The night Robyn and I got back from Nice, I immediately started packing up my things. The apartment was mostly empty since Kerstin had thankfully cleaned and cleared everything out, bless her soul. It was Robyn's last night in France since she was going home to Scotland the next day, we decided to have one last sleepover (and I could hence make sure she got out of bed in the morning to catch the 6:10 AM shuttle), so we picked up food from Carrefour and had a quiet picnic dinner in my living room. I went to bed quite late since I was madly trying to cram the last 7 months of my life into my travel backpack and a small carry-on suitcase. No easy feat.
I only got about 4 hours sleep and dragged my arse out of bed at 5:30 to say bye to Robyn (who was misfortunate enough to miss the tram and the poor wee thing had to run to the train station with her luggage). I then continued packing up my room as quickly as I could to get out before 8, which is when the school employees started arriving for work and I wanted to get out unnoticed. (Why, you ask? Well, in order to avoid paying an extra 8 nights of rent [I pay by the night] I was essentially squatting my last night and had "officially" moved out the day I left for Nice). I ended up throwing out quite a bit of stuff, including clothes and shoes (they were old) to make room in my bags, and left some stuff behind for the next year's assistants. In the end, I ended up with one massive backpack, a suitcase (expander unzipped), my large Longchamp bag full, a laptop case, a briefcase, my purse, a Loblaws reusable shopping bag, and a paper bag with my internet and TV box and wires in it. I managed to cart it all out of the apartment and snuck out of the school grounds unnoticed, blinking back tears of stress, sadness, and sweat. I plopped myself and all my crap in the little square across from my school and waited, with a banana and half-finished smoothie. Around 8:30, I asked my school's receptionist (who has nothing to do with my housing) if I could leave my stuff there for the day since my train wasn't until that afternoon. I was so grateful she agreed, and I was free the rest of the day to tend to last minute-errands, blog post writing, having my last cafe au lait in Place Stan, and meeting up with my tandem, Anne-Laure. It was a really nice last day in Nancy, and I was so grateful when Anne-Laure helped me carry all my stuff to the train station...and even moreso that I had a proper send-off/goodbye from a friend! I gave her the photo frame and picture of us I had put together and she gave me a gorgeous murano glass bracelet -I totally wasn't expecting any parting gift! We both stood on the train platform in tears - it seemed impossible to comprehend that this was the last time I would see my friend - and my beloved Nancy! I made her promise to come visit me in Scotland, and with that my train pulled away, Anne-Laure waving at me as it pulled out of the station. I cried all the way to Sarrebourg, where I couldn't be sad for long as Julia greeted me at the trainstation and helped me bring all my stuff to her apartment.
I was so grateful I could stay with her, and I'm so glad I decided to leave Nancy a day early - that way I got to spend some relaxing quality time with her and Rachel before heading out on my next vacation. Julia and I made a nice light dinner and watched a movie and headed to bed early since we were both exhausted (she had just arrived home from Nice that morning). The next day I reorganized my luggage and we went on a really nice walk around the lake in Sarrebourg, a nice peaceful little path with lots of fields, trees and flowers surrounding it. It was a warm sunny day, and after our walk we met up with Rachel at the station and the 3 of us grabbed lunch at Julia's local cafe for a final meal together. Afterwards we grabbed all my stuff (I can't even begin to describe how grateful I was for all the luggage help) and we headed to the train station. Another set of good-bye's, whyyyy?! I had shared so many wonderful travelling experiences with these two gals and I was so sad to have to leave them - they had become really good friends and I'll miss them a lot! I know I'll see them again since at least we all live on the same continent, but life just won't be the same as it was when we were all exploring France together! Another teary-send off, and I was on the train to Nancy, then to Paris.
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| amies pour toujours! |
I arrived yesterday at gare to l'est and was thrilled to see Kerstin waiting for me at the end of the platform! (thank god as well for more luggage help). It was great to see her again, and we navigated the extremely busy metro (3 changes, ugh) all the way to her place in Clichy. She's doing an internship at the Goethe Institut for the summer and is living with a German teacher who lives just outside Paris. I was exhausted, but we all went out for a really nice dinner before I repacked my bags (again) for my Eastern Europe trip and went to bed.
4 hours later, I was standing at a busstop in Clichy, caught the night bus, got off, caught a different one to Gare du Nord, took the RER B one stop, had to get off because of construction, then take another bus. Then the shuttle to the right terminal. It was 6:30 AM, I had been travelling for 2 hours and hadn't even left the city. I hate Paris sometimes. But I managed to catch my flight to Krakow with no problem, and here I am!
It still hasn't fully sunk in yet that I've left my life in Nancy behind for good...probably because my brain is so sleep deprived. Maybe I don't want to fully realize it. All I can do for now is enjoy the adventures that lie ahead of me over the next 3 weeks, and let reality sink in when I'm home.
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