On Our Own

Well, they guys had to be up just past 6 a.m. because of their early flight out of Munich this morning.  All of the girls got up to bid them adieu.  Walter was the faithful driver, and loaded up all of the luggage.  With a tearful goodbye, we send out husbands back to HOT Arizona, and had to say our farewells to Walter as well, because we would be on our way to the train station before he returned.

Diane and I had a couple of hours to shower, wash our hair, have a couple of cups of macchiato and small breakfast before Miriam took us to the train station in Regensburg.  We arrived quite early, which was fine, as we wanted to ensure all of our ducks were in order.  lol.  They were.  We had time enough to order a couple of sandwiches for the road.  Miriam then escorted us to the exact platform we needed to be at, and then stayed with us until our train had arrived and we were safely ensconced in it.  We had a three hour journey ahead of us to Frankfort.  But, in first class, we had the best seats we have had yet!  A great 4 seater, semi-private area where 2 seats faced one direction and the other 2 seats faced the other direction, with a table in between us.  When the conductor came by to check our tickets, we also ordered our last German beer to drink as we rolled quickly along the countryside.

Our train was a little late in starting, and Diane and I are a bit concerned when we hit Frankfort, as we originally had only 20 minutes between trains, and now we have even less... so, wish us luck making a smooth and QUICK transfer to our Lyon bound train.

We made it!  And it was at a different platform than the listing had said, but regardless, we were on time with about 5 minutes to spare. We had a 6 hour (YES... 6 hour) train ride to Lyon.  We enjoyed the lovely French country side, hit an occasional rain storm, and had a glass of French sparkling wine to celebrate our being BACK in France!  Diane and I both finished one book, and then just hung out until we arrived in Lyon.

We were met on the platform by my former student and his family.  Tanguy LeLuyer was in my 2nd grade class 6 years ago! His mom, Cecile, dad, Yann, Tanguy, and his sister Mathilde all met us on the platform as we alighted from the train.  I saw them immediately!  I ran over and gave them all a big hug.  So wonderful to see them after such a long time.  Tanguy promptly took my luggage, and Yann took Diane's bag, too.  We had to catch 2 Metro trains and a quick walk and we were at the family's apartment.

We all went out to the beautiful patio area to enjoy the evening.  It was cool and we were surrounded by green trees, grass and flowers. After catching up a bit, Yann began to bring out our dinner.  We were served three different AMAZING quiches, salmon and asparagus, tomato and tuna with olives, and goat cheese and red pepper.  Yes, we had one

piece of each!  Delicious.  We also had a nice bordeaux and a fresh salad that complimented the meal nicely.  Just as we finished stuffing ourselves, Yann brought out a platter of incredible pastries and a bottle of sparkling wine as a celebration of our visit.  Diane and I shared a few of the delectable treats, and sipped our sparkling drink.

Cecile went in and found some of the old yearbooks from when Tanguy and Mathilde were at Ninos,  at we did a lot of reminiscing.  Tanguy even kept his old LSU shirt from when he was in my class.  What a wonderful thing to see.  Go Tigers!  We stayed up until midnight, and just talked and talked.  Such a warm and wonderful family that we have the chance to spend some time with, and who opened their home to us.  Merci, merci!