I have now successfully arrived in France. Since, according to the United Airlines website, there would be a $200 fine for having a piece of checked luggage that weighed more than 50 pounds, I spent most of the day and night prior to my flight trying to get my two pieces of checked luggage to be under fifty pounds. It turns out that both my parents' old green hard-shell Samsonite suitcase and G-'s suitcase-sized rolling duffel bag thing that he left last time he was in the States close easily when their contents are less than 50 pounds, but they do not close easily when 54 pounds. Interesting, especially as the Samsonite was probably made prior to all these super-strict luggage rules.
I spent a lot of time taking things out of the suitcases, replacing them with less dense objects (mostly yarn), and weighing myself with and without the suitcases. In the end, I did not bring along a lot of things I wanted to (e.g., more than one pair of shoes, or my favourite mug(s)), though I did manage to bring a lot of things I did (e.g., my favourite teapot and my knitting needles). Most of the less-dense-replacement stuff was yarn, so I shouldn't have to go yarn shopping for some time, which is probably just as well. In the end, the suitcases weighed about 58.5 and 59 pounds (according to my sister's bathroom scale) - which came out to about 59.5 and 50 pounds exactly at the airport. Whew. My carryons were kind of heavy though...
The flights themselves weren't too bad. I ended up getting two seats to myself in the center section of the 747 (including one on the aisle), so I was able to put my non-viola carryon under the seat next to me, and use that foot space to stretch out a bit. I slept, I knitted, I watched most of one of the movies (Moneyball, which I think was mostly about playing baseball by the statistics), I slept some more. We arrived in Frankfurt without incident.
The problem with Frankfurt airport, other than everything being in German, and being yellow (it is Lufthansa central, after all), is that it is a huge airport. First one has to walk from one's arrival gate all the way across the terminal, to get to the train between terminals. One then has to walk all the way across the second terminal, following the mostly very good but occasionally invisible signs to one's departure gate. There was some security in there as well. There was a lot of walking. Lots and lots and lots of walking. And the airport is so big that the smaller planes are accessed from the departure gates via bus. Next time, I'm getting a viola case with wheels :-/
The flight from Frankfurt to Toulouse was pretty uneventful. They fed us a kind of mysterious dairy-based sticky, grainy, slightly sweet food-like substance (I think it was supposed to be rice pudding, but am not actually sure, given that the packaging was all in German). My suitcases were in the first dozen or so pieces of luggage off the conveyor belt. G- was waiting just outside the baggage claim area, and we loaded up his (shiney, new(ish)) car and came back to the apartment.
Kitties were a little concerned about me - they haven't seen me for a few weeks, after all. Camille, predictably, was the first one to decide I was not a scary stranger after all. Nicki and Perry reserved judgement a little longer, but seem to have agreed now (a day later).
The apartment is relatively nice. There are some problems (midew-ruined walls in the bathroom, which are supposed to get fixed sometime in the next week or two being the worst of it... though a close second is the colour that somebody chose to paint the kitchen - a kind of sickly spring green with a few strategically placed dark grey stripes). The kitchen is pretty minimal - a sink and some counters and the hot water thingy... G- has acquired a microwave and a laundry machine, but apparently here, it's pretty standard for kitchens to come pretty bare. We will be going stove shopping in a few days, I'm told, and then we can plan and acquire more counters and cabinets and a fridge and things like that. There's a storage room (pretty much cold enough that a fridge isn't necessary, though G- has a little dorm-style fridge that will be sufficient for now). We're across the street from an old church, which seems to be the home of many pigeons. Oh, and there's this white slippery cold stuff on the ground and roofs...
We went grocery shopping and picked up some useful objects (e.g., toothbrush) prior to calling it a night and going to sleep.
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| It appears that pigeons have visited our balcony recently. |
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| View from dining area and bedrooms. |
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| Church across the street. |
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