Minding the gap!

Alright, here I am again writing to you as I sit in the computer lab of the Université Catholique de l'Ouest in the beautiful city of Angers, France. Because j'ai la gueule de bois, I will keep my travel stories short and to the point...but let you know how much I love it here! Alors, let's begin:

Peggster dropped me off at SFO and I caught my first plane to Denver. At the airport in Denver everything was fine and dandy until they called me up to the service desk (horribly mispronouncing my name of course). The clerk said he typed in my baggage claim number wrong and had to retype it in. Then he realized that he typed it in right and gave himself a high-five (not joking), all the while I'm FREAKING out because that means the bag they grabbed to put on the flight to London wasn't mine. The only reassurance he gave me was: "We'll try to find your bag and get it on the plane before you take off. If it's not there when you get to London, just file a claim". I was in such shock at the prospect of not having my bag that I said 'okay' and walked away. Luckily when I landed in London, my bag was there...PHEW! I feel very lucky, especially after hearing a story yesterday about a girl who came to Angers to study for one month (like me) and her luggage got lost...and it took 2 weeks to get it back to her! So half of the time she was there, she didn't have any of her stuff! No thanks.


Anyways, after getting my luggage I found my way to the Tube and took the Picadilly line to St. Pancras International. I love the tube! It's so fast and easy to use, and I loved the British woman's recording: "Please mind the gap" love it! I was admiring all the scenery on the way to St. Pancras, and then realized how similar everything looked to the setting of 28 weeks later and I got a little scared...lol

I made it to the train station but missed my train to Paris Nord by 2 minutes, so I bought myself a Cadbury chocolate bar and people-watched for a few hours. I absolutely love the way European women dress! I definitely feel like my personal style is going to change after being over here - no more Old Navy flip flops and sweatpants pour moi! lol I finally got to Paris, and just made the next train to Angers. After travelling for 24 hours, I made it!!! I'll blog more about my host family in un moment.

Things to know:
*The food on British Airways is horrible, and unfortunately they give you a lot of it too. Don't eat it.
*To get to the Eurostar train station from London Heathrow Airport, take the Picadilly Line (color-coded as navy blue) to King's Cross/St. Pancras.
*Be AT LEAST 30 minutes early for the train at St. Pancras International. It's much like the airport.