I arrived at Beauvais Airport outside Paris Saturday afternoon after a night and half day in the airport. Luckily with other students there I managed to sleep some, and got to know Terminal 1 very well. I slept on the flight, which went quickly, and I arrived early and caught the first shuttle into Paris, which dropped me off at Porte Maillot. There, I unloaded my traveler's backpack, my small backpack, and my rolling suitcase (at 20.5 kg) and walked the couple of blocks to the metro station. I have very few complaints about the Paris metro system, which I find one of the best organized, efficient, and quick of all metros I've ever been in. On the other hand, they could do with a few less stairs.
I made it without too much difficulty to the Gare Montparnasse, although by then I was beginning to feel the 36 hours or so without a shower or change of clothes. I bought my train ticket after going up and down the same escalator several times (still with all my luggage in tow) until I found the ticket booth I needed. I had a few minutes respite, then boarded my train, a TGV, which is amazingly comfortable, and I promptly fell asleep.
Three hours later, Catherine, my "aunt", picked me up in Vannes, and we went back to her place. We had some tea and cookies and talked until about midnight, when I crawled into bed and slept as soundly as I can ever remember. I took a shower sitting down in the bathtub in the morning, had a breakfast of toasted baguette with butter or honey dipped in hot chocolate, then packed up. Catherine and I visited the cemetery where my grandparents are buried, and walked for a while. It was beautiful and peaceful, and I had never visited before. We drove a little around the town of Vannes, which I remembered vaguely from four years ago when I visited with my parents, then went back to Catherine's for a minute.
We drove to Pen Castel, about a half hour away, and stopped by the market where my "uncle" Jean-Francois, Catherine's brother, sells his wine. He recognized me from my visit four years ago, when I stayed with him and his family for two weeks, and gave me a big hug hello. It was nice seeing him again; he hasn't changed at all, he still wears the straw hat that says Muscadet and the same large apron behind the same stall with the same bottles of wine in front of him. We tasted one, then Catherine and I went for a walk by the water, looking out over the ocean towards home. We joined Jean-Francois, his wife Muriel, and two of their daughters Amandine and Segolene at their summer house in Pen Castel for lunch. It's currently under serious reconstruction, since they're remodeling the whole thing, and there are only two habitable rooms. I'm sorry I won't be back in a couple of months to see the finished thing. I caught up with Amandine over lunch and chatted with my family; it was great seeing them again and I felt very much at home.
We hung around until about 5:30, when I said goodbye to Catherine and we all drove back to La Fecuniere, their vineyard outside Valet, an hour and a half inland from the coast. We arrived and helped set up the table, and soon later were enjoying a good dinner and a movie. I called my mom on Skype later that evening to wish her a Happy Mother's Day, then went to bed not too late after updating my journal. I again slept soundly until past 9:30, enjoyed a long hot shower, then ventured downstairs for breakfast. I spent the rest of the morning reading, taking pictures of the house, writing in my journal, and cuddling under a blanket.
We had lunch all together downstairs, then I took the dogs out for a walk around the vineyard. We explored a bit and I took more pictures, then came back and relaxed for a bit. I wrote some, chatted online, and at 5 left with Amandine for Valet, which is just five minutes away. Amandine had a dentist appointment so I took the opportunity to walk around the town, which really took about five minutes. I walked around the church, the cemetery (which are amazingly relaxing and peaceful places), walked into the few shops that are open on Mondays, got a croissant and sat on a bench watching the people. It was pretty nice out, not too chilly but with a breeze. We came home and I helped set the table for dinner, which was again delicious.
We left soon after dinner for a movie, Coco Avant Chanel, the story of Gabrielle Chanel, the woman who built the Chanel enterprise singlehandedly. It was pretty interesting actually, and well played. I just got back and decided to finish writing before going to bed soon. Another day hanging out tomorrow before leaving for Manchester for the next week.
