Detroit, London, Paris, Montpellier....Oh My.......

What a journey! Three flights, four airports, a 2 hour bus ride through London, my luggage lost (not my poster though!), but at midnight Sept 16th I have finally made it to Montpellier, France.

First, my flight out of Detroit was delayed over 2 hours, although I received some nice vouchers from Northwest in the form of free airport food and $50 off my next ticket. Not so bad. However, the delay made me miss my British Airways connection in Gatwick Airport in London by about 20 minutes. After being shuffled through several different "queues" (lines, none of which were short) and a different terminal, I finally ended up at the British Air ticketing counter, begging for help. The Gatwick Airport was the most frantic, chaotic airport I had ever been in; in addition all carry-ons that go through this terminal must be purse-sized! That meant I had to check my duffel bag (which had my laptop!!!) and my poster tube (which was deemed 'oversized' so a new line for that). The British Airways ticketmeisters were rather sympathetic (no vouchers, though), and cheerfully directed me to my new flight in Heathrow, a 30 min bus ride away. Ha! Thirty minutes turned into 2 hours, and to make my flight in Heathrow, I literally ran through the terminal a la every Hollywood movie, and was the LAST person on board. Phew! Although I was rather amused by the "Hump" signs at Heathrow. :)

Uh oh, though, but my bags were on the first flight. And, my hotel closed at 11pm in Montpellier. My flight had me getting into Montpellier at 10:45....plus a 20 min cab ride, there was no way I'd make it. So, I called Hotel D'Aragon from Heathrow (on my cell, gasp!) and pleaded with them to give me an extra 30 min. They agreed. I fly to Paris Charles De Gaulle via Air France, and then make a connection there to Montpellier (again just barely.)

Cut to Montpellier, where I arrive on time, miraculously. I go fill out a 'lost bag' claim which I try to explain why it's British Air and not Air France in broken French/English. I think/hope they got the info right because I literally have nothing but my laptop, some shoes, and a jacket. No extra clothes, shampoo, anything....although they were so kind as to give me some trial sized Pert Plus and some genetic-looking toothpaste called "SunTar.". Next, the taxi ride, which I shared with a very pleasant French professor, smiling but all the while praying to Napoleon not to let the hotel be closed yet. However, it is. I set my bags down on the curb and am almost near tears when someone exits the hotel!! I sneak in and fall asleep on the couch for 10 minutes before someone spots me and calls security. Well, I emphatically explained that I DO have a reservation, which was confirmed by the security guy saying, "Ah oui. I have your key mademoiselle." A beam of the purest sun shone down on that key, and angels burst forth with a heavenly chorus.

The story has a happy ending though, where I get to sleep on a nice soft bed tonight instead of the airport floor, and I did get a shower even though the only thing that got me clean was Montpellier's finest l'eau and my sheer determination to get off my body whatever perfume the person in 12D was wearing. The hotel is beautiful, as is my room. It has French doors which open out onto the street, perfect for getting a breath of night air post-shower, feeling all is right with the world after all and when I wake up, either my bags will be waiting for me or I'll blow my entire stipend on buying new, chic clothes.