Day 1: French Holiday (Planes, Trains & Automobiles)

We woke up at 3:00 am and we were out the door by 4:30 am. Russ didn’t sleep a wink the night before which made for a very long drive to Ryan Dixon’s place, who shuttled us to Seattle with 20 minutes to spare before our flight took off. The flight to Reykjavik Iceland was seven hours. Russ & Alecia filled their time by watching The Time Travelers Wife and decided to give the TV series Outlanders a try. Brooklynn watched Harry Potter and did homework. We snacked on cucumbers, celery, granola bars (made by Brooklynn), rotisserie chicken, and Lenny & Larry cookies. When the Reykjavik airplane landed it parked away from the terminal, packed everyone in a tram-like sardines, and then shuttled all of us to the terminal. Tried to get a bite of real food. Yummy pizza slice for Russ and the girls decided to try Traditional Graved Salmon... let's just say they weren’t impressed and leave it at that. It was a very warm three-hour flight and we arrived in Paris at 6 am Sunday, October 1. Now the perplexing question was our flight a Red-eye or a normal day flight. By the tired look in our eyes, we knew the answer. Next, we had a five-hour layover in the Paris Marne-La-Vallée-Chessy Train Station and then embarked on what was supposed to be a three-hour train ride to Marseille. We don’t know if it made the news in the states, but while en route to Marseille, a jihadist terrorist took the lives of two young women ages 18 and 20 at the Marseille St, Charles station, our destination. Eventually, he was killed by French soldiers, but in the interim trains were prevented from docking. We spent a great deal of time stopped in various locations. So grateful for the older French couple and a younger French couple who translated each announcement on the train for us. The three-hour trip became eight. By the time we reached Hertz, to pick up our rental, they had closed. Our wonderful Airbnb host, Sophie, came and picked us up. She gave us great tips for what to do in Marseille, and after riding with her in the car Russ is having second thoughts about renting one. We have met the kindest people so far and have been so grateful for their kindness and care. Almost 36 hours without sleep. Excited to get some zzzzzzzz’s!!!