18th August : Barcelona/travelling

 ** Today at 2:30pm I catch the bus to Paris. It will be a long long ride but I will have my Netflix KDrama downloads to keep me company.

Technically I left on the 18th and today is the 18th so one month, one quarter of my trip is over. 

I just need to pack, which is really a joke, as I am only travelling with my Easyjet sized bag plus a minute day-backpack. In total under 10kg in weight. Still not feeling 100% but the 5 to 6 days back in London should see me right as I had planned for recharge periods during the trip. 

** At the bus station with a two hour wait. I have 19.5 hours ahead of me before I get into Paris. This trip is based around the fact I have all the time in the world and so time aside, other considerations have come into play such as where does the bus stop in Paris in relation to where I need to go, and the location for me