Day Thirteen: Saturday September 15

Travel Travel Travel
Today was more exhausting than any day so far on this trip. I had to wake up at 6am to check out of my hotel and get to the airport. I have never been to the airport here in France, so I was winging it a bit. I had to carry my luggage up & down many flights of stairs before I made it to the train that was to take me to the airport. Like all metro stations, this final train required a ticket. I used the same ticket I had used on the Metro & it opened the gate. I was able to hop on a train to the airport. Upon arriving at the airport I received some horrifying news. I did not purchase the right ticket! The ticket I should have bought was closer to 50 euro and the one I bought was only 1.50 euro. To make matters worse, you are not allowed to buy a ticket once you have reached your destination on this line. In essence, I would have to take a half hour train ride back, buy a ticket and then travel a half an hour back. With 2 1/2 hours to go before my plane is supposed to leave, I would have to waste an hour getting a new ticket. This was when good luck and a good person would come into the picture. I started to turn around and walk back to the train when the ticket agent called for me. I turned around and he said that he would wave me through to the security guard. No Charge! I thanked him several times (probably not enough) and went through to my plane. I have been very blessed on this trip to have met lots of great people & to have had so many situations work out to my advantage.

My plane was not direct to Edinburgh, it had a stop for several hours in Ireland. The cool thing about that was that I got to have my passport stamped for my arrival in Ireland. It's the small things that can make someone happy most of the time. I love hearing the Irish accent, if I could do accents worth a damn I would love to have one.

After about 9 hours of traveling, I arrived in Edinburgh. It is a lot colder here than any other stop on my trip so far. It is overcast and rain is expected the whole time I am here. I can see Edinburgh Castle and the Scott Monument from the front door of my hotel, so there is a lot to see here within walking distance. I am looking forward to starting the last leg of my trip.