From Searcy to Chaumont

After nearly two months of being on the run, we are finally settled into our new home. This was our journey:

On 30 August 2011 we left our apartment keys in Kevin’s new kitchen and climbed, sweating, into the car. It was 5pm and we had a 3 and a half hour drive to Fayetteville, AR where we would visit all the Lacys, Philips, Tennants and Samples we could find. The weather conditions were pleasant, for once, on our drive. The only problem was we had two bikes perched precariously onto the trunk of the car; although they were being held aloft by the bike rack, the rack was threatening to fall the entire trip. After watching the bikes more than the road, we finally arrived at the Tennant’s lodge. A few wonderful days passed (one in Grove, Oklahoma where we were blessed to attend the Samples Family Reunion) and then we were obliged to continue on our way.

Leaving our bikes and fears in AR, we set our headlights towards Flower Mound, TX. We passed the next week + 2 days sleeping in, going to appointments, and spending waaaaaaaaaaay too much money at REI. Our plane was scheduled out of Dallas for Pittsburgh on Tuesday 13 September, so we packed our bags Sunday night and repacked them Monday night, ditching kilograms of unnecessary clothing. The second week + 2 days (in Pittsburgh) passed as quickly as the first. Less sleeping in, more appointments, and not enough babysitting time filled our days. Thoroughly exhausted and emotionally drained, we left for DC where we would have the chance to visit some long lost friends and say even more good-byes.

The greyhound was an experience in itself. Our bus left at 9:00 sharp. Depositing two large 23kg bags a piece, we watched as others carried on to the bus their only possessions. We had forgotten that it is, generally, those who cannot afford plane tickets who take the bus. Feeling guilty and guiltily uncomfortable the entire trip, we finally arrived in DC at 16:00. We spent all the next day walking through the city, preparing for life without a car. On Saturday 24 September 2011, we said goodbye and took our shuttle to Dulles. Arriving obnoxiously early, we were through security by 17:30, our plane to depart at 20:30. We said our last goodbyes on the phone, went to the gate and boarded the plane.

Our plane landed safely in Iceland just as the sun was about to rise. We went through security again and learned that our next flight was delayed an hour. With the extra time, we decided to search the airport for the food court. We found a place that served a “hot” breakfast. Starving, we filled our plates with cold scrambled eggs, microwaved bacon and one juice box a piece. Five minutes and $44 later (Brittany's mouth literally dropped open when we heard the price), we were wishing we had chosen the bag of chips at the other end of the airport. So we boarded the plane with our pocket book bleeding and our ears delighted to hear the indiscernible French that was being spoken on every side of us. We both napped on and off through this flight and welcomed the late landing in Paris.

 

We found the toilets, then our bags (much more quickly and easily than we had expected). The first thing we did was take out our hiking packs, and stuff our plane backpacks into our other suitcases. This way, we only had three rolling bags and two packs to carry the remaining 343km to our destination. We met another assistant who was going a similar direction as us. So after stumbling through getting directions from an airport worker, and fighting with the ticket machine, we finally began our way to the RER.

We took the RER (the train system that connects the outskirts of Paris to either the center or other outskirts) to Gare du Nord (one of the major hubs of many metro lines, RER lines, and trains). From Gare du Nord we took the metro to Gare de l’Est. After buying our train tickets, we had 10 minutes to board. Unfortunately, there were not two seats together, so we and our five bags camped out in an area “between two cars” for the first hour and a half of our journey. This was quite an uncomfortable ride. Surprisingly, while sitting on the floor, Derek was able remain in that place somewhere between being asleep and being awake for the majority of this part of the ride. Two seats opened up eventually, so we abandoned our rollers and snatched them. An hour later, at 19:11, the brakes squeaked and we glided into Gare de Chaumont.

We were met by Brit’s supervisor who helped us with our bags, and drove us to our new apartment (pictures forthcoming). He took a few minutes to give us a tour of the apartment, show us the food he had bought for our first few days, and sketch out a map of Chaumont. On 25 September 2011, we climbed into bed at 20:30, delirious. On 26 September 2011, we woke up at 03:00. After about an hour or so, we fell back asleep. We finally woke up at 13:15 to a beautiful-sunshiny day in Chaumont, France.