Le voyage et l'arivée

After a very long journey, I have arrived in Aix! The Indy to Philly flight was fine but I was very nervous. We get on the plane and the captain says it’s not a great day for flying and to expect lots of turbulence…great. But it was fine, and no one sat next to me so I got to sit by the window! It was entertaining when I wasn’t listening to music, as there was a guy with special needs who kept talking the entire time about how Christmas was over, “time to put the Christmas tree and all the Christmas stuff away, and all the Christmas songs are done so it’s back to regular songs now…” Then at the end of the flight the flight attendant said thank you for flying etc. and Happy Holidays! And I hear “Yeah, Happy New Year! Christmas is over now….” And then he started talking about how his dad was sick, and how “one time I had ‘you-monia’ and my voice sounded bad.. I had you-monia once cause my voice sounded real bad…” Entertaining.

The Philly to Munich flight was not so great. It was supposed to leave at 6:35 pm and land at 8:45 am Munich time (6 hours ahead of EST). We boarded the plane by 6 and went through all the safety things they say (on little tvs in front of every seat) and sat there for a while; the ETA was an hour earlier because it would only take 7 hours to get there. Then around 7 the captain says there will be a delay because they were doing some maintenance. At about 8 they said the left engine wasn’t starting and they were going to have to fix it so we all had to get off the plane with all of our things in case we ended up changing planes. There was a rush of people with connecting flights from Munich (including me) to get those flights changed since we would be leaving later; they told us we should be back at the terminal at 9 and should be leaving soon after. I changed my flight from Munich to Marseille from arriving at 12:45 to leaving at 2:45 pm and arriving at 4:20 pm. Then we waited and 9:00 went by, then at about 9:30 they said we were going to take a different plane so we had to move terminals and should be boarding at about 10. At this point, I was really tired but at least my nerves had worn off. The Philly airport was huge and pretty neat with tons of stores, but I ended up being there for 8 hours and was sick of it! We waited another hour while they were cleaning, catering, and checking everything, then finally got to board. The flight didn’t leave until 11:30 pm, and they served dinner at about midnight. It was a long night and very difficult to sleep or be comfortable. I was glad to have an aisle seat though so I could stretch my legs a little. We arrived at 12:45 pm Munich time.

The Munich to Marseille flight was wonderful. I had to wait in a long line to get my new ticket once I got to the airport but luckily it didn’t end up taking too long and I got to the terminal on time. The Munich airport was pretty nice. It was really big and not very crowded at all. At the terminal, the person who checks you in called me to come up to make sure my checked luggage would be sent with the right flight. Then I got called up again and was told they were upgrading me to business! 1A, front of the plane with no one next to me. We took a bus to the plane and walked up the stairs (never did that before) to board. I had lots of leg room and fell asleep right away I was so exhausted. When I woke up, other passengers were eating the “snack” that they served. I wasn’t feeling hungry and told the flight attendant I didn’t want any right away. I enjoyed the beautiful view out the window as we passed over the alps and then started feeling hungry. I got the “snack” which consisted of a roll, a pretzel roll, Bresaola rolls on bell pepper puree with marinated green asparagus, curried chicken salad with crème fraîche, and amarettini delice. The Bresaola roll in the sauce with the asparagus was soooo good. They said it was cow meat and it was wrapped around some sort of cheese and it was just delicious! The chicken curry was tasty as well. I was so happy to have been upgraded and to have that delicious “snack” that was more like a meal! We started getting closer to landing and it was just beautiful. We flew over the coast area and it was sunny and all the houses and buildings were really neat looking. 

After we landed and I got my luggage, I found the taxis and took one to the hotel. The drive was beautiful and I cannot wait to explore the area more! The hotel was nice, they have apartment-type rooms with a ton of space and a little “kitchen” area that would be great for a long stay. I showered and went to bed and slept for 11 solid hours! This morning, I got ready then called my host family to tell them when I would be coming. I arrived just after 11 and met Madame Esslinger! She showed me my room, which is fairly small. The only downside is that there isn’t an empty dresser or someplace to put my clothes, but I will just keep things in my suitcases. There is a little space in the closet where I hung things but there is a bunch of old stuff in there. My room contains a display of 6 stuffed squirrels, a bird, and another animal that I don’t recognize, and some small antlers hanging on the “walls” of the display. The animals are playing musical instruments and the bird appears to be the conductor. I have not yet asked where it came from, but it just reminds me of the mice Steve Carell’s character dresses in Dinner for Schmucks, which I recently watched before I left. I am on the second floor of the house, and more students live on the third floor. I had some tea, bread, and fruit after I got my things sorted. Mme Esslinger (Hélène) told me about some of her past students who keep in touch and showed me some pictures they have sent her. She has been housing students for 34 years! She calls the older female ones her filles (daughters) and recent ones petite-filles (granddaughters). Monsieur Esslinger is at the hospital right now, but I’m not sure what for. Claudia, the other IU student staying here, arrived this afternoon. I’m looking forward to getting to know her and the Esslingers and to meeting the other students when they return from holiday! And I can’t wait to explore Aix tomorrow!