The Return Odyssey, Part 2

The next day, I woke up with the intentions of figuring out how I was going to make it home (after my complimentary breakfast, of course). I met up with a couple from San Diego who was trying to get home from a vacation in Europe, so together we all attempted calling the British Airways hotline. All BA passengers were advised not to come back to Heathrow unless we had confirmed a flight reservation with our airline, so naturally the BA hotline was down. I figured that avoiding the airport may be a good decision, so I booked myself on a Eurostar train from London to Paris via the Chunnel (the tunnel that goes underneath the English Channel). After my booking was completed, I received a message from Eurostar saying that there were problems with some of the trains due to the weather and that certain trips may be disrupted. Thanks for the advance warning.

I checked out of the hotel and hopped on the Tube to St. Pancras International train station. What was to be found there? All Eurostar services had been suspended following the failure of several trains entering the Chunnel and passengers were being advised to postpone their travel if it was "non-essential." Back to the drawing board. I sat down on the metal benches in the station (open air station in England I should add- a certain region of my body was numb by the time I was finished) and tried to Skype British Airways to rebook myself. After about 20 minutes I was put through to an operator and booked on a flight later that day. I packed up my things and hopped on the Tube once again for an hour long journey back to the Lion's Den, better know as Heathrow.

Once in Heathrow, everything went (mostly) as planned with only a small delay to my flight. I arrived in Paris around 11pm, finally in my destination country but with no more trains leaving the city for the night. Thankfully, my incredible former boss from my semester abroad in 2007 told me I could spend the night at her house (I am forever grateful, Carrie!). The upside? I got to spend all of the next day walking around Paris. So unfortunate...

Friday night rolls around after a day in Paris and lo-and-behold, there's snow in the south of France. Trains are being delayed in departure and slowed during the journey adding 1-3 hours to the journey. Or so I thought. My train left at 10pm, and throughout the night the conductors kept making announcements pushing the arrival times back. 2:30am in Montpellier. 3:30am. 5am. In the end, we pulled into the train station at 6am, just as Saturday's early travelers were arriving to find their trains.

And so concludes the 1 day journey that turned into 4 days spread over 3 countries. Unexpected? Yes. Ridiculous? A bit. Worth the travel story? Definitely.