Europe Adventure: Day Twenty, Part One- Train ride from Paris, France to Zermatt, Switzerland

On Sunday, April 24th we woke up at 4am so we could meet our early train.We showered, finished packing, and got ready to go. We had zone bars but then when we were checking out they gave us some Pain au Chocolat to take along with us for a morning snack later. 

We got a taxi to the Gare Lyon train station. 

Everywhere we had been in Paris had a tremendous amount of security. There were armed guards at all of the big places, we were scanned before we were allowed on the boats. So we were really shocked when we saw how little there was at the train station. 

We walked right in and to the area to wait for our trains. There was no ticket men between the waiting area and the trains the way there were at Paddington in London. 

There was no security. 

I became really nervous during this time period because there was one man that looked to be in his twenties that was sitting near us... he got up and ran over to the other side of the station. I then noticed him coming down off of one of the trains and go over by another one where I noticed he was just standing by it and it looked like he was touching it. 

Then he got on another train and then a few minutes later back off of it again. 

He ran up to many of the trains and then I saw him run out of the exit. 

That made me extremely nervous. 

At the same time there was a man that kept approaching us for money and food and so we had to be really diligent in watching our things. 

I prayed that when it was time for our train that it would be one that hadn't been approached by the man that had left and.. it wasn't. I was so grateful. 

We got on the train and I realized that I have heard so many people say they love train travel so much and yet it was just stressing me out. I think that if I only had a backpack it wouldn't have but we had so much luggage and apparently I'm not the most trusting person so I hated leaving it near the doors while finding a place to sit away from it. 

Our train went to Bellegarde first. That was about a two and a half hour train ride. 

The scenery was very pretty. 

Then we had about a half an hour to the station in Geneva. 

This was a very stressful day for me that had me in tears a few times and so, so grateful at other times. Story time!

When we got on the train in Paris I wasn't sure where to put the luggage at first. 

We found a little room by the door and so we walked into there to leave it. The door closed with us in the room. It was a metal door and we couldn't find anyway to open it from the inside. We freaked out a bit more than we probably should have and it makes me laugh now but we were banging on the door. Finally someone opened it and showed us the button that we had missed. Ha. 

No one spoke any English at all so our limited French didn't help much at this point. 

We got to Bellegarde and got off the train. We couldn't see any other platforms except the one right next to us and there was no train there and we only had minutes between trains. 

We got in really late so we were afraid we had missed it. 

I saw a worker and approached to ask him if he spoke English to ask for help. He shook his head and seemed very annoyed with me. I tried to explain what we needed as well as I could but he waved me away. I walked away and we tried to ask a few people but no one could speak to us. 

I was so stressed and at this point thinking he was the worst.. but then I was humbled because he noticed us still standing and came over. He spoke to us but we couldn't understand him. He pointed to a spot that we hadn't noticed before on the other side of a building. Then he called on his radio and told the train to wait for us. He then took my luggage and started walking really fast down the ramp and through a building while we followed him. 

The train waited for us.

Let that sink in because we were told before and since that Swiss trains never wait. 

We thanked him, thanked the woman waiting on the next train to help us on, and found our seats. As soon as the doors shut behind us, the train left. 

When we arrived at Geneva we had to go through customs. The guys waved us through without checking our passports or anything and we found ourselves in a long hallway with signs for many terminals and we had no idea where to go. At this point the stress hit me and I started getting tears welling up in my eyes. My mom went and found a man that was speaking with some others while I prayed we could figure out where to go. 

It was another little miracle. He not only spoke English quite well but he was the nicest guy in the world.He took us up to our platform but the train was pulling away as we got there. 

I was so crushed because I thought we were out of luck but he told us that our tickets would be good for the next one as well. We spoke with him for awhile and then a woman from England heard us speaking English came over and chatted with us. 

We bought some sandwiches and drinks at the station to take on with us since we now had some extra time. When the next train arrived at 11:30 we thanked him and said goodbye. 

We got on this next train and there was hardly anyone in the car. We got a good spot for our luggage and confirmed with the next girl that got on that we were indeed on the train we needed to be on.

This train had some great scenery as we made our way around Lake Geneva. 

This train seemed so much nicer than the ones we had been on so far. We had a lot of room , there weren't many other passengers, and the seats were so comfortable. 

We got out our foccacia bread sandwiches and had an hour of bliss on this train. 

The food was delicious. We chatted and relaxed and enjoyed the beautiful scenery, the cozy seats, and the relaxed atmosphere of the train after so many stressful hours. 

