My Favorite Home Away From Home

“If you are lucky enough to have lived in Paris as a young man, then wherever you go for the rest of your life it stays with you, for Paris is a moveable feast.” –Ernest Hemingway

Well, now I will begin my attempt to fill you in on everything I did over the past two weeks—which is most likely more than I did during the first four weeks of my trip combined!! Fortunately, I took little notes along the way so that I could remember everything I wanted to say. I think, I’ll probably just recap the trip using these bullet points and add in a few feelings and thoughts! Hopefully you’re interested enough to read the majority of it J

So, it all started with me arriving very early to the train station in Montpellier, thinking I had gone to the wrong train station because I couldn’t find information for the train to Paris, asking the person at the information desk for help, finding out that the final destination of my train was Lille Flandres (not Paris) which would explain why I couldn’t find it on the screen, sitting down to wait for my train next to a very cute guy who asked to borrow my phone charge to which I agreed because….well, because why not, and eventually finding the train with no problem and boarding. It was a double decker train, which I haven’t been on before, and I was on the top level which was nice because I had a really nice view of the scenery. I’m slightly obsessed with the TGV (high speed train in Europe) because 1. It runs all over Europe so it makes traveling fairly easy; 2. It is usually the same price or sometimes cheaper than flying; 3. It is not necessary to go through a security check at the train station, so it isn’t necessary to arrive 2 hours early—in fact, you can’t even board the train more than 20 minutes early; 4. Train rides are one of the most relaxing activities for me (right up there with going to the beach and grocery shopping….seriously); 5. The scenery is much more interesting on a train than on a plane! 

On this particular train ride, I was able to see the beautiful countryside of France which included fields of lavender and vast vineyards with a backdrop of mountains and hills. I slept for a little while, but I was too anxious about missing my stop at Charles de Gaulle to sleep for too long. 

From Charles de Gaulle, I had to take the RER B into Paris—the same line that I took to work every day when I lived in Paris two years ago!!! It felt so familiar and natural. The only difference was that the subway cars seemed to have been renovated because they were much nicer than I remember them being two years ago. On the ride, I saw a kid wearing a Saint Louis Rams hat!!! Of all the Saint Louis sports teams, that would be the one that I would least expect to see in France!!

When I change lines at Gare du Nord in Paris, I was quickly reminded of how hectic, crazy, busy, and fast-moving the subway stations in Paris are. Quite a contrast to the speed of life in Montpellier! A lot of things began to look very familiar to me though, and in no time at all, I had readjusted to the “Parisian lifestyle”—a much faster adjustment than my first time in Paris ;). 

Not only did I remember the color and the number of the line I needed to get to Josephine’s house, but I also remembered which stop I needed as well….yes, I was very, very proud of myself. Though it has been two years, when I exited the subway station and climbed the stairs to the busy road above, I felt as if it was only yesterday that I was returning home from work to this same street. Josephine came to meet me at the stop which gave me a very intense bout of deja-vu since it was the same stop where she had met me when I came to visit her for the first time from Orsay-Ville. Ohhhhhh, how wonderful it was to see her again! I hadn’t even realized just how much I missed her and her family (and Paris in general) until I began walking with her back to her house and the memories came flooding back to me as if a flood gate had just been broken. And the sensation only intensified as she opened the gate to her house and then the little side door at the bottom of the three steps which leads into “my” room in the basement. Despite a few rearrangements, it looked the same cozy, welcoming, homey, happy room that I remembered. 

I had a second intense episode of déjà vu when her mom arrived home and asked me how it felt to be home!!!! Words cannot describe. I just adore the whole family—their kindness, their friendliness, their humor, and their concern for me. The only people that make me feel more taken of than the Starons is my own immediate family! We had dinner at home that night (the whole “family”) and it was so enjoyable. They all have the same sense of humor as I do and so the entire meal was spent laughing and joking while also catching up on the past two years…none of us could believe that it had been so long!

In the morning, we woke bright and early and had a quick breakfast before Josephine’s dad took us (Me, Josephine, and Josephine’s friend, Adeline) to the airport. It was a short trip since the Starons live in the very north of Paris and CDG airport is just north of Paris. I was surprised at how simple it was to not only get through the registration line but also to get through security…short and sweet. I was also really surprised by the fact that Adeline was able to buy me a ticket with just my name and I just had to show a valid form of ID at the desk to check-in…….I don’t think anything is that easy in the U.S. However, the greatest part of the whole encounter was going through the process with the company of some friends because it has been forever since I have had company while traveling and it truly makes all the difference. I was not nearly as anxious or stressed…in fact, I was anxious or stressed at all!!!

 “What matters in life is not what happens to you, but what you remember and how you remember it.” -Gabriel Garcia Marquez