A Ticket to Ride

I haven't blogged for a while as I have been in the UK for a visit mixed with business and pleasure! The client meetings went very well and it was great to meet face to face for a change. 

I spent time with my Gorgeous Girl and then met up for a big family reunion over a traditional Indian takeaway!  The get-together was bitter sweet as 12 of us spent, probably our last night in our grandparents old house which has now been sold.

Then the next morning three generations went for a walk in the local woods, a walk we had been doing for all our lives in sunshine, rain and snow.  I then had to say goodbye...to my GG, my mother, uncles, sister, brother, nieces and nephews....all those hugs and kisses....it was emotional!

I got to the local station in plenty of time to catch a train up to St Pancras International...but the train was cancelled and then the next one arrived late and crawled along.  I was so late...I threw away my ticket in disgust.  Big mistake!!!   I should have kept my ticket to see if I could claim compensation.

I ran like a mad woman to the Eurostar gate but with only 10 minutes to spare, I wasn't allowed through.  I couldn't believe it!  I needed to get to Lille, the last train of the day, to get my next connection.  Luckily a very kind girl on the Eurostar desk took pity on me, as by now I was sobbing ...and gave me a free replacement ticket for the next morning that would take me as far as Lille. 

So faced with a night at Kings Cross (Eurostar wouldn't let me sit in their lounge and told me it was too dangerous to sit in a cafe!!) or paying £80 for the cheapest B & B I could find.....I ended up going back for another night with my family who had stayed on after the reunion.

The next morning I set off ultra early and retraced my steps up to St Pancras.   I enjoyed a free coffee thanks to my Cafe Nero loyalty card!  And I met a lovely elderly lady who was travelling on her own by TGV for the first time, all the way down to Marseille.  We sat in the sunshine listening to an accordian player at Lille and chatted while we shared our packed lunches.  

I then had to pay an extra 100 euros to get back via Paris to my local French TGV station, where I had parked my little old Peugeot. It started up like a dream...and I was on my way back to rural bliss.  When I finally arrived back in Le Morvan, the sun was shining through big, black clouds ....and there was a rainbow, arc de ciel, .....I stopped the car, enjoyed the view and finally breathed!!  I was home.