Flight to France, Let the Adventure Begin

Hello blog world! We're finally in France! I've decided to try this whole blog thing out mostly for my own benefit, so I can look back and remember all the adventures we've had here, but also for any friends or family who may wish to keep updated on our travels.

We arrived in France last Tuesday, June 12th after the longest travel day ever. We were supposed to fly directly from Toronto to Brussels, and then from Brussels to Toulouse, France shortly after. However, our flight turned out to be one from Toronto to Montreal, Montreal to Brussels, and finally Brussels to Toulouse. We also had an unexpected 5 hour layover in Brussels because there was a mix up in our flight scheduling and we arrived too late to catch our connecting flight. On the bright side we were met at the gate by airport personnel who offered us each 16 Euros worth of airport vouchers.

What does one do with 5 hours to kill in Brussels airport?

1) Find wifi station to check email and inform those picking you up in Toulouse that you will be much later than anticipated.

2) Discover that wifi station is some sort of Brussels torture device designed to exhaust your already exhausted post flight body. To get internet and power one must plug computer into station attached to bike, to keep power going one must peddle, if one stops peddling power and internet shut off. WHY??????

Dave and I spent the next 20 minutes taking turns to keep our internet running. Finally able to send our important email, legs burning, lungs out of breath we searched for something else to pass the time....

All that biking brought on a thirst that needed to be quenched, which brings me to the next thing to do when passing time at Brussels airport.

3) Find a pub and order beer. We ordered two beers that seemed to hit the spot and while enjoying them at a little pub in the airport it hit us....I wonder if these vouchers are only for food? And that's when we made our greatest discovery, the vouchers could indeed be used to purchase beer. Thank you airport gods!! We spent the majority of our remaining time in the airport enjoying Leffe Blonde and Bruin and also nibbling on some snacks.

 

Finally, our flight was ready to leave. We were so exhausted by that point that we slept most of the flight to Toulouse. When we arrived we were greeted by two school colleagues of Dave's who kindly offered to drive us to our new place in Toulouse. Here's where we encountered our next problem. Picture this: Dave and Ellen packed for one year away in France. Ellen is a girl. Dave and Ellen have 4 suitcases, plus carry on luggage. Europeans have very small cars. Very small car + four people + four suitcases + carry on luggage = not enough room in the car. By the time we maneuvered our luggage into the car we realized that three people barely fit in there. That meant, one of the students who came to pick us up had to take the bus home.
After all that we managed to make it to our new place. Which, although smaller than we expect, and lacking a kitchen sink (didn't expect that one), isn't so bad.  In fact, now that we purchased some house hold items and created our own kitchen sink out of a large plastic bin, it's cozy enough to feel like our little home away from home.

Well, that just about covers our adventure getting here, which is enough for a first blog post I think. Next time I shall tell you about our first week adventures.

Until then....

Au Revoir