I'm back from my week in France, and block leave is officially over. Hello reality, goodbye vacay. France was an interesting trip to say the least. The weather was no where near what was forecasted. Instead of the 60s, it was mostly in the 30s/40s with lots of rain and whipping winds. I swear when we travel in Europe, it's like a National Lampoon's movie come to life. Blunders are synonymous with our travels, but I will tell you they make for the best memories to look back on and laugh about, and we love to laugh!
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Some of the blunders from this trip:
* When we checked into our first hotel, the clerk spoke no english, but I could make out enough of what he was saying to understand that we needed to pay for the daily guest surcharge on top of our prepaid stay. No biggie. That is until he charged us for our entire stay in full again in addition to the surcharge. It wasn't until the shift change an hour later that we were able to get our card credited despite showing him our proof of payment.
* The biggest blunder would have to be that day 2 of our trip I got pink eye. Yes...freaking pink eye! Oddly enough, I didn't panic and even thought I could wait it out. By day 3, I woke up and my eye was swollen shut and when forced open it was blood red. Brushing aside my usual apprehension with taking medication I can't read in foreign countries, I knew I had to take a leap of faith and get medication for my eye. Fortunately there was a pharmacy near the hotel, and when I walked in looking like a cast member from Pirates of the Caribbean, the women spoke no english, but one look at my eye and she headed straight for what I needed (after her eyes bugged out a bit). I hate using eye drops, but I used my madre's tried and true method and now my eye is back to normal.
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| Day 1 of pink eye. |
* For some odd reason the bus system doesn't go to Disneyland on Sundays. It said this no where on any of the time tables. We didn't figure this out until we had waited outside in the chilly whipping winds for nearly an hour (thinking we had missed the bus). Nothing a taxi couldn't fix though.
* In Paris, we were on the Metro heading to the bus station to catch our bus back to the airport (the airport is an hour and thirty minute drive away). Wouldn't you know this is the one time during our stay that the Metro line we were on had to suddenly shut down with no explanation and no replacements coming in the near future. In a panic we raced up to the street to flag down a taxi. We had less than 10 minutes to make it to the bus station. Taking the metro we should've been there much earlier before the delay/shutdown. Of course, when I asked my lover how much cash he had he told me he only had 5 euro...what?!?! The taxi driver I flagged down spoke no english, but with the help of our bus tickets and hand gestures, he agreed to take us to our destination with what little euro cash we had. Come to find out the station was a block away and the buses were delayed by half and hour. We laughed hysterically about this.
* To end the trip with a bang, once we were at the airport, through the security check point, and outside about to board the plane, my lover realized the woman at the sandwich shop outside of security never gave him his debit card back. Eeek!! My lover decided to race back to retrieve it, which left me in a panic because it took us over an hour to get through security the first time, and we were starting to board the plane. Fortunately, he got his card back, the woman apologized profusely, and he cut in front of the security line and explained the situation. He made it on to the plane just in the nick of time.
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Wow! This was supposed to be a short post...haha. Anywho...these blunders certainly kept us on our toes. What are the chances that nearly everyone in France speaks english except for the hotel clerk, the pharmacist, and the taxi driver? And that I would get pink eye?!?! We really did have a great time though, in Paris especially. Paris is always a good idea, even if it doesn't like me (last time I broke out in hives for the first time ever). Since we've been there before, we were able to take it really easy this time and just enjoy hanging out together, strolling through the streets of Paris. Getting away from all of the chaos of late was exactly what my lover and I wanted for block leave.
It wasn't until the end of the trip that either one of us remembered that this means the upcoming deployment is that much closer. It's crazy to think that up until that point neither one of us had really been thinking about it. It almost feels like it's not happening, probably because of all of the date changes. Of course, this just means that it's going to smack me in the face when it starts. I'm going to miss waking up to his handsome face everyday and feeling the warmth of his embrace as each day closes. I'm thankful we had this little getaway...lots more pics and posts to come about the trip and adventures in Italia once I can find a better internet connection for uploading. Stay tuned!!
