Saved by Strangers En Route to Chamonix

After my less than leisurely sprint from our apartment in Marseilles to the train station, I was sweating slightly more than an appropriate amount and still worried that I would not get to this train in time. I had to wait in line to make a reservation then figure out exactly how I was going to get myself to the hostel in Chamonix once I had finally arrived at St. Gervais, the last stop on the rail line.

But, after an amazing conversation with a ticket agent (those people really do have a way of answering questions you didn’t even know you had), I was all set. I was only 2 trains and a bus away from my final destination.

So with tickets and food in hand, I walked to the train with confidence that the day would not have warranted all of the worry I had expended over the last few hours. I relaxed in my train car, wrote blog posts, napped, and even took a couple pretty pictures despite the terrible weather outside.

The ride was incredibly peaceful until I realized that 10 minutes before we were supposed to arrive in Lyon… we weren’t approaching anything that even remotely resembled a train station nor were we slowing down.

Not ideal.

Long story short, what had been a fairly simple and straight-forward day of travel became much less… well… ideal. I now had to find a train to a third station, make a 5 minute transfer, and then arrive in St. Gervais an hour and a half before the last bus to Chamonix. If that bus never showed up, or I missed it for some reason, I was pretty much SOL. And not just a regular SOL. SOL in a random French town, unable to speak the language, alone, at midnight.

Again, not ideal.

So I hoped out of the station to take a quick photo in case, for some reason, people would need a picture of my last known whereabouts. Then I continued on my way.

Dramatic, I know.

But thankfully, something amazing happened.

In the Lyon train station, I found random free wifi (no, that’s not the amazing thing) so I could shoot out a heads up to my friends in Chamonix. I hoped on Facebook for a quick second, and the first thing that popped up on my newsfeed was this:

I haven’t talked to Jantzen in ages, but this quote… “Every time you can find the humor in a difficult situation- you win”… Could not have been more perfect!

I decided that God was trying to tell me to chill out, so I kept that quote in the back of my mind the rest of the day.

From Gare de Lyon, I rode a train to Bellegarde, France.

Once again, as our arrival time neared, the train station was nowhere in sight. No matter, I gathered up all of my things and waited anxiously at the doorway of the train so I could be the first off and better able to find my next train. I was flirting with missing yet another train (damn 5 minute layovers), so I breathed an obviously agitated sigh…

And so did the man behind me.

In an instance, we became best friends.

Turns out, he had experienced a very similar travel day, and was about to miss the same train I was gunning for. So, once our train finally stopped, we ran together to find the next one. Luckily, it was only one track away, but there was yet another wrench in our way.

Apparently, the trains in Europe very easily attach and detach from each other. So, sometimes, the front of a train will be separated from the back and go in a completely different direction. An unsuspecting traveler could potentially be sitting in the wrong half of the train and end up in the opposite direction of their desired destination.

This was one such train.

Without my friend David, I very well could have ended up Switzerland.

So for the next hour, we debriefed our days and talked about our travels. He was on his way to a work convention and told me all about his family (wife and 2 children), his job (mattress salesman), his home (in Avignon), his pets (cutest dog and stupidest cat of all time), the great loves of his life (cooking, the sun, his daughter, love itself), among other things. It was one of the first times in a while that I had a personal interaction and wholesome connection with a total stranger in a foreign country.

It was awesome.

Before I knew it, David was gone, and I was in St. Gervais, alone once again.

Other than myself and one other guy who spoke a negative amount of English, this is what the town looked like…

EMPTINESS!

I had well over an hour before the bus was supposed to arrive, so I spent that time in a bar down the street, stealing wifi, and praying that this bus would actually show up. After plenty of worrying and some much needed pacing in front of the station, I almost came to tears when I saw this miracle pull up.

ALLELUIA!

I’ve never been so happy to see a bus in my life.

After the 20 minute bus ride through the mountains and into the Chamonix valley, I got off the bus ready to wander the streets (with a Google map, of course) until I found my hostel. The bus driver must have sensed my confusion, and clearly my idiocy at thinking I could walk to this hostel, because he came over and asked me where I was headed. When I showed him the map on my phone, he looked at me, looked back at the map, and said five magical words that got me closer to tears than seeing the bus in the first place.

“Get back on the bus.”

SCORE!

That angel of a man drove me all the way to the hostel and dropped me off at the front door.

I’m so blessed. I ran into the hostel to find my friends cleaning up after dinner, and the hugs and laughter were almost endless.

That night I had a mini-celebration for successfully navigating European rail-madness and for all of the angels and signs that God had thrown my way. I imagine that most people who do this sort of traveling have at least one day that gets them to calm down and go with the flow… and this was definitely mine.

The next morning, I was even more astonished to wake up to this:

Where am I?!?!?!

This place was unlike anything I had ever seen before. Situated in the valley at the base of Mont Blanc, our hostel had some of the most amazing views in the world.

