January 3rd, 2008 marked the arrival into Clermont-Ferrand, France. Kelly and I took the Eurostar from London to Paris very, very early in the morning with our 7 pieces of luggage. That was definitely an adventure lugging those up and down stairs and escalators. It was a smooth journey and within 2hrs 15min we had arrived in Paris...didn't even realize when we went through the English Channel. We arrived at Gare du Nord and took a taxi to Gare de Lyon where we met Philippe, Andrew, Emily and Cat. We camped out in the middle of the station 
definitely looking like exchange students with over 20 bags. We boarded our train and getting the bags all organized onto the train was interesting. There was this little French girl who was standing in the middle of where all the bags go and refused to move. We started storing our bags around her...eventually, she moved and we were able to properly organize everything. It was a 3hrs 30min journey through small towns and nothing but scenery...definitely a journey away from civilzation but really amazing views of the countryside. Cat slept the entire journey occassionally popping up to see if we were there or if we mentioned that we were passing by a castle (which we weren't). As we arrived to Clermont-Ferrand, Professor David Marker and his daughter were there to pick us up...not realizing how many bags we had. He made two trips in his mini-van to take us where we were staying. While waiting, his daughter told us that she and others in France can tell we were the Americans from our loud noise, North Face jackets, and non-tight jeans. That was a good laugh! We arrived at our residences and that was definitely an interesting experience. Long story short, it was our first experience (well some of us have lived in France before and have experie
nced it) to the French culture and way things are handled....slow process...but hey its part of the experience. I ended up in a rather nice 2 person studio apartment. As you can see from the pics, the views from the apartment are amazing.
definitely looking like exchange students with over 20 bags. We boarded our train and getting the bags all organized onto the train was interesting. There was this little French girl who was standing in the middle of where all the bags go and refused to move. We started storing our bags around her...eventually, she moved and we were able to properly organize everything. It was a 3hrs 30min journey through small towns and nothing but scenery...definitely a journey away from civilzation but really amazing views of the countryside. Cat slept the entire journey occassionally popping up to see if we were there or if we mentioned that we were passing by a castle (which we weren't). As we arrived to Clermont-Ferrand, Professor David Marker and his daughter were there to pick us up...not realizing how many bags we had. He made two trips in his mini-van to take us where we were staying. While waiting, his daughter told us that she and others in France can tell we were the Americans from our loud noise, North Face jackets, and non-tight jeans. That was a good laugh! We arrived at our residences and that was definitely an interesting experience. Long story short, it was our first experience (well some of us have lived in France before and have experie
nced it) to the French culture and way things are handled....slow process...but hey its part of the experience. I ended up in a rather nice 2 person studio apartment. As you can see from the pics, the views from the apartment are amazing. 
3 comments:
7 pieces of luggage~~tu es fort
hey somil,
the view looks awesome! I will have to live vicariously through your blog! I look forward to all your adventures!
Hey man your blog looking nice. I've never seen somebody so happy about seeing a clock.
Anyway looks like a blast I admire your spirit to just get up and go to SC and to do this. You're the best gamecock i know.
Enjoy!
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