The first day of my trip was a little odd, but it really made the whole thing. Some of you may think I am insane to have done what we did, and some of you might be a little mad (mom), but I am so glad it happened. Obviously I debated writing about this, but this particular experience really added to the whole adventure. I'll just start at the beginning of the day:
We were running late, as girls tend to do. We were still packing, and running around trying to check in for our flight, and print our boarding passes for our flight the next day. Earlier that day we had learned that our couch surfing place had fallen through, so we really had no where to stay the night once we got to Perpignan. We didn't necessarily have a back up plan, nor did we have time to even research anything else. I don't think this really hit us until we were on the train. The train ride was a long one. Of course, I am writing this like a week and a half later so I can't remember specifics, but we switched trains once, and then got in to Perpignan pretty late. It was maybe 9 or 10. At that point we had decided that it would probably be best to just stay the night at the airport. There was a lot of confusion at the train station though. We really had no idea what we were going to do, and we didn't have a map. This really nice lady came up to us and in really great english, asked us what we were trying to do. We all looked at each other, we really didnt know the answer to that. So we went with the most obvious response: We're trying to get out. She led us to an information office where we found a map. We thanked the woman and she walked away.
She didnt go very far because she probably saw we were still struggling, and came right back to help us. She told us the airport was too far to walk, she helped us call the airport and other places. The airport was closed, so we couldn't go there. We would need to find a hotel, but there weren't any nearby, so we would need to get a taxi. The woman, Brigitte, just invited us to stay with her. We were a little taken back, but she was so nice, and we literally did not know what else to do, so we went. She was the nicest person. When we got to her house she pulled out some extra mattresses and pillows and blankets, she showed us around her really awesome home, fed us and talked to us about her life. She offered her shower, and we slept much more comfortably that night than we ever would have outside of an airport.
The next morning, she gave us breakfast, and as jazz played in the background, talked to us about her daughter who is currently living in Japan and is planning on moving to San Francisco soon. She told us about how much she loved to travel and you could see by looking around her house just how much she had traveled. She had little knick knacks and pictures from everywhere! And her books, she had a huge collection of books that were scattered about everywhere. She said it makes her so happy to see young travelers, and that she remembered how she used to do the same thing we were doing, if she ever had a free weekend, she would just get her backpack together and go somewhere new. She was born in Vietnam, but had lived in France most of her life. She studied English and was now back in school, but I can't remember what she was studying.
After she showed us around her adorable backyard that was full of more stuff from all over the world and a collection of bonzai trees, she showed us around town and took us to the beach. It's so crazy, we would have never seen those things had we not run into Brigitte, she drove us all around, told us the history of the town and took us to have some great Moroccan tea, and when the time came she drove us to the airport, and even waited around until it was time for us to board.
She gave us some really inspiring advice about life, and encouraged us to continue doing what we were doing. We were very lucky to have met her. I hope I can live a life similar to what she has lived! And I want a house just like hers. I dont even think she had a tv. Just a cat, a dog, and a fish. She was incredible. It was a perfect start to our trip! Here are some pictures of us with her in Perpignan (That is the Mediterranean Sea, by the way!)
