow night with Wendy, her husband, and Katy Dalgleish (friends from Writing in Community.
Our sightseeing will be by shoe leather, and we will get ready for the writer’s retreat commencing on Monday - further into Provence - St. Felix.
Bonsoir!
Terri
Note: Wifi is not as strong as in our Paris accommodations - so not many photos can be loaded at one time.