Lonely Confusion

I woke up and showered and stuff and then got my things packed. I was sad to already be getting ready to leave the house in France (view from their spectacular porch picture 2). I felt like I had just arrived (actually, I pretty much did just arrive, I ended up only spending about 24 hours at the house). We didn't leave the house just yet though. I ate some cereal with some strawberries in it for my first breakfast (at the dining table picture 2). Then Jim was still getting ready so Francoise invited me to walk down to the bakery with her to get some more stuff. We walked and talked. It looked like it might be a pretty nice day out. I got a pain au chocolat and Francoise a pastry for herself and one for Jim. She says she always gets one for him even if he says he doesn't want one because he ends up always wanting one. Haha. We walked back and the two of us ate our pastries (my second breakfast). We hopped in the car (I took a timer shot of the three of us before we left picture 3) and drove to a mountain pass where, on a non-low-cloud day one would have a fantastic view of Mont Blanc. It was a low-cloud day so the view was not that great. That's ok. We walked into some souvenir shops which were cute. Then we drove down to a little trail. The trail lead up a mountain cliff where people were practicing their climbing. It was really nice out and very beautiful (pictures 4 and 5).

We ate lunch in the town of Thône (picture 6). It is another ski resort type place. It was France's Mother's Day. So, for the third time since January, Happy Mother's Day to all you moms out there! The place was pretty busy for a while because of the holiday but we still got a table. Jim and I got the full lunch menu. We got to eat some stuff from the appetizer buffet. I had some vegetables, some taboulé (really good) and some other salad type stuff. For my main course, I had steak with a boat load of french fries, a couple skewers of grilled cherry tomatoes and pineapples, and mashed potatoes on top of mashed carrots. If that sounds like a lot to eat, let me tell you, it was. It was all soooooo good though. Jim mentioned that I had been in Europe for 4 months but still did not eat like one. By that he meant I held my utensils the wrong way. In Europe, you always hold the utensils and never set them down. You always hold the fork in the left and the knife in the right. Americans switch the fork from the left to the right (at least I do). It was very strange at first but I did feel more refined eating the way Europeans do. I explained to Jim that 99% of the time I eat finger foods alone so that's why I never learned the European way. I was glad he shared it with me though.

We drove back to the house and picked up Cici and our bags and then drove on to Geneva (Cici did her usual routine of throwing up soon after we left, Francoise cleaned it up and we drove on). I should mention our gas situation. Jim started the trip with about 140 km on the car already before we left plus we took the scenic route to the house. Then we drove through all those mountain towns on Saturday and today so we were extremely low on gas. The problem is that all the gas stations in France only have pay at the pumps open on Sunday (no place to go inside and pay). That is a problem because the pumps don't accept foreign credit cards. The other problem is that since Jim is an international worker for the UN (technically UPU, or UN Post) he doesn't pay tax on gas in Switzerland. So because of all that, Jim didn't want to, and couldn't, stop for gas in France. He used the gas he had left for the lawmower and dumped it in the car. That was enough to get us back to Geneva where he bought more gas (tax free). They dropped me off at the airport about 2 hours before my flight was to leave. I hate saying goodbye. Especially to people as nice, caring, and fun as Jim and Francoise. This is a weird metaphor but my time with them was like the eye of a storm. Beautiful, calm, and surrounded on either side by the unknown. When I was with them, I didn't have to make plans, I didn't have to decide what to eat, I didn't have to pay for lodging. It was all great. I had the same feeling of a large weight dropping back on my shoulders when I said goodbye to them as when I said goodbye to Catherine and to my mom. Oh well. That's part of the journey, learning to deal with that feeling.

So I walked into the airport and tried to check in to my flight. No go. I kept trying and eventually asked the guy at the counter. He said I wasn't on the flight. Uh oh... So here's the deal with that. I bought my ticket from Geneva to Amsterdam for 150 CHF because the price kept going up and I was worried I would have to pay more than that. The next day, I checked the price... 50 CHF. I called Easyjet to have them cancel my first ticket so I could buy a new, cheaper one. The email they sent to confirm it never said anything about cancelling the ticket, all it said was that they deducted 100 CHF. I thought they had taken care of it for me, apparently not. Apparently, they cancelled the ticket but there was a 50 CHF cancelation charge, again, the email they sent never said anything cancelling. Anyway, I was freaking out and went to the cash machine to get some money to buy a ticket from the desk (it would have been 220 CHF). The machine only let me get out 200 CHF and when I tried to get more, it said I couldn't. I was really freaking out but eventually calmed down. I went online and bought a ticket for Monday morning using my mom's credit card for 50 CHF. That meant I had to stay the night in the airport. I wasn't sure if I could do that which made me worry a whole lot. I never thought to ask someone. I bought a sandwich for dinner and a book at a bookstore. The book was by Micheal Connelly, whom I had read before. Another detective book. I finished it in about 3 hours. I listened to music and wandered around until about midnight. The airport was deserted a security guard walked up. I thought I was going to have to sleep outside or something. Turns out, the guard asked if I wanted to stay in the airport. I said I did and the guard looked at my passport and then said I could lay down wherever. They locked the doors and I slept (picture 7 is my sleeping corner).

Au Revoir!