Proceed with caution...

(I just read through it and I apologize in advance for the length!  I didn't realize so much had happened in two days..)

So, proceed with caution if you dare ;) its long!

Ok... so, I thought I was going to be able to start from our day yesterday in a blog.. but I realized I haven’t even had a chance to type up about London.

So, with that being said... here goes.

We got up at 5:30 thursday to head to the ferry in Dublin to get to Holyhead to catch a train to London.  Well, it being such a dreary day and so early, no one was open at the ticket desks to find out which bus station number we needed to be at.  After 30mins of asking 5 different people and going all over with 5 different answers, this kind older gentleman who reminded me of a taller, skinnier version of the old man in the movie “Up” came over and asked if we needed help. Of COURSE we did!  We said thank you, but we have had 5 different people help us and not one person had the same answer.  He told us to wait there, and the sweet man ran (literally...as an older man in his 70s could) all over and found out exactly where we needed to be.  He was so sweet.. He just laughed and said “sounds like you’re having an irish morning” :)

So, we got to the ferry just in time... I believe we were like the last two people to get on... I was absolutely terrified that we were going to miss it.  It was my first ferry ride and I was so excited and nervous.  We FINALLY had a real breakfast...even though it was expensive, I was very happy to get my coffee and toast!

After 3hrs on the ferry we took a bus to the train station and met a sweet family... the Mom, Lisa I think.. her son was Eric and her daughter was Rachel.  They ended up saying they were headed to London as well... and that the Non stop train was leaving in 8minutes... we MIGHT make it!  We thought the non stop train was at 12:30....nope.

Anyways, so we all get off the bus and are literally running to the station... a few other guys figured out we were all going in the same direction and they ran, too.  For some reason unbeknownst to me, my suitcase keeps getting heavier even though I haven’t bought anything!  I was running as fast as my little feet with a backpack, suitcase, and over the shoulder purse would let me.  Everyone else ran ahead and I told Meg to catch it for me. As I’m running and literally am less than 200yards from the door I see the time and its leaving in 11seconds... some lady said, “Oh, train to london?” I said yes.. she pointed “Oh, well.. there it goes” and I saw it pulling out.  We JUST missed it.

So we waited for another 20mins for the next train and had to make another stop.  At least we had our little family of 3 we met to talk to.  They were so kind and found out her friend also got in A LOT of trouble for picking a flower in Ireland.  Thank goodness I am not the only one. :)

After we made it to London, we found our hostel and it was NOT what the website had said.  It was supposed to be this really cool old prison and well.. it wasn’t cool.  Our keys never worked, it was a maze to get anywhere..the travel girl was NO help.  She was “sick” and wanted to leave and not help.  Well, she gave us bad directions for a night tour.  We took the metro (loved it!) and made it to Green Park which she said we needed to walk about 2 miles to get to Piccadilly Station Circus to get the bus.  Well, when we got there nobody was helpful... and then some older gent said the night tours were at Green Park :(  Well, someone FINALLY let us get on a tour bus. And they buzzed right through it... no pictures hardly, and then it started raining.  Well, we were over it by then and just wanted to leave.  We got to our hostel and our roomates were pretty cool.  Claire from Australia, and Shannon from South Africa but she lived in Australia and was studying abroad a year in Germany.  Anyways, that night we both had some crazy migraines... I didn’t get any sleep because I literally couldn’t put my head to anything without searing pain.  Finally I fell asleep for an hour.

When we got up, we ate breakfast and headed to the station to go to Paris.  Well, turns out..even though you have the eurorail, the rules have changed and you have to have a special reservation to go from Country to Country and the Paris train was going to be over 300 euros :( Well, Megan immediately began to cry and I just told her to calm down and asked the ladies where did we need to go. We were both emotional after the night we had. Well, we made it to our only option... an 8hr bus ride and just got on it literally 4minutes before it left.

