We had to switch our reservation to two trains because of the previous "first class blunder." The first was a 2-hour local train to Marseille (yup, I've been to Marseille). We had to sit in a smoking car for an hour of the trip because even though we had paid *twice* for reservations, we did not have a reserved spot on this train. Hilary finally found some non-reserved seats by some smelly French men, and BO was *much* better than a room filled with smoke all around us. Oh yeah ... and none of those windows opened! Hilary got sick, but she felt better after getting off that train and taking a Dramamine!

Then, we went on a TGV (high speed train) to Paris from Marseille. It took only five hours! We met a nice exchange student our age from Mexico City named Cynthia and we all talked for a few hours and the trip went by fast.

The arrival in Paris was pretty anticlimactic because we are staying by the airport, not really in Paris itself, so all we had planned on doing was have a nice meal and swim in the pool at the hotel. The dinner was great, but the pool was closed by the time we were done eating.

I stayed up to 4:00 AM to get a head-start on getting adjusted to Eastern Standard.

6/3/2001 - Travel day home ----

Overall, as I sit here in the Charles du Gaulle airport in France, I would say that the trip was worth it.

Hilary and I still love each other despite our fears that being around each other 24/7 for three weeks would eventually drive us insane. =)

The people we've met here: (Emanuel, Stoner Mike, Cynthia) all came from different places on this Earth and it was an incredible opportunity to interact with them and ask them questions of their hopes and dreams and their opinion of our homeland: America.

Day 1/Day 2 Day 3 Day 4 Day 5 Day 6 Day 7 Day 8 Day 9 Day 10 Day 11 Day 12 Day 13 Day 14 Day 15 Day 16 Day 17 Day 18 Day 19 Epilogue