The four of us walked from the hostel to the train station to figure out the plans for the day. Madison and her brother weren’t quite sure of their plans, but I wanted to head to Zurich to meet up with another group of friends. On our way to the station, I got a nice tour of the downtown area, which was one of the cutest towns I’ve ever seen.

At the station, we figured out that we had a little time to explore before I had to separate once again for my trip to Switzerland. We went on a mini-hike, and I got to snap a few more gems.

Every turn was a Nat-Geo photo opportunity.

After an hour or so, I went back to the hostel to gather up my stuff, and headed into town to catch my train. I got to end my afternoon in Chamonix with a relaxing meal at a local bar, surrounded by locals, soaking up the scenery. Not shabby at all.

After lunch with some locals, being told ‘bon appetit’ by a random five-year-old French girl, learning that apparently ‘Tuesday is the new Friday’ for the bar scene, seeing the BEST French mullet of all time, and absorbing lots of love and friendship from those around me, I had to say goodbye to Chamonix.

It was not easy.

But thankfully, I was distracted by being Swiss-bound with plans to meet up with friends at a hostel in Zurich.

Still, it was hard to say goodbye to a place a beautiful as this one…

Next stop, Zurich!

Question of the Day: What was the most meaningful random act of kindness you’ve ever received?

Let the Travel Madness Begin in Marseilles

I was only able to sneak in a short 2 hour nap between saying goodbye to all of my friends and waking up to catch the train to Marseilles the next morning.

Let the crazy travel being!

That morning I crawled out of bed and rushed to the Estacio de Franca station to meet up with my next set of travel buddies, Ethan, Spencer, and Nate. They had planned out an entire day’s worth of trains (10 hours and 4 changes to be precise) to get to Marseilles without having to make any train reservations. We learned early on that even with Eurail passes, many of the trains required reservations which could cost an additional fee ranging from 3 to 30 euros depending on the destination.

Was the days’ worth of travel worth it? Well, you’ll see. It was a learning experience, to say the least

I knew right away I was out of my league with these boys… just check out these professional backpacks…

One of these things is not like the other…

Oh well!

We hopped on our first train ready to tackle the day.

Not 5 minutes later, we thought we had missed our first stop. With 4 train change layovers varying in length from 5 minutes to an hour and a half, we thought we were screwed before we had even begun. Luckily, we were wrong, and the day continued a little more smoothly, beginning with much needed naps.

We had breakfast in the second station.

Nutritious, huh?

We took pictures out of the window of totally random towns and buildings… this practice started to wane once the novelty of being on a train wore off…

We sneaked out of the Montpellier train station just to take a picture of the town, clearly to prove that we had, in fact, been there.

Then, 10 hours and 5 trains later, we arrived in Marseilles!

And wouldn’t you know it, free Ben and Jerry’s was there just to welcome us!

Not a bad way to start the day in France…at 5pm…

We ate our ice cream on the edge of the water overlooking all of the boats docked for the day.

From there, we checked into our AirBnB apartment (which was AWESOME), and decided to check out the major cathedral in town before it closed for the day. The weather wasn’t exactly going in our favor, but we braved it anyway. None of us knew how many days we would be in town, so we had to make the most of it.

After a nice long hike up the hill to the Notre Dame de la Garda…

We were rewarded with an incredibly beautiful church…

And an even more beautiful view of the entire city!

We spent a while at the church taking pictures and soaking in some of the peacefulness that surrounded the area. It was really nice to relax in such a beautiful place after such a long day of trains and stations.

After an hour or so, we decided to head down to town for dinner.

We made this decision not a moment too soon, because the minute we left, the skies opened up and we got to experience an authentic French thunderstorm. Our desperation for dryness and warmth landed us at an Italian restaurant… of all places!

No matter… the food was incredible and we were dry! Happy campers! And they had French wine… so no complaining here!

After dinner we wandered the streets of the city for a little while, taking in the city at night. We stumbled onto some sort of ceremony with people singing religious music by candlelight.

Then, of course, we got nutella crepes, cheese, and wine, and made our way back to our apartment for a relaxing night in. Before I knew it, I fell asleep, and woke up nearly 11 hours later. Wow, sleep does the body good!

Unfortunately, what sleep does not do is make travel plans for you. That’s what coffee is for.

So I woke up freaking out.

This whole ‘traveling without plans’ thing was really new to me, so I had some adjusting to do.

The boys were going to Nice that day, but I needed to make my way north. I had planned on meeting up with my friend Madison in the mountains in France, but had no plan to get there and nowhere to stay once I arrived. Plus, I had yet to travel by myself in Europe, so the thought of facing a day’s worth of trains and buses solo was definitely a daunting one.

But after some amazing pizza and a little time with wifi, I had a change of heart.

I was going to brave the trains and go north to meet Madison in Chamonix (Mont Blanc), France. And I was going to do it all by myself.

Baby steps, people. Baby steps.