We had to do another ferry ride during our bus ride (it was docked under the ship) and we got to walk around... it was THE MOST rocky ride... I felt so nauseas and after a while Meg did too.... we just staked a post up stairs by the open deck door and waited for the hour and a half to pass. We did venture outside and boy was it windy!!!!!!  

When we finally made it to Paris it was around 10:30... we had to take a loooong metro to get to our hostel.  But some really nice young gentleman came over and while Meg was getting her ticket, he gave me his.  I was so thankful!  I also have hardly had to carry my luggage up or down steps.... I figured out the damsel in distress works every time... some guy always comes to help hahaha.... or Meg is a big help and helps me too but its just not the same ;)
Anyways, we get to our hostel in Paris and it was beautiful...the view and a nice bed...again, we could not sleep..this time change bites...hahahaha.

So we stayed up laughing about our sheets that felt like a burlap hay bag and the taxis outside the window getting into a horn honking fight... and some random guy knocking on our door at 2am... I couldn’t stop singing the song from beauty and the best “be ourrr guest, be our guest.. put our services to the test!” Obviously, in a french voice of course... for some odd reason I have been belting out random songs here and there... hahaha... I guess its a way to pass the time when crazy stuff happens.  But the tunes coming from this mouth don’t sound pretty...they aren’t on key, the words might not be right, but hey.. its incredibly humerous.

So... here we are.. we wake up in Paris.. and no lie, some random siren from a car idk what went off at 6:58.. perfect timing since we were getting up at 7.

We got up, and walked around and were searching for the Eiffel Tower.. well, we finally found it and decided to eat breakfast first since we hadn’t eaten in like... forever... 15hrs for meg and almost 24 for me!  So, we stopped off to this lovely cafe... OMG it was to die for... the orange juice was incredibly fresh squeezed and the bread... lovely.

We finally made it to the tower.. it wasn’t what I expected but it was still very beautiful.. there were thousands of people everywhere!  We didn’t get to walk up in because everyone had been waiting in line for hours, and well.. we had a train to catch to Switzerland.
Well, we raced back to the hotel to get our stuff... only to get lost.  But, it was actually totally worth it because we came upon some scene like in a movie.. there were at least 25 really, really gorgeous french fireman lifting heavy stuff and sweating and just.... well, we had to pick our mouths up off the ground... I told Meg, “Ok, well... I think the only option here is to just get hit by a car since they are right here...” hahahaha... Wow... and some guy helped us and to our dismay (NOT!) our directinos to the hotel led us to walk right between them all... “excusez moi.... excusez moi”.. and of course, they were kind enough to let us pass. ;)
Anyways... back to reality.  We raced to our hotel and grabbed our luggage only to start running again to make our train leaving at 2:23.  It was 1:30 and we still had two metros to go.  And those tunnels and south/east/west/north crap is confusing.  Well, as we are running from our hotel, I’m like wondering what the heck... my suitcase is crazy heavy.. and not rolling.. well I look down and my right wheel was completely broken in two all the way down the middle :( I wanted to cry.. but we had no time to stop.. So, meg grabbed one side, I had the other and we pulled it as we could through cobble stone and holes.

We finally made it to the metro and again.. got wrong directions.. I have learned no one in Europe truly knows where they are going.  SO, we had an amazing young lady step in and realized we were lost... She helped us all the way to the train station.  As soon as we found out where we needed to be, we started our running again (Our poor toes HATE us) and the train was leaving in 8mins... well, we get there and the train guy was like “ha no.. you have no reservation we have nothing for you” and walked off.  Here we are, back to the no reservation thing.  So, Meg loses it.. she is incredibly upset and crying and just angry.  I’m trying to keep it together and ask where we need to go and what to do.  We get to information and meet these two other girls who also have the same problem. Well, after waiting in the ticket line for an hour, they said we were all in the wrong line.. and sent us somewhere else.. after waiting in that line more than an hour they too said we were in the wrong line and sent us somewhere else.  Finally, we get to the right place and at the back of the line everyone was laying down.. we asked why... they had been waiting and the line hadn’t budged for an hour and a half.  By now, we missed both trains to Switzerland, were gonna miss our chance to get to our hostel... it was expensive.. we were supposed to go white water rafting the next day and already had that booked... we were going to be stuck in Paris.

