Chapter 9: On the Road to Bordeaux

I woke in the morning at 8am and trotted to the metro down to Gare de Montparnasse. I got a small breakfast of a pain au chocolate and a hot chocolate. When it was finally my time to board the train, I still had a very awful, sinking feeling in my stomach that told me something was wrong, but then again, I had worken in the night in a cold sweat. Crazy body. Crazy mind.
On the train, it pulled out of the gare on time into the first blueskysunnyday I've had since I've been in Europe. We shoot out across the French countryside in the beautiful sun, and I marvel at the large, stretching pastures of a picturesque countryside. A man smelling of a stale pub carpet comes and sits next to me and drunkenly apologizes for nothing. He soon leaves for another seat and a young man in his late 20s or early 30s takes his place. He doesn't smell.
The small towns on the way look like something out of a period film; small medieval-18th Century towns.
And now, sitting beside me, is a very large man with a broken hand, dripping in sweat and smelling horrible. Hopefully he won't be on the train for too long. Smelling tangy of dirt and sweat and...that's it...cigarettes. And just plain body odour. I can taste it on the air. He wears a camo jacket and is covered in hair. Help, it makes me physically shudder. How does one person sweat so much? Always wiping his brow with folded paper...
Even after he's gotten up the smell lingers on in the fabric of the seat.
I jerked from my sleep as the train pulled into Bordeaux. Over thin, ancient bridges I saw the tall spyres of an old cathedral and the columns of a building as old as the Louvre. Getting off the train one sees that the whole city is like something out of a film spanning the 1500s to the 1800s and then stopping until train lines and neon lights were installed. The buildings are made of sandstone and the alleys are mostly barely big enough for 3 people side by side. I got out of the station beaming as I saw the sun out from behind the clouds for the first time since I landed in Europe.
At the tram stop I was met by Mary's friend Estenne. I called her to let her know I had arrived and she told me she was on her way. Soon enough a short, dark haired girl with blonde streaks and olive skin struggling with a full suitcase and a cat carrier cage walked up to me, "Bonjour," she said and we cheek-kissed 3 times - she going to stop at 2, but I only knew the Montpellier 3 and went for the third. She handed me the keys and showed me the crudely drawn map on the back of a piece of paper from uni, "go here and here after the stop St Michel, all good?" She said, smiling.
"Yeah, the trip was fine. It's my first day of sun in France."
"Oh no, I'm going up to Paris!"
"All clouse and rain I'm afraid." And she shrugged, "Well, enjoy your stay!" and we cheek-kissed again, only this time only twice.
I got on the tram after waiting in line and missing 2 as a result of an old couple not being able to figure out the ticket machine.
I soon got off at the stop St Michel and walked down the narrow cobblestone alleyes until I hit Mary's place - just as it started to rain. The buiolding was a beautiful, medieval building with a narrow, stone entranceway and a winding staircase to the third floor and Mary's apartment.
When I got inside I immediately took a shower. A real shower. And it felt oh so good. I finally felt clean and not smelling. Afterwards I poured myself a glass of milk and made a couple of slices of bread with peanut butter. For some reason, this tasted extra good - probably because it was "home" food. It felt good to finally be in the presence of someone who gave a shit about my wellbeing. It also felt good to be in a place where I knew I could be safely alone, and where I didn't have to worry about strange people I didn't know arriving at all hours of the day and night.
Mary arrived home at 6pm and after a long phone fight and reconciliation with her boyfriend, we spent the night hours talking; I told her about Anna and the tales that preceeded during this crazy year of 2008 and I detailed the journey so far up until now. After talking for so long, we had a late - Late - dinner at 10:30pm and then a desert. For dinner, tortellini with a cream sauce with sausage bits and for desert an assortment of cheeses. We then spoke until midnight and finally hit the sack.

- from The Journal December 19th 2008