I woke up with a hankering for some more schnitzel before
leaving Germany. We decided to go to the castle, our favorite spot, and have
lunch at the base. Looking out over the city that we have stayed up way to late
in, and drank a few too many beers in while eating a delicious lunch was a
delightful, and a perfect way to end our long journey in Europe.
We packed up out suitcases for the last time, and Dieter
drove us to the train station. Just before our train arrived Dieter slipped
away and surprised us with hot out of the oven pretzels to enjoy on our last
train ride. Thea and Dieter were the best hosts we could have ever had, they
gave us a time we couldn’t dream of having. Although I was so upset that I did
not have to opportunity to see Thea as much, it was nice to get to know Dieter
a little bit more, and we already have plans for our next visit.
We had a 4-hour ride straight into Paris, then a stuffy,
strange metro ride to the airport, which was next to our hotel. For some reason
the metro was full of crazies this time around. I’m not sure if it was the
people or just that fact that going home was settling in, but Paris seemed
darker, and gloomier then when we first arrived there 32 days ago. A better bet
might be that we had seen the most beautiful places in France, and Paris just
doesn’t add up. If ever recommending a place to go for other travelers, I would
say skip Paris if you need to, other places in France have so many small
beauties to offer, I think its worth it to miss some of the more iconic items.
The shuttle ride to our hotel was a little crazy. Our driver
completely skipped our stop, then picked up random people and dropped them off
at a location that was not distinguished on the bus. In total, we spent an hour
and a half, going in circles trying to get to our hotel. The bus driver was
lucky I was too tired to argue too much. When we got to our hotel the buff
charismatic man at reception asked where we were from then told us how if he
lived near Philadelphia, he would do the Rocky steps every morning. He was just
the personality we needed to be welcomed by after a long day of travel. We
finally sat down in the hotel room just after midnight, we skyped our families
to let them know we were on track to get home, and showered before bed. We kept
our selves up so that we would be sleepy on the plane the next day, continuing
our awful habit of not sleeping while in France, we gave our selves 5 hours for
our last night.
We woke up early, and headed to the airport, The Charles De
Gaulle airport is the second largest in Europe. Upon arrival it wasn’t as
obvious, we grabbed our bags and got out of the building fairly easily. Getting
back in was almost a nightmare. We started at the wrong terminal, which we
walked what felt like a mile to get to. Then walked the same mile back to where
we started jumped on a shuttle went through bag check, where I convinced the
man at the desk that I had the same carry on luggage on the way to France as I
do leaving and that I promise it is not to big, white lies never hurt
anyone. After checking our bags,
the man I had so cleverly deceived told me that our terminal was the furthest
one from our current location. Thankfully we left our hotel ridiculously early,
because we arrived at our terminal just 40 minutes before boarding time.
During our trip in France Jill and I used a Flip camcorder
to record the miscellaneous adventures we had been on. We promised that we
would not look at them until the end of our trip. So as we waited to board our
plane back to reality, we sat each with a headphone in one ear giggling like
little girls in the corner watching our trip unfold before our eyes once more.
We were given a great deal of satisfaction with our thirty three days, how much
we had grown, and how comfortable we had become with the European lifestyle,
America might actually feel foreign. We boarded our plane all smiles, arrived
at our seats that had little TV’s to amuse us for the next 8 hours, and zoned
off into our own worlds.
 |
| Sweet |
As we descended into JFK airport and the group in front of
us opened up their window shade and ooohed and aahhhhed at America’s coast
line, I could feel their excitement radiating. The little girls behind us took
pictures outside the window of nothingness. Well to me it was nothing, I am
sure to them they will have that moment engraved in their mind forever, remembering
the first time they came to the USA. And they will yearn to return, silly
girls.
 |
| On the flight home |
Jill’s mom picked us up at the airport, and we were met with
about 2 hours of NYC traffic as we left. Welcome
home. My wonderful boyfriend
Phil picked me up on the NJ turnpike as my parents were away at a conference.
Although I was sure to enjoy my time in France to the fullest I missed Phil
more than anything, and it was so nice to have him welcome me home, I am so grateful
for his support, and encouragement during my journey. His family had a
wonderful dinner prepared for me when I finally got home. Although I knew I was
back home, it wasn’t until I saw my first firefly of the season light up in
the middle of the lawn that it all set in, the feeling of summer in south
jersey, I’m home.
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