Well, after finally talking to everyone, they had all had the same problem.  The “reservation” rules were in very small fine print and most of the people got a refund for their Eurorail pass.... Me and Meg were just going to cancel our whole trip because not making it to Switzerland was going to ruin everything... well, we were just going to go back to Dublin. My awesome dad was calling me and my family was praying... we were so stressed. I just told Meg to check hostels, plane tickets, and the info to the hostel in Switzerland to contact while I talked to the lady.... Her name was Manoubia.  She was AMAZING!  We stood in line with her for 3hrs and she rebooked our WHOLE train trips with reservations and we only paid 37 euros for the whole thing when we were supposed to have to pay 150 euros for ONE TRAIN!

She booked us an overnight train to Nice, France and booked us a nice hotel for cheaper.  She was amazing... She also talked to our hostel in Switzerland and the white water rafting company and we got a FULL refund of it all!!!!!!!

After, some lady in line complained and said we took up too much time and we needed to apologize to everyone in line. NO WAY!  We had waited for 7hours in that station when they had all just got there... and also moved aside in those 3hrs with Manoubia while she helped 3 others so no... that wasn’t happening.. I was NOT going to feel bad.

Anyways, after that was all cleared we started racing to the next train station to get to our overnight train.. as we are running I realize my luggage is pulling smoothly... I’m like Meg, hold on.. we look down, and my wheel is fine.  No rips, not one visible tear... I’m not sure HOW it happened.. when it happened..because in line the whole time it was torn completely in two.  Well, I had not cried this whole trip not through any of the bad that had happened and this made me break down.  I could not believe the miracle God had performed RIGHT INRONT OF OUR EYES!  My wheel was fine.  It was just what we needed after all of our praying for God to guide us to the right people... or they found us.  My wheel was fixed... we stopped in the middle of the Paris international train station, with tears flowing and praised and thanked God for His miracles every step of the way.

Well, we finally get food after not eating again in 12hrs.. no water, no nothing.  We sat down and ate a foot long sub each :) well, we met this lady beside us, Nichole, from the Bahamas and she was talking to us and no one told us we had to validate our tickets... well, 15mins before the train left she told us and thank you JESUS because we would have been fined.

Well, we are again racing to our train.. seriously, we are like Olympians in the running with luggage department.. don’t mess with us.

Anyways, some guy told us our train seat was at the end of the train... well, we had 5mins.. we RAN to the end, only to be told we were at the beginning... now I was pissed... I’m like you guys know NOTHING.. I was done.. I wanted to go home.  Too much running... 

We made it on the train, and we calmed down.. it wasn’t the best ride but it was ok.after I slept an hour I woke up and Meg finally fell asleep... well, while I was trying to go back to sleep she has a spastic arm reaction and back hands me in the face..... definitely woke me up. hahaha.

We made it to our hotel right around the corner in Nice, France and its beautiful... we finally have some rest, some nice beds, a nice shower... and only 20mins from the beach.

Our poor little feet are swollen and I cannot count the bruises I am sporting... but, we are trooping on believing there IS a reason we are here and not in Switzerland and white water rafting.. there IS a reason we did not get on either trains from London to Paris, and from Paris to Switzerland.  God directed our steps to the right people and gave us a new meaning for the song “Jesus Take The Wheel”.. as in our luggage wheel and make it new. ;)
Now, we are headed for a stroll on the beach and a good nights rest tonight and its off to Venice, Italy tomorrow.

Please keep us in your prayers!  There are always new things popping up, but God has a reason for it all... lets just hope we can keep it up and positive. ;)  We will surely be laughing at this in the future.. like ... next year.

Until next time...Au revoir!