Voyageant / Journeying

My day started rather very early this morning. Not going to lie, I probably looked an absolute state running for the tram to take me to Gare SNCF Caen this morning! I was late, it was chucking it down with rain, and I was running with a suitcase plus a scarf over my head. The tram was just leaving when the driver saw me...definitely a pity stop. Anyhows, got on the train from Caen to Paris Saint Lazare without any issues and spent the journey editing the photographs that I had taken from Becky's birthday and a few from the day before. Boy, French trains are rather comfy aren't they?! Was genuinely considering going to sleep, as Saint Lazare was the terminus, but decided against it!

Then the fun began. So Saint Lazare does not connect to Paris Charles de Gaulle. In fact, you have to take the Metro. Except, the stations I needed were not the ones I was going to. So the journey started at Saint Lazare station, but I had to find Haussmann-Saint Lazare which was in Saint Lazare station, but not signposted. Ended up asking a friendly SNCF worker where I was meant to be going - the reply being "follow E". So I dutifully followed the sign for "E" down four flights of stairs and miraculously found the right station...the next problem being finding a way to get through the turnstiles and the glass door with a suitcase and big bag. Oh, and find a person to buy a ticket to bypass said barrier - unfortunately never found one and had to grapple with the machine. This achieved, and defeating the double barrier I found myself on the platform. Next problem was that I needed Gare du Nord, and this was not to be found on any of the signs - turns out I needed Magenta, which was another station connected to another. Upon arrival at this new station, turns out there was also a chronic lack of signposting! Decided to choose a random way and it was actually right for once! So finally managed to get the direct train to Charles de Gaulle Airport. So my train journeys today ended up being:-
- Grâce de Dieu
- Gare SNCF Caen
- Paris Saint Lazare
- Haussmann-Saint Lazare
- Magenta
- Gare du Nord
- Paris Charles de Gaulle 2 (two different stations for the airport - Charles de Gaulle 1 is for Terminal 1 and 3, and Charles de Gaulle 2 is for Terminal 2...hmmmm.)

Aeroplane journey was great thank god! We were only 20 minutes late, which with the baggage handlers' strike was pretty awesome. By chatting to the air steward in French I got a chocolat chaud, some biscuits to dip in it and a glass of water. The journey went so quickly, and I got more and more excited to see my family. So much so that on seeing my mum in the Arrivals area I burst into tears! And definitely did it again when I met dad at home. Will probably do the same tomorrow when I see my grandmas!

In other news, went to the local camera shop (Wilkinson - absolutely amazing!) and coveted many of their lenses. Hired the 60mm for the weekend to see if I like it enough to buy at some point. Took my poorly 50mm lens and they said it "wasn't as bad as they thought it would be"...but still bad. They're going to send it to the workshop to see if they can do anything with it. Fingers crossed!

Finished off the day with an amazing beef goulash and a plum crumble - made in the oven. Now this is probably not a particularly amazing thing for most people, but I live in an apartment in France with two hobs and a microwave...things don't tend to be crispy or slow cooked! So this photograph was taken with my dad. On leaving the camera shop I spotted just how awesome the sky looked - so my dad decided to chase it with me so I could take a photograph. This is the Marine Lake in Southport, just sandwiched between the Promenade and the sea. Very very happy to be home...