Madelyn's Blog

Tonight is my last night in Pau! I finished up school today with my Haitian history exam which was way easier than most exams I’ve ever taken. (Organic Chemistry II, anyone?) I resisted the urge to nap after school and started watching a movie and packing…a grander endeavor than I imagined. I’m about 80% done, I just need to put together my backpack and purse in the morning. The luggage rules for the train are different than on an airplane…you still can’t put more than 50lbs in one bag but you can have up to 3 checked bags and 2 carry-ons at no additional charge. However, unless I plan on dumping off a bunch of stuff between here and Paris in a week, I need to make sure my belongings abide by plane rules. I’m going to see how far I can push the “personal item” definition…I’ll use a large re-usable shopping bag filled with souvenirs as my carry-on, then my backpack will become my personal item. I think I’ll shove my purse in the shopping bag until I get on the plane, and as for my pillow, they’re just going to have to deal with it. (I hope.) There were a lot of people on the way here with way more stuff than I had, so hopefully it won’t be a problem. Plus, I’m small, my pillow can sit on my lap and still take up less room than the average traveler. I’m a little nervous about traveling tomorrow, seeing as though I’ve never been on a train, but it can’t be any more confusing than transferring airports and changing planes mid-day in Paris. (Already conquered that.) I’ll leave Pau in the afternoon tomorrow, then stay with a friend in Toulouse for 5 or 6 days before heading to Paris to catch my plane. Amadeo has promised to be at the train station promptly at 4pm to “recover” me, and then I’m his responsibility until next Tuesday. We’re planning to take the train to Paris and stay the night with friends of his parents who have  an apartment there. This is a wonderful plan, since hotels in Paris start at about three hundred US dollars a night. Amadeo has assured me, “Tout se passera bien,” (Everything will be fine.) and I’m sure it will be. If not, I’m sure dad will activate the GPS on my phone and it won’t be more than half a day till I’m rescued by some crazy middle-aged man in camouflage pants running around Paris, shouting in English and causing a scene. Typical tourist. Reminds me of the time we went to NYC and couldn’t find the Empire State Building because someone wearing a fanny pack “who knew exactly where we were going” had the map upside down. A-hem. Dad.

I will update again tomorrow assuming I have WiFi in Toulouse. (It’s the 4th largest city in France…so I’m guessing yes.)

Au revoir, Pau!