Then....

The ticket guy came through. 

We showed him our tickets and he shook his head. 

He told us we needed to get out. 

At first I was so freaked out and confused but then he was able to explain that we had 2nd class tickets and we were sitting in 1st class. Woops.

He told us we could pay the extra or move to the next car back. 

We felt dumb but were glad we were able to experience it anyway. 

Our luggage felt safe there so we left it where it was and went back into the next car back. 

It was really funny. 

The next train stop we got off and it was another little miracle. 

EVERYTHING was labeled in German so I could understand it better. I only know a little French but I took German for a few years and while I am no longer fluent I can usually understand it well. 

We got off of our train and were on our way to the next platform. 

Everything was labeled so much better as well so this was a really easy switch. 

We were now on our train that would take us to Zermatt. 

Yay. 

A huge group of 200 Americans got onboard a little bit after us. They were SO loud and outgoing but very friendly. 

The scenery was incredible. My pictures can not do it justice. 

 

The higher we got, the more beautiful it became. 

The river was a really stunning crystal bluish green. 

When we arrived in Zermatt we exited the train station. 

We could have walked to our hotel but because we had so much luggage we decided to get a little taxi. 

Cars aren't allowed here so they just have little electric powered taxis. 

It took us right to the front door of our hotel. 

We were so happy to be done with trains for the day and to be in Zermatt!

Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery

You know when you hear that song. You know the one. The one that makes a bad mood better or a tired body and mind suddenly re-energized. 

Anne of Green Gables is the novel equivalent of that song. 

It has been years since I read this series.I used to re-read them all of the time when I was a teenager and didn't have as many other books to read. I read Anne out loud to Abi when she was really little but didn't read the rest of the series to her. 

So, the last time I read this book was about 8 years ago, even longer for the rest of the Anne books. 

Reading it again meant so much to me. 

I was happy while reading it, I learned valuable lessons even after having read it so many times before, and I felt a real call to that part of myself that has always loved Anne. 

I am suddenly finding myself dying to go to Prince Edward Island again. Lucy Maud Montgomery influenced so much of who I am because of this book and reading it again reminded me of that. 

The other day my daughter, Abigail, said to me, "Mom, you know my personality is like 3/4 My Little Pony." 

It was funny at the time but then upon reflection I realized I feel the same way about reading in general for me. Books have influenced my life so much and continue to do so every day. I would say that most of the books that I read are just entertainment. They transport me to somewhere else, to the life of someone else. They let me see through the eyes of another and a world different from my own. There is something to be said for that. There is also something to be said for the rare book that takes you home.... even if it is not a home you have ever had. 

You hold that book in your hands and you know it was meant for you to read. 

That is Anne for me.

As I read I was also struck by how many times I thought to myself, "Lucy Maud Montgomery was a genius."

She could introduce you to a character in one sentence. 

For example on the very first page of the book we read, "...for not even a brook could run past Mrs. Rachel Lynde's door without due regard for decency and decorum;"

The next few pages introduce us to her husband Thomas and to Matthew Cuthbert: 

"... a meek little man whom Avonlea people called "Rachel Lynde's husband"..."

"...for Matthew Cuthbert had never been known to volunteer information about anything in his whole life."

Later we meet Marilla, " Here sat Marilla Cuthbert, when she sat at all, always slightly distrustful of sunshine, which seemed to her too dancing and irresponsible a thing for a world which was meant to be taken seriously."

Later on I plan on writing another post on what Anne herself meant to me as a child and what she means to me now as an adult but for now I want to point out a few of the other things I noticed during this read through. 

I love Marilla. She is hard to love at first. She is so stern and strict. Next to Matthew, who is an angel of a man, she seems downright unpleasant. However, as you read the book you see the things that you don't always think of when you think of Marilla. You see her falling in love with Anne. You see the things she thinks but doesn't say. She is truly a kindred spirit. 

Also, in the mini-series they don't show us Anne's friendship with Mrs. Allan, the Reverend's wife. They have such a wonderful friendship and I had forgotten all about it. I really enjoyed getting back to all the details and back stories that I didn't remember because I have, at this point, watched the show more. 

Gilbert. 

Gilbert was my first love. I think he was a lot of people's first love. It is easy to be frustrated with Anne and her mistreatment of Gilbert but when it comes right down to it, I think it was good for him. 

We learn early on that Gilbert teases all the girls... and she is the first one he has apologized to. 

