That is angry. Because I'm angry. Not really - I've come to terms with my position, but it could be a lot better - i.e. I could be in LONDON. But no. Basically, we could do nothing about it, and we at least get much more relaxing and much less expensive weekend hanging out in Paris than we would have in London. Alright, here's what's happened so far, and I'll add updates as they come.
SO we leave Nantes at 5:30. Train was delayed just a little while, and it had to go slower due to snow and cold conditions on the rails. We get to Paris about 20 minutes late, tackle Montparnasse after a while and then have to trek to the metro to get to Paris Nord. That is always fun, and then plus ALL of our luggage - it was a good time, and my arms about fell off. Also, on our tickets for the next train, it said we had to be there at least 30 minutes before the train left to get through customs and all that, so we were sprinting as we got there about 6 minutes before the scheduled time. But that train was late as well, and we had lots of fun adventures getting through British customs and security and all that - oh the Brits (ALSO I got my passport stamped with a UK stamp! However, the coolest part is that on paper, I entered the UK...however, I never LEFT it hahahaha). ANYWAY.
We get on the train. I'm freaking out about the Chunnel, and think I'm going underwater at all times and it was scary. But then, we slow down and stop...and they say "oh, there's a train stopped in the tunnel, we're just going to wait." THEN another train breaks. So we can't get through at all. So, the conductor - obviously stressing out a lot - tells us we're turning around to go back to Paris. But then, changes his mind and we decide to wait it out. At this time, it is about 2:30 am, and he says they've started evacuating passengers out of the tunnel, and it should be open about 4:30 am. At 4:30 am, they said there have been delays and it won't be open until 6:30 am. At 6:30 am, it was delayed until 8:30 am. At 8:30 am, he gives up completely. It was sad - he sounded so defeated after the cheery announcement bell came on, and then he was just so sad. So we decide to turn around to Paris, with a stop at Lille for those who want it. We could have taken a ferry from Lille, but then found out that the ports were all closed, plus all the highways in Britain were closed too so there were no busses/cabs that could have gotten us to London from Dover.
ANYWAY. So now we're back at Paris Nord station. Trying to get off the train, the doors are all frozen shut. Awesome. So we wait, queued at the door with all our luggage, for a while for them to thaw haha. It was priceless, really. Then, we get off the train in masses. The train company - Eurostar - had provided drinks and croissants for everyone just off the platform, which was really nice. I truly think they handled the whole situation really well, especially seeing that there was absolutely nothing they could have done. However, everyone was just freaking out; screaming at the representatives they had on the platform, demanding reimbursements and complimentary hotel rooms/taxis/meals/internet...my goodness. I felt so bad for them. Plus, there was a TON of media that was there, interviewing people and everything AND the CEO of the Eurostar was there, being interviewed. I GOT ON THE PARIS NEWS! If you go to Yahoo news, then there's a bunch of video links. Here's the link: http://uk.video.search.yahoo.com/video/play?p=eurostar&n=21&ei=utf-8&fr=yfp-t-702&tnr=21&vid=0001852013431. I'm about 45 seconds in. I look really really concerned. I was trying to translate for a Spanish lady. Which was difficult. haha. It was exciting!!!
So, we went to search for a taxi to the closest hotel; got in a taxi, asked him to drive to the closest hotel; he asked if we had a reservation; when he found out we didn't, he kicked us out. That was pleasant. But, we walked around and then found a fairly nice hotel that had rooms. So we checked in, and then came up and SHOWERED and it was lovely. Then, we bought internet and skyped with parents and figured out flights and relaxed a bit.
SO, right now the plan is as follows: checkout is tomorrow at noon. We're going to head directly to Charles de Gaulle to get a flight to London. We're booked on a flight at 7:30, but the airport is going to be mad crazy so we're allowing as much time as possible. Then, we will get to Heathrow, and then wait it out until 10 am Monday morning, which was when our original flight that's been booked since April leaves for Chicago. CROSS YOUR FINGERS FOR US IT'S GOING TO BE A BUMPY RIDE!!
Alright - so I'm in Charles de Gaulle now, about a half hour before we board. As of right now, the flight is on time and still scheduled. Which is AWESOME because the previous flight and the flight after ours were both cancelled. SO for now, we're lucky, but the fingers are still crossed!
Next update - we're now in Heathrow. It's now 2:42 am, but it's 3:42 am for me. We've camped out in this internet cafe outside of security. When we got here, we meandered around and found the right terminal eventually. So we get here, the United terminal is closed so we can check in at the self-do it kiosks, but we can't check our bags. But we really want to spend the night inside of security, but we can't do it with our bags obviously. So somebody tells us that there's an overnight baggage storage place. So we check our bags in there, and head to security. However, there they tell us that you're not allowed to go through security unless it's the day of your flight. Obviously it was the day before ours. So we couldn't get through - and we decided to go and get our bags back to save the 8 pound fee if it was going to be pointless.....but we went back to the people, and asked to get our bags out. It had been literally less than 10 minutes. However, the lady said they'd already been processed and we'd have to pay. So we just freaked out at her. Obviously, it was ridiculous, and she did NOT understand. It was SO frustrating. Then, we demanded to call the manager (one of the plus sides was that we could do all this in English, and it was probably 10 times more effective) and he did not understand either. It was really really frustrating. So we're now stuck outside of security, in an internet cafe, being cold and uncomfortable. BUT our flight is still on time, and we will be home within 20 hours of now. It will happen. That's all for now!
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