The Marvelous MISadventures of the Fabulous Nolens

Paris.

Wednesday afternoon, we picked Caleb up from school and headed to London Waterloo International Station to ride the Eurostar train in the Channel Tunnel to Paris. Two hours after we left Tilehurst we were in the station. London traffic was nasty - 5.oo on Friday afternoon, and the commuter foot traffic in the station was even worse. People kept almost running over the kids and Aunt Nancy. So we got Steve to go first down the station with the luggage trolley and we all followed in his wake. Worked well.

We ate at Burger King then went to the Eurostar terminal. We had to go through security - kids, bags, stroller, purses, pockets empty....then we had to gather it all back up and go through passport control. Not a problem. Next problem: how to get up to the next level to board the train. Our gate was right on the other side of passport control, but we had to walk all the way down the terminal to get to the lift. In the meantime, there was a Japanese tour group that kept just swarming without regard to us. We had to cross through them two different times and it was a pain each time. On the lift. Up to the departure level. The lift spit us out at coach 5 - our tickets were in coach 4. A nice little French train man approached us and asked if we were in coach 4. When we said we were, he told us that we needed to ride in coach 5 since it was less crowded and would be quieter. He was very nice about it.

So we get on coach 5 and Nancy goes to the seats with the kiddos. In the meantime, some other Japanese tourists have boarded coach 5 from the other direction and have parked in the same empty seats we were heading for. Our little French friend got on and ran them off. Wow! They were not happy about that. Oh well. I guess sometimes it pays to travel with little kids. So while the seat drama is unfolding, Steve is trying to get our luggage into the racks. Actually, he, Lynette, Julie and I are waiting near the luggage racks while this Korean couple is standing there regarding their luggage (already on the shelves) and, I presume, trying to figure out how to get it in there better. Whatever! Just get out of the way! We had 1 big suitcase (for the 5 of us), plus 2 small suitcases (for L&N), plus a couple of backpacks, Julie's frontpack she rides in and the stroller. Lots of stuff. So we stand there for a while while this couple decides what they're going to do. Then we stand there while they do it.

Finally we get to our seats and we get our little things stowed away - purses, jackets, diaper bag.

When we leave London, it's 6.45 p.m. Not dark all the way outside, but since the lights are on in the train it might as well be pitch black out there. Can't see a darn thing unless it's all lit up. So we trundle forward in the dark. I knew we were in France because the the little French man (turns out he was like the #1 guy on the train) starts making all his announcements in French first, then English. It's reversed when we're in England. So he starts saying things over the loudspeakers in a language that I can only assume is French because all I understand is monsieurs and mademoiselles. Anyway, by this time Julie is tired but won't go to sleep, so I go to the space between the cars to let her be noisy and calm down. While I'm out there, lots of people are coming and going (to and from either the buffet car or the loo) and Julie feels compelled to look at each one. Some of the aforementioned Japanese tourists stop and talk to her in Japanese. It's 3 women and one says to me, "Beautiful!" then "Son or daughter?" then "She looks like a doll." None of these things are a surprise to me, as I hear them all the time.

She finally goes to sleep and I'm able to watch the dark French countryside whiz by. Occasionally I'll see some lights. I feel mostly like I'm in an episode of "Alias" since most, if not all of the episodes include some sort of train sequence. But the most jarring thing is to see neon lights whizzing past. Very disconcerting. France and neon lights in the dark countryside don't really go together.

We get to France and it's after 10 p.m. and we have to walk about 4-5 blocks to our hotel. I have the baby in the front pack, Audrey is buckled into the stroller, Caleb is hanging on to the stroller, Lynette is pushing the stroller, Steve is in the lead with our large suitcase, a smaller suitcase, and a backpack, Lynette is behind him, Nancy (with her cane) is behind Lynette, and I'm bringing up the rear with another suitcase and a backpack. As you can imagine, the part of town with the train station isn't exactly the most favorable, but we soldier on. At one point as we're dodging potholes full of water, we pass some drunks lying on the sidewalk who are loud - at each other, not at us. I caught up to Nancy and told her jokingly, "You know, you have the only weapon among all of us." We had a good chuckle about that.

So 15 minutes later we are at the hotel. Easy to find. Nice reception area. We go up to our rooms, 401 and 301, and see only 1 double bed in each room. Yikes! There's a large pack and play for Julie in our room, so Caleb asks to sleep in it. We put Julie with us in the bed and Audrey on the floor and we made it through the night fine. Lynette & Nancy were downstairs and they did fine, as well.

That's our first few hours in Paris. Life here (England) is crazy, so I haven't had much opportunity to update things. I will try to do more later this afternoon if I can. I think Steve, Caleb, Lynette, Nancy, and Steve's sister's family are going to go to Portsmouth this afternoon. I'm going to stay here with the little girlies. Hopefully I can work on laundry and the blog at the same time.

See ya!