So with very little time to spare, I packed up my teeny backpack, hugged the boys goodbye, and ran to the train station. I booked a reservation to Lyon, planned a train from there to St. Gervais, and was told there was a bus from the station to Chamonix. All of that left me hopeful, but utterly uncertain, as to whether or not I would make it to my friends in the mountains.

Did I make it to Chamonix? You’ll have to check back to find out… ;)

Question of the Day: What’s the biggest fear you’ve faced while traveling?

Barcelona Brings Together the Best of Buddies

Where our voyage ended, my Euro-trip began!

That final day on the ship, as well as the three days prior, left me with one of the most interesting mixes of emotions I’ve ever felt in my life. I’m still going to need more time to process all of it. On the one hand, I was understandably sad and upset about the trip ending and having to leave what have become some really amazing friends. But on the other hand, I was so incredibly thankful and happy to have had the experience at all, that it was difficult to be sad.

Those dueling emotions left my on a roller coaster of laughing and crying that lasted for hours.

That was until we got to our apartment in Barcelona.

One of the girl’s parents generously offered us a place to stay for a few days in Spain, and we were shocked when we realized that it was a massive, fully furnished, wifi-ready apartment. After spending the last 4 months living in 100 square feet of fun with another human being… to say we were elated would be an understatement.

After settling into the apartment and taking quick naps, we walked to my favorite restaurant in Barcelona, Tapas 24.

Apparently I had hyped this place up just a little bit on the ship, because we ran into some other friends while we were there. We sat for hours talking about the amazing trip we had just completed. It was really a special meal.

That afternoon we indulged in even more napping (I had slept 5 hours in the previous 50 hours on the ship) before heading out to dinner with Julianne’s parents. They had been in Barcelona for a few days, and found a great Arabian restaurant where we ate tons of food and had hookah yet again.

That night, after even more reminiscing and revelry, we went to a local club to meet up with other people from the ship. After some confusion at the door (apparently tennis shoes are frowned upon for boys in Barcelona), we spent the entire night dancing until the sun came up… literally.

The next day was another slow start, but considering how little we had all slept during our last few days on the ship, it was much needed. We actually didn’t leave the apartment until around 6pm when we headed out for a surprise dinner.

Our cabs took us to this adorable part of town with small winding roads and castle towers.

Little did we know that our surprise would be dinner… and a show!

Flamenco!

Such a great meal with wonderful people and some of the most entertaining dancing I have ever seen.

After dinner we regrouped at the apartment and headed out once again to meet some of our friends.

This time, we met at a local bar that was a little more relaxed than the night before. Once again, the reminiscing continued (this is getting old, huh?), and we stayed up late talking about our plans for the rest of our time in Europe. Missing these people already!

The next day we forced ourselves out of bed at a more respectable hour and walked around the city. It was raining, but we still got in a ton of cool sights.

We went to a massive food market.

Saw the Cathedral of Barcelona.

Took some fun pictures in the rain.

Went to La Boqueria on La Rambla for some incredible food and amazing chocolate.

Went to the National Museum.

Got some good art time in… and some silly art time…

Took some incredible pictures.

Got a great view of the city.

And did it all in time for dinner!

Later that night, we met up with one of our friends and his parents for a huge goodbye dinner.

Then, of course, we had to go out to celebrate.

This time all the parents came with us. Mom… wishing you had been there! You would have loved it! Razz-ma-tazz… like 100 clubs in one… did not disappoint!

We spent another night dancing until sunrise and making our way home in the rain. Great night, once again, with a great group of people.

The next day was my last one in Barcelona.

I somehow convinced the group to wake up early enough for church, so we got the chance to experience Mass in Barcelona. I even went to confession in a mixture of English, Spanish, and Italian… truly a unique experience.

After that, we had a quick lunch, and our group split up. I decided to take some time alone in the city and go on a run from our apartment to the Sagrada Familia church, one of the more famous Gaudi structures in the city.

The run was my first alone time since Hong Kong… approximately 3 months prior.

It was refreshing to say the least.

Plus I had some pretty things to look at!

Just as pretty as the last time I got to see it with my family!

From the church, I ran back to the apartment to meet up with everyone for dinner. We left the parents behind this time, and met up with our friends on La Rambla for our last dinner together.

Having figured out that it’s easier to endure sad things when you make them funny, we bought pitchers of sangria, found the longest straws we could, and went to town!

Great dinner!

From there, we went back to our favorite Arabian restaurant to finish of our night with hookah, wine, and of course, memories. We sat for hours telling stories and sharing insights from the trip, wondering what would come next, but mostly just not wanted to let go of what had just happened in the last 4 months.

It got emotional… I’ll just say that.

Although the goodbyes were hard… really hard… I was so grateful to have one last night with everyone.

Barcelona was amazing, but the trip doesn’t stop there.

That night at dinner, I decided to meet up with some friends who were traveling to Marseilles, France the following day.

So adios Spain and bonjour France! Here I come!

Question of the Day: Goodbyes are always hard. How do you make them easier?