I imagine that Gilbert was a product of the "boys tease you if they like you" mentality and maybe Anne taught him that it isn't supposed to be that way. 

In the end, Gilbert respected her and her wishes. He let himself fade into the background hoping someday she would realize that he was still there. He sacrificed for her and that finally allowed her to let go of her pride and face the fact that for a long time she had been wishing to reconcile with him. 

"We are going to be the best of friends, " said Gilbert, jubilantly. "We were born to be good friends, Anne. You've thwarted destiny long enough. I know we can help each other in many ways."

As I finished reading Anne of Green Gables my thoughts echoed the last words, 

"God's in His Heaven, all's right with the world."

Europe Trip: Day Nineteen, part Three- last night in Paris

After freshening up at out hotel room we went back down to the river to catch the Batobus. We ended up riding it around its whole route back to one stop before where we got on which ended up taking a really long time. 

We got off at the Pont Alexandre 3rd bridge to walk to the Champs Elysees. 

The bridge was so beautiful.

It was a few blocks to Champs Elysees and along the way we saw many beautiful buildings. 

We also saw this statue of Winston Churchill. 

It was very cool to walk down the Champs Elysees. 

We didn't stop at a lot of places along the way as it is mostly very expensive shops. 

We just enjoyed seeing them. 

It was freezing cold and I had neglected to bring my coat so we were just trying to stay warm as we walked along. There were a lot of people out asking for money and I felt pretty bad for them being in the cold. 

We walked down to the Arc de Triomphe. 

It was very cool to see it and the roundabout surrounding it. We watched the cars for a few minutes and I was very glad I wasn't driving there.

After seeing it we decided to walk back down the road and look for somewhere to get dinner. 

On the side of the sidewalk at one point they had an entire section blocked off and the wind was blowing the green covering up.  We could see that they were filming a movie behind it. I would love to know what it was!

Looking back toward the Arc...

I was told that if we needed anything we should stop at a Monoprix, that they were the closest thing to a Target. It really wasn't like a Target but it was a nice shop. 

We went in when we passed one on the Champs Elysees as we were still looking for a few things and knew we would be leaving Paris the next morning. 

My bag..

We ended up getting a few souvenirs and gifts in there (my mom got a cool Paris bag) and we also picked up some easy food to take back to our room for dinner. 

We got some chicken sandwiches. 

We also got some chips and drinks. 

We went back to our room, warmed up, enjoyed our little picnic dinner, and said goodnight to the Eiffel Tower for the last time. 

It was an absolutely wonderful, very full day where we ended up walking about 16 miles. 

We were very tired.

My word for 2017

This year I am recycling a word from an earlier year. 

I have tried to use a different word each year since the time that I started picking one, but this year every time I thought about it this word popped into my head. I knew that it really is the word I want to remind myself of every day to accomplish the things I want and need to throughout 2017.

So what is that word? 

FOCUS

 Why am I picking this word for 2017?

Simple. It is something I need to remember every day. 

I am very adept at becoming distracted. 

If I don't make myself focus I bounce around like crazy. 

As a kid or teenager, cleaning my room turned into "ooh, I want to play with this..."

As an adult, well, I'm pretty much the same way. 

I look up a youtube video about something in particular which turns into some YouTube binging. 

I put down a book for a few minutes and find myself surfing Instagram. 

I clean one room only to find myself realizing that it needs to be organized RIGHT THAT SECOND instead of saying, "I'm doing this now, but let me set a time to do that later."

So, there is a lot I want to accomplish this year. 

I want to make sure that I make working out a priority. 

I want to spend as much time reading as possible. 

I want to make sure my family is doing what we are supposed to and we are spending quality AND quantity time together. 

I want to make sure that I have time for the hobbies I love (Instagram, reading, crafts, writing) while still getting done the things I need to get done. 

I don't feel like I need to be busy all of the time. In fact, quite the opposite. 

I am fine with having lazy days and for my kids to be able to spend time playing, reading, and pursuing their own hobbies rather than enrolling them in a million things just because I feel like I should. 

I even take a day off every month where I don't have to do anything but read and the obligatory familial duties like cooking and getting the kids to school. 

So, in order to get all of this done, and done well, while still having time to indulge in quiet, restful times I need to make sure I stay focused on my goals and my schedule. 

I am using the Mormon Mom Planner, Mothers Who Know, again this year and I will share on another day how I have set it up to help me with this. 

Have you picked a word for 2017? 

How are you about staying on task?