5 Day Weekend

This last weekend was huge for the Arcachon group. Our second class ended with the exam on Thursday June 3rd, at 1:00 pm. A number of us rushed off immediately to the train station to catch the 1:30 train to Paris. So there we all are, spread out down the street rushing towards the station with the bags we packed the night before, hoping nothing important was forgotten. I was one of those people; luckily not only did I not forget anything for the trip, I arrived with enough time to grab a sandwich across the street. I was in a group of five people, our plans to see Rome in two days, spend one day in Florence, and leave for Arcachon from Bologna. Here are three of my traveling companions…

The train they are on there is the nice one that took us from Arcachon, through Bordeaux, Poitiers, Tours, to arrive in Paris. One of the Benefits of this route was that our high speed train was able to really ramp it up from Tours to Paris, so that was fun. And it was radically different from the next journey on an Italian overnight train. Never again…

That little room we are in…6 people crammed in there. Amy, Carli, Katy, me, & two women from the Democratic Republic of the Congo who spoke not a word of English, but never ran out of something to say to one another, unless they were sleeping or singing. The only good part is that there were six bunks, so we spent most of the time sleeping through the night. Of course that means that I don’t know the exact route we took. But it was fun to go to sleep after watching the Burgundian countryside in France & wake up to a Tuscan countryside in Italy. We were still really happy to get off the train have a good meal and then go to the hostel to clean up.


This hostel is called “The Yellow;” it was cheap, clean, the staff was helpful, & it had a bar downstairs. Definitely a lot of undergrads, but it was nice to speak English to strangers again. It is Rick Steves recommended, & I have to say I agree.