Montpellier - Week 1

You know your in France when...

I have too much luggage. Way too much luggage. When did I realize this you may ask? Well, I really knew it all along, however I was made aware when I had to carry it up to the top of the train we took to Montpellier. Oh my goodness. Anyways, we arrived in Montpellier and it was a beautiful day. It had started to rain as we left Paris and in Montpellier there were blue skies, a bit of wind, and a nice warm temperature. In other words, completely different from Wales. Each place has its own charm though, don't get me wrong. So, I get off the train and meet my host-mother and I am all at once immersed in French. She is apparently super sporty, having hiked mountains in Peru and is one of the people you see skiing up the mountain. There is a bit of an accent though: un accent du soleil :) Overall though, this first week has been super busy and it's hard to believe that barely one week ago I arrived in Paris. It feels like I've been here for months!

Paris

Definitely in Paris

So, relatively speaking my journey to Paris from London was uneventful. I got to St. Pancras, realized I have a ridiculous amount of luggage in comparison to everyone else, and boarded the train. I'm pretty sure I passed through the Chunnel, but it was dark so there wasn't much to see in the transition from England to France. The sky got grayer and cloudier as we approached Paris and right when I walked outside to stand in line for a taxi at Gare du Nord, it started pouring. Of course my umbrella was packed somewhere in the depths of my suitcase along with my rain coat, so I got rained on. One of my bags isn't waterproof so some things got damp, but it wasn't too bad. Nothing disastrous thank goodness, knock on wood. So I made it to Paris and took a taxi to the hotel. Thursday was a free day so I decided to head to the catacombs. Unfortunately the line was super long and I was told that I wouldn't be able to make it in before they closed at 4PM. So I journeyed over to the Pompidou Center to see some more modern art. Also, this is pretty accurate :)

So long, Cardiff

My minuscule hotel room

I've officially left Cardiff and it was a little saddening to think that I probably  won't be returning anytime soon. It feels like just yesterday I was walking through the slush looking for my flat and now it's June and I'm about to start the second part of my studies abroad. Before heading to Paris though I have three days in London, but I don't really have any plans. Last time I was Harry Potter focused and this time is more of a what seems interesting/is free. Free being key. The hotel room I'm staying in is so basic it's comical. Oh lordy, a pigeon nearly flew in through my window. No need to worry; I'm quick-thinking and was able to clap my hands to scare it away. I feel like all city pigeons, Venetian pigeons in particular, are a tad unstable. I'll try to recap my adventures thus far:

Reflections

As my time in the UK nears its end I find myself reflecting on the past five months I've spent in Cardiff and now I'm going to try to write down this semi-mental list of things I've noticed that are different here.

Wales - Llandudno & Llanberis

Trekking up Mount Snowdon

Great Orme mini golf

From Holyhead I took a train to Llandudno, which in a basic sense was a resort town for the aged. Great weather - I got sunburned again though, which made me realize that I should've taken the sunscreen from OBS when I had the chance. I visited the Great Orme in Llandudno, though I'm still not entirely clear on what it was, but it was a nice walk down back to town. I took the tram up mostly because I didn't know where the trail was. There was actually a mini-golf course at the top, which was the first sign as to how touristy this location was. This made me appreciate the fact that there is not yet a "Moher Mini Golf" at the Cliffs of Moher. After the Great Orme I walked along the pier, which was a bit sad. The word that kept going through my mind was derelict. Definitly long past it's prime, which could perhaps be the reason there were so so many old people - they obviously came to Llandudno as kids when it was in it's peak and are now returning for their retirement... Perhaps? I walked to the Little Orme at the other end of the "boardwalk," but I didn't climb it and am not sure if you can. The beaches at Llandudno have very little sand. There are mostly rocks that look like what I imagine dinosaur eggs to look like and yet, people were sunbathing on them. It just looked very uncomfortable to me.

Ireland - Belfast & Dublin

Giant's Causeway

The journey from Doolin to Belfast was probably the most complex part of the entire trip going from Doolin to Galway, Galway to Dublin Airport, and Dublin Airport to Belfast, taking about eight hours. We made it though! It was a long day of sitting, but what was interesting was that upon entering Northern Ireland there was an explosion of Union Jacks so you knew you were no longer in the Republic of Ireland but rather Northern Ireland, still part of the UK. Even some curbs in Belfast were painted red, white, and blue.

Ireland - Doolin

OBS with awkward suitcase

Before I could commence my travels in Ireland I had to catch a 4:55AM train to Bristol Temple Meads and then a bus to Bristol Airport. Paranoia is the word that comes to mind when I think back to that pre-dawn walk along the Taff Trail, but it's my own fault. I've started watching too many horror shows and I'm too cheap for a taxi. Anyways, I made it to the train station, however, and I feel as though this is a solid piece of advice, I hadn't collected my tickets the day before and I recommend that if you know your old-fashioned swipe card isn't accepted by the quick-track ticket machines and you pre-purchased your tickets and need an actual human to print them for you, get them printed the day before your pre-dawn train because no one is at the ticket counter at 4:40AM. But if you don't do this then simply feign a catatonic state on the train and the ticket-collectors should leave you alone :) So, not having my tickets did not deter me from boarding my train, and I eventually made it to the airport and hopped on the shamrock decorated Aer Lingus plane to Dublin. Smooth flight, arrived in Dublin, found OBS, and then we boarded a bus for Galway. Relevant.