Getting There

Traveling…

The worst part of traveling is the actual getting there part! Especially if things don’t go smoothly, and that’s exactly what happened on our trip out to Aix-en-Provence. I’ll take you along on our crazy adventure – just be happy you didn’t actually have to experience it, ha ha!

We all got to the airport okay and eventually found each other. There are 5 of us total: 4 students and myself, so at least it’s a small group. Checked in with only a little glitch using the automated check-in stations. But we got our boarding passes and went through security, no problem. Wait for a couple of hours, get on the plane. None of us are seated near each other, but that’s not a big deal. I have a middle seat in a 4-seat row. I’m surrounded by other students going on other study abroad programs – to Spain, Italy, and France – so we’d have things to talk about!

We waited a while in the take-off line, so we were running a little behind, but they thought we’d make up that time in the air, no problem. It’s finally our turn to take off, and off we go speeding down the runway, and I’m thinking the plane is shaking a bit more than I remember, but whatever. 
Right as we’re going to liftoff, the pilot hits the brakes, aborting our takeoff! It wasn’t a smooth stop, since we were going so fast, but the pilot managed to do it safely and staying on the tarmac, so we were all shaken, but grateful. The pilot comes on and says that something was wrong; the plane isn’t supposed to shake that much.

We taxi back to the terminal and after about 30 minutes, they have us deplane. I asked the flight attendant to thank the pilot for us as I left the plane – it’s not easy to stop a jumbo jet like that!! They told us to wait in the area because they weren’t going to cancel the flight, the mechanics are just going to fix something and then we’ll get back on the plane and be on our way. It was an evening flight and we were supposed to have dinner on the plane, so they ordered food to be brought to the gate for everyone. I had the airline give the students food vouchers so they could get what they needed in the terminal since some of them have major food allergies.

In the meantime get a message from the airline saying that because of the delay, I’ll miss my connection from Madrid to Marseille, so they rebooked me on another flight out at 4:50pm, so I’d still make it to Marseille at a decent hour. My students get a message along the same lines, except that they’ve been rebooked on the 9:30pm flight instead of the 4:50pm flight and would arrive in Marseille at 11:10pm. So while we were waiting, I went to customer service, and the person standing right behind me in line is a student going to the same program as my students, but traveling solo and had been rebooked on the later flight. He was in line just trying to confirm that he did have a spot on the later flight, since he was having trouble confirming. He was going to have to coordinate getting to his host family by himself since the university representative wouldn’t be at the airport that late. I was giving him the pointers on getting the bus and a taxi and such. He then asked me to help him with the agent, so when it’s finally my turn, I explain that I have to be on the same flight as my students. The woman tells me that both of the flights to Marseille are full and she can’t move me. I remembered that the student behind me had a seat on the later flight, but it would be so much better for him to be on the earlier flight so the housing coordinator could still meet him at the airport and his host family could pick him up. So I called him over and asked the agent to trade our seats. She wasn’t thrilled about the extra work, but in the end we were able to get it done and I got a seat with my students! We’d have a 9 hour layover in Madrid, but at least we were all on the same plane. Phew!

Airport sights!

After a couple of hours, they tell us that the mechanics are just finishing up the final inspection of the new front tire they had changed, but that we were then waiting for a new pilot. Once he comes, we’re good to go. We get back on the plane when he shows up and we head out, no problems on the take off this time. It’s 4.5 hours after we were supposed to leave. One bonus out of this was that the women who were sitting in the window & aisle seats next to my row decided not to go on that flight anymore, so I stole their seats! Got both to myself and was better able to rest on the flight than if I'd been in my original middle seat.

We arrive in Madrid around noon, and our next flight leaves at 9:30pm, so we had some time to kill. Since it was our first port in Europe, we went through customs. I was glad because we’d get to Marseille pretty late, and then we didn’t have to worry about customs. 

I get €120 in food vouchers from the airline and decide to save it to have a nice sit-down dinner before our flight. They gave us “breakfast” on the plane just before we landed, so we weren’t terribly hungry or anything, just quite tired. We find a place where we can sprawl out a bit to wait and rest a little. I have a pretty good group of students who are mostly laid back and going with the flow – even though most of them haven’t traveled much. A little frustration here and there, but in general it was okay. I spend some time coordinating with the university and the host families, letting them know about the delay and figuring out the logistics of getting the students to their respective host families that late at night. We decide on a Japanese restaurant for dinner and enjoyed some good food right before getting on our final flight.

We board our next flight at about 9pm, and the sun was just setting, still pretty light outside! We had to wait on the tarmac for a long time and took off about 40 minutes late, so we got to Marseille just before midnight. We didn’t have to wait long for the luggage, so we got on the last shuttle bus to the train station in Aix.

 It was about 1am when we arrived and 2 of my students’ host lives right there, so we all walked about 5 minutes to drop them off. I left them in the capable hands of their host mom and took the other 2 students back down near the train station to hail a cab. We get a cab easily and head to the host that is the farthest away, but we have trouble finding her and contacting her, so the taxi driver gets annoyed. I decided to go on to the next student’s host and we’d try again for the other one. When we got to the other host family, she was there waiting, so that student was handed over to her host mom. The taxi driver had another call, so he decided the leave us there – refusing to take us back to the other host mom. I wasn’t amused.

The other host mom responds right as the taxi is driving away telling us exactly how to get to her place – not the easiest to find, but not that hard once we knew where it was. The student is in tears by now, just out of sheer exhaustion and frustration as we have to walk a few minutes to a main road to get another taxi. I called a taxi company and they sent a car right away for us. It’s about 2am when we finally get to the host’s apartment, and she came out to get the student. I apologized profusely for the late hour! I was glad to have found the place and that all the students were now safe and sound with their host families! 

The taxi driver was nice enough to wait for me, so I jumped back in and gave him my address – on “Rue de l’école” and off we go. I had it up on my GPS because I’d been using the GPS to find the student’s apartment. I notice the taxi is going the opposite direction than he should. I think maybe he’s detouring slightly around a closed road, but then he still goes in the wrong direction.

Rue de l'école

 I told him he was going in the opposite direction. He says, no, it’s 14km from here. I said no, it’s only a 14 minute WALK from where we were. I could have easily walked it, but I was so tired. He says, “No, my GPS says it’s 14km to Rue des écoles.” I reiterated that it was “Rue de l’école” not “Rue des écoles” – which is the plural of the first one and they were not the same road! I had him turn around and I guided him to where I needed to be, but got out when I realized that because of a road closure, it would be faster/easier for me to walk the final 5 minutes. Even in my state of sheer exhaustion I stopped to admire the 12th century church I walked by to get to my apartment. 

I rented an AirBnB and my host had sent me instructions on where to find the key that she hid, since I wasn't arriving at a decent hour anymore – and I was so thankful that her instructions, while a bit complicated, were very clear. Finally, at about 2:30am, I was in the apartment I’ve rented for the next 10 days! I emailed our arrival confirmation to my office back home, took a shower and went to sleep – 30 hours after we started the journey!

It was certainly not a “bon voyage” but we’re all here!