Spontaneous Travelling!

Okay, so due to lack of time I have not posted any info on both my London trip, Italy trip and my Nice+Marseille trip. Well here the thing...I am taking advantage of every opportunity and now letting anything stop me!

THE NICE TRIP: I decided to go with the girls in a class at uni with a days notice! Little bit spur of the moment you think? Just wait till you hear the rest!

THE ITALY TRIP was INSANE! I met Sarah (Irish) through uni and her friend Ciara (Irish) escaped from Annecy on exchange because she hated it. When she escaped, she asked a fellow exchanger to take her to Lyon . This was Julian (German) who proceeded to stay in Lyon for a bit and then I sought a lift back to Annecy with him. I tried to get a hold of him all of Wed night and Thurs morning. Finally I got a call from Sarah to say he was leaving for Annecy and if I wanted a ride to be at her house in 20 mins. Well, I live 12 mins form Sarah's by bike and that 12 mins is in the middle of the night with no traffic. So, what was I to do? In my kitchen, in my pajamas and leopard slippers (house warming present) washing dishes, the laundry going and 8 minutes to pack and leave! Well of course I dropped everything I was doing, threw things into a nag and bikes like a mad person to get this lift! The idea was to get to Annecy and then decide what to do next. Niki and I obviously decided to go to Italy on Friday morning after staying at Julian’s and going out a the only club in Annecy which played good music and some 'French classics' which we has no idea what was going on but all the French people were very excited and started singing and dancing!

LONDON'S STOREY:

London was slightly better and yet not, definitely rivaling Italy for second place! I decided to leave at 12:20pm and had to be on a 2pm train to Paris and a bus from London to Paris (no trains available)! Heaps of time you say? Me too! I was packed and ready to go (complete with food) by 1:10! Amazing. All I had to do was make a baguette to take with me and leave! But where was my baguette? Forgot it downstairs. Went to get the baguette and proceeded to lock myself out! Asked by Czech neighbor on the first floor to help me....he proceeded to try to shove random household items into the lock to try and help me (he is so nice!). Tried throwing my body up against up the door. Failing that, tried to melt though the door. My only option was to find Ben (housemate). I rode to Aura's (Finish) in singlet top, track pants and leopard slippers to get his number. She wasn’t home. Rode to the building that Niki (Australian who I stayed with when I had nowhere to live) lives in. She wasn’t home. Andy (English) our now mutual friend wasn't home. Sarah (Irish who helped my get to Annecy) let me use her phone. Ben was just getting home. Cara bikes across Lyon again. Grabs stuff and heads for a new train. Meets random guy with an aboriginal flag t-shirt in line for tickets. We sit next to each other on the train. He shows me around Paris for the 3 hours between the train and my bus to London. Saw the Seine, Sorbonne, a monument where famous French dead are buried and Notre Dame! He gave me transport tickets too! Cara catches train to gare de l'est (East station) waits for the bus. Take to the bus to England at 10pm. Off at 3am to go through customs and catch the ferry from Calais to Dover. Back on the bus and arrive in England at 5:50am. The first 4 things I see: rain, a pub, the old style taxis and another pub (the second in 5 mins), this one was called the Shakespeare! Fantastic!

P.S. Cara doesn’t purposely travel spontaneously…it all just ends up that way! You can’t always plan ahead because you don’t now your options! I didn’t know that the girls were going to Nice and Marseille and that it was feasible for me! I didn’t know I could get a lift to Annecy! I didn’t know that last Tues was a holiday and I could spend 10 days in England with only missing 3 classes!