Paris is always a good idea… Audrey Hepburn

This is coming to you later today as I fell asleep early and didn’t get around to writing it.. Better late than never though..

I woke up with that feeling of dread and sadness. Today was the day we had to leave this little bit of paradise. And boy was I going to miss these people and the beautiful chateau that I’ve called home for 2 weeks. I said I wasn’t going to miss the stairs but you know what? I was probably going to miss them too. I would miss my creaky princess bed and my glam bathroom. I would miss the meals around the gold and red dining room. I was definitely going to miss baguettes for breakfast everyday. But mostly I was going to miss this magnificent bunch of people who are now my chateau family.

The chateau was a buzz of packing from early in the morning. I was awake at 6.30am and started to get everything together. I had already packed my clothes the night before but I had to try to fit everything else in to as few a bags as possible as we had trains and taxis to negotiate between here and our Paris apartment. I threw a face on so I could quickly pack all my toiletries and when that was all done, it was time to head down for the final cup of tea at my favourite spot in the kitchen.

Everyone downstairs were dragging heavy suitcases down copious amounts of stairs and getting them out the front occasionally stopping for a cuppa or a chat. And then, it was time to load them into the van, knowing it was real. We were leaving. I think David is a tetris champion as he loaded 8 women’s cases into the back of that van with military precision and they all fitted comfortably. We followed the bags and for the last time, we headed off on an adventure, this one we weren’t looking forward to. Even the thought of Paris didn’t stop my melancholy.

This residency has changed me in a huge way. Just getting here was not easy, for so many reasons. Thank you to everyone who helped along the way. And to the Chateau family who have made this so special. David from AtelierAIR has put together a fantastic program here, bringing artists together from around the world. Along the way, we found friendships, inspiration, brainstorming, support and love. This has been such a unique and special experience. If ever you get a chance to do this, do it.. It’s so worthwhile. And tell David you read it here lol.

Once we got to Les Mans, Monica and Lauri had to catch early trains, so we hugged them and said our goodbyes and then the rest of us went to find a coffee shop that could accomodate all our luggage and us. There was one in the train station, so there we sat for a few hours, talking, laughing, looking at our phones and planning the next leg for all of us. We were all heading to Paris on the same train but from there we headed in different directions. We had already agreed to go to Beth’s accomodation with Tania as we had a few hours to kill. Tania to wait for her plane home to Australia and us to wait for our accomodation to be ready.

Once the platform had been announce, we lugged our luggage there and worked out where we had to stand for our individual carriages. We went right down the far end of the track to B which they said would accomodate carriage 8. When the train pulled in we looked at the numbers on the side and realised we were in the wrong place, so we ran down the platform dragging our lead suitcases with us only to find we had been in the right place but the numbers on the trains didn’t correspond with the digital numbers that we hadn’t seen. Anyway, I think we were last on but we made it.

Once inside, there was nowhere to put our luggage. The actual area for luggage was all taken up with small bags that people could have put on the racks above them, so our big suitcases had to sit in the entry of the carriage. Our seats of course were right up the end of the carriage, so we had to squeeze through the packed carriage to get to them. But from then on in, it was great.

I love the fact that European trains (mostly) have free wi-fi. So once seated, I logged on and just did my wordle and scrolled through facebook and instagram. We were on a fast train and it really was fast but very smooth still. On our way down to the chateau to start, we got on a normal train which took 2.5 hours from Paris. This was bringing us back in one hour. Huge difference. No wonder it was so packed. Throughout the journey they showed the speed of the train. 293 km per hour. Yup, it was fast. But it didn’t seem like it. It was a smooth comfortable trip.

Before we knew it, we were approaching Paris and we got up first so we could get to our bags which were right in the doorway of the train. It was quite claustrophobic with everyone starting to crush in to get off the train. When we got to Montparnesse station and when the doors opened, I forgot how claustrophobic the train felt. OMG, this place is bedlam. A woman pushed out ahead of us off the train with a child, where her partner was waiting to greet her. But they wouldn’t move out of the door way, so we were backing up and trying to get past them.

Once on the platform, it was every man or woman for themselves, with the crowd making it almost impossible to see or walk. We got to the exit and decided to wait there for Beth and Tania. We waited and waited but they never appeared. Then we got a text to say they were at the taxi line already. So we ran down to the taxi line but there are NUMEROUS taxi lines at Montparnesse. We saw Cate there running for her taxi which she had ordered but she was at the wrong place too.

So texting back and forth, Tania came to find us while Cate ran in another direction again . Thankfully she found her taxi and caught her train to Dijon and with Tania’s help we found Beth and the correct taxi line with no people in it (the other was packed). We were soon on our way in two taxis as all our luggage didn’t fit in one, off to Beth’s accomodation. Oh boy. If I thought Dublin was bad, this was dreadful. Poor Beth. Look it was clean, but she didn’t realise she was sharing with a bloke, so when we dragged everything up the old, worn and dark staircase, we walked into the apartment only to find men’s shoes and wine bottles everywhere. But as we said to her, it’s just a place to lay your head at night. Paris is ready to explore through the daytime.

We left all our stuff there and headed out for a bite to eat together before Tania headed off to Charles de Gaulle airport to catch her flight home to Australia. Tania and Beth had a HUGE toasted sandwich in the shape of teddy bear. Cecile and I shared a baguette filled with chicken and cheese. Delicious. There were loaf lights on the ceiling as looked up which were so cute. We went back to the apartment and Tania left. We then got a message to say our accomodation was ready early and just as we were lugging our stuff downstairs, Peggy, Beth’s sister arrived, so we got to meet her which was lovely. We had already shut the door though, so we had to try to get Beth’s attention to get Peggy in the door. We texted her, tried to phone her and nothing was working. I walked out side and yelled up to her balcony and that she heard.. Peggy was good to get in and we left.

We ordered a cab through G7 (a taxi app which seems to be very trusted here) and in 3 mintues we were having our bags put in the cab by a lovely female driver. Driving through the streets of Paris, my excitement started to build. The Eiffel Tower in full view, the Louvre, the terraced apartments.. Oh I love Paris. We got to our accomodation and I breathed a sigh of relief as it was quite good. Doesn’t look like much on the outside but it’s nice on the inside. After we settled in, we went for a walk down the road before we crashed for the night. There is a pharmacy, a supermarket, optican, fruit stall and most importantly, a boulangerie all within a stone’s throw from us, so I was thrilled with that.

We got groceries that will last a week as we have cooking facilities in the apartment. We did self serve as there was quite a line at the manned checkout. The only problem we had was trying to find tomatoes. They didn’t fit any categories. Cecile went back to the fruit area to weigh them there as we thought that was the issue, but it turns out, they are in the legume section. We had chosen salad and fruits but they didn’t belong in those categories. Next time we know to check the legumes lol. Then we found out that Monica’s flight had been delayed then cancelled so she had to stay over another day too. We were happy for her to stay with us but the airline found her a room thankfully.

Back here, we made a quick salad with the most delicious prawns or shrimps or whatever they call them here. It was no Gary the chef feast but it was damn good all the same. We got ourselves ready for bed after that and I was going to write this but thought I’d just lay down for a few minutes first. Next thing I knew it was about 4am, so I dozed back off again. The blog would have to wait. I needed rest. So here I am writing it now.. More tomorrow..

Happy resting… Livvy xxx