Finally warm enough for swimming

Day 63: Thursday

We tried to wake up at a normal time, but slept until noon again. We started working on Christening stuff as soon as we got up, and finally had lunch around 2pm after I was starving. After lunch we went swimming because it was finally warm and sunny. Then we laid out until about 6pm, and I at least got my base tan from Italy back. Afterwards we went into town to the Super-U to buy popcorn and candy, then went to the bar to use the internet, which was pretty quick. Then we had to go home for dinner, and after dinner I packed all my stuff and figured out getting to the train station tomorrow, then we finished Pride and Prejudice, which took about 4 hours.

Who doesn't love Colin Firth?

Day 62: Wednesday

I slept until noon, had tea and pain au chocolat for breakfast, got dressed, then had lunch. Another Frenchie arrive and I failed at bises again. After lunch we went into town to the bar to use the internet. We ordered some teas at the bar, then figured out the internet. Then we walked around a bit more, came back, went up to the lavender fields to take pictures, then came back to go in the pool. It was pretty cold, but still fun. The best part was when Hilary told us to flip over Johann on the floaty thing because he didn’t understand English and wouldn’t see it coming. It was quite funny. Eventually we got too cold and got out and laid in the sun a bit before we got too cold for that too. Then we had dinner, and after we watched Johnny English and the beginning of the BBC Pride and Prejudice with Colin Firth, then went to bed around 1am.

Dieulefit

Day 61: Tuesday

Got ready to go to the bus, downed some tea, and checked out. We got on the bus to Terminal 5, then we had to wait in line forever to drop our bags because we picked the one line that wasn’t moving. Finally when it was our turn, my bag was 3kgs over, so I took out my shoes, toiletries, and folder, and then it was fine. My backpack was soooo heavy though. After checking in we went through security without any problems, then found a place for our last English Breakfast. It was yummy but not enough beans. After breakfast we still had like an hour before our gate was open, so we just hung around at the restaurant. Finally it was time to head to our gate, and then we sat down and waited for our flight. We even managed to get seats together during check in, and there was no one in the seat next to us. The flight was only about an hour, but pretty turbulent so I couldn’t sleep even though I was very tired. We landed in Lyon around 11am, then found our way to the train into central Lyon for the train station. There, I got my first pain au chocolat. The machines didn’t like our credit cards, so we had to wait in line to buy our tickets, but we couldn’t figure out which one, so we waited in different lines. Mine was much shorter, so I was helped right away. I used my French and asked if I could get tickets for the TER train there, and she said yes and for where, and I told her Montelimar for two people, then she asked how old I was and I could not think of the French word for 20, only the Italian one, so we switched into English. We only had to wait about 45 minutes for the train, and then we found some seats and settled on. We made it to Montelimar about on time, but we had to wait an hour for the bus, so while we waited I bought my ticket to Paris for Friday. The man helping me did not speak English very much, so I got to use my French again. I was able to tell him which train I wanted for where on which day and at which time, and I asked if there were assigned seats. Afer figuring that out, we went to wait for the bus. We weren’t sure which bus it was, so we decided to follow these other people that were talking about Dieulefit. The bus finally came (10 minutes late), and when I tried to bring my bag on she told me it was “Trop gros!” and put it underneath. The ride was about 40 minutes, and we had no idea when we were getting off. Luckily we saw Victoria and Hilary as we pulled in, and the bus driver knew we were getting off there. We got our stuff into the car, and then drove to the house. There’s not enough room for my suitcase in the room, so I just have to leave it downstairs. I’m sleeping on a mattress on the floor in Victoria’s room while Elli is sleeping on a pull out cot there, so it’s definitely cozy! I met all the French family, failed at greeting them with bises, and then had some tea. Before dinner we went out for a drive through downtown Dieulefit, then up to Poet-Laval and walked around. It is a lot like Cinque Terre, only without the ocean and with French and no tourists. For dinner was fish soup that Elli and Victoria didn’t even like, and I couldn’t even stand the smell. I was able to follow most of the dinner conversation between the French family, and I tried to use a little bit of mine. After dinner I was verrrry tired, so I went to bed. 32 hours of no sleep, yaaay.

Heathrow Terminal 5 Travelodge

Day 60: Monday

I didn’t wake up until around 1pm, then we had breakfast, then packed and got ready to go to the hotel. We had Chinese for dinner, and then got all our stuff in the car and drove to the hotel. Elli and I said goodbye to Bev and Harry, then checked into the hotel without any problems. The hotel room didn’t have any phone, but it did have a bottle opener. And we had to pay 10 pounds each for internet. I showered, and interneted all night. Literally. Neither of us slept. We had to leave at 5:30 for our bus to the airport anyway, so it wasn’t really worth the hour or two of sleep.