Day Three: Trip to Reims with 10-minute connection to Sedan

I woke up the next morning at 9:00 am thinking that would be plenty of time to get to the train station by 11:30 and also stop for a sandwich before leaving.      Boy was I wrong......

Last night, I met a German guy at the B&B in the common room/living room. We ended up chatting and he seemed really cool. This morning I saw him again in the kitchen making some coffee and we started talking, which was a huge mistake since I needed to leave the B&B at 10:30 if I wanted to grab the sandwich, come back, wait for a taxi (yes, even though I booked a room someplace 4 BLOCKS from the train station, I needed a taxi because there was no way I would be able to walk 4 blocks with my ridiculously heavy suitcases), and get to station all before 11:30am. Anyway, we began talking and when I looked at the clock again, it said 10:30am. Guess I wasn't going to get that sandwich. 

Luckily I had packed everything the night before so all that I needed to do this morning was eat and grab my stuff and go. 

Unfortunately, the people who run the Bed and Breakfast actually had a wedding to attend that day so they left at 10am with all the information needed to book a taxi and ensured me several times that my French was good enough to be able to do this. 

Booking a taxi in Paris

You might think this is quiet an easy task, but it's not. First, you're put on the phone with an automated machine in which the person who is speaking mumbles and talks very fast. I had no idea what number to press. After my second listen, she was asking if I would like a taxi now or for a future time. Since I didn't need the taxi until 11:30 or even 11:45 (my train wasn't until 12:48, and the station is 4 blocks away) I pressed 2 (future time). After that, they only gave me options of 9am (um, it was well past 9am), 2:30pm, and 9pm. There was no option that I heard of speaking to an actual person. I hung up, re-did the entire process, and then chose immediate. I got all the way to booking information, but apparently the automated machine couldn't tell what street (rue) I was saying. By this point it was 10:58 and I started to freakout and realize there was no way I could book a taxi by phone. Then, I remembered thank God I have the Uber app! It's Paris, they must have black cars or taxis here. I went to app and it pulled everything up but when it told me how much it would cost ($15 minimum) I decided I would try online with a different taxi company. There was no way I was going to pay $15 to go 4 blocks, even if I have 2 huge suitcases. Luckily, the online process was smooth with bleu taxi, and the minimum was $5. I figured it would probably cost that anyway since traffic in Paris is about just as bad as traffic in New York. The taxi arrived at 11:24 (super early, but it was in the neighborhood) and me and my luggage made it safely to the train station.

Next task, meet my friend (also doing the program and actually going to be working in Reims, not the middle of nowhere) at the train station. 

Rendezvous point

So, my friend, Jane, and I were supposed to meet right outside the SNCF station underneath the sign that said "Gare De l'est". In theory, you might think this is quite an easy task....WRONG. They had TWO of these signs! So, luckily I showed up at 11:35 and had plenty of time to wait around. We weren't going to meet up till 12:15 anyway. I waited by one them for 15 minutes when I saw another girl waiting at the opposite end. After a few minutes of deliberating (neither one of us had a working phone) I began to make the trek over to her side. It took me a good 10 minutes to make it across thanks to the theft of the luggage carts. But I finally reached her and we went inside. Then, we found our track color (the tracks are divided into yellow and blue sides and the times don't appear until about 20 minutes until your train departs). Since we still had about half an hour left, we decided to find a bench close to the track we thought the train would arrive on (we guessed track 30 based on the surrounding trains leaving to the same region). 10 minutes later, they announced our train track- it was 26. With not much luggage, crossing four tracks would be a piece of cake; but with all my stuff and no help, it took me 15 minutes. Luckily once I got on the train this lovely man helped me put my luggage onto the luggage rack (yay! everything all in one place). We took our seats and talked about our flights, Reims, and school for the next hour and 14 minutes.

Making the connection

We arrived into the Reims train station right on time! Being totally unfamiliar with this train station, I had no idea where I needed to be to make my connection. Luckily, Jane helped me find the track which of course was on the opposite side and you either had to take a set of stairs down or take an elevator. I opted for the elevator. We said our goodbyes and I told her I'd contact her once settled in at the apartment. I told the people waiting for the elevator (all of whom were speaking English) that I needed to make a connection and that I had to get on the next elevator or else I would miss it. Since I didn't hear any objection and I only had 5 minutes left, I went in. The elevator can hold either 6 people, or 2 people with four suitcases. After I got in with my three suitcases, there was still some room left and another woman squeezed in with her one suitcase. We made the descent and I followed some signs only to be met by more stairs! I had three minutes left or else it was wait at the station for another two hours.

Knowing that there was no way I could left these bags up 12 stairs, I began imploring help from people. Luckily 3 strong Frenchmen came to the rescue and proceeded to carry all my bags (leaving me with just my laptop bag) up the flight of stairs. I thanked them profusely and began running towards the train. I managed to get everything on the train and used the first suitcase to hold the door open as I got the second one (the carry-on was attached to the 2nd suitcase) on board and next to my seat. Then I pulled the first suitcase, which was holding the door open, closer to me and away from the doors. People most likely thought I was part of the puppet festival that was beginning that day in Charleville because why else would there be someone on board a regional train with that much luggage. I had made it with 30 seconds to spare! I'm never traveling with this much luggage again, no matter what anyone says. It's not worth it. So you might save yourself 200 euros or 400 euros- in the end, it's better to spend the money on winter clothes where you'll be living rather than attempt to carry it all with you. 

Sedan-the happening town in the 1600s

 View outside the train station

Outside the train station

When I got to Sedan (the last stop on the train-so I could take my time getting my luggage off the train), I looked around. It wasn't that bad of a town, or as bad as I expected. The weather was nice, I saw a bus while waiting for Sandy, my contact person. I will have to investigate this town further. A plus side, they have landscape/mountains! Obviously they're nothing like the Alps, but I literally thought there wasn’t going to be anything interesting or pretty about this town. In reality, the Ardennes are quite lovely.

After waiting for a bit, my contact person, Sandy (names have been changed) arrived. I got all my stuff in the car and we began chatting. She then informed me that there’s no German assistant. He backed out a couple of weeks ago and they can't find a replacement. WHAT?!?!? NO! Now it's not going to be anything like the l'auberge Espagnol. How could he do that to us!?!?! He was the one with the car!!!! Sedan has no public transportation system so our only way of getting around this town will now have to be by foot....awesome. 

It's making me begin to second guess my decision on accepting the position. 

We get to the apartment and I spend the rest of the night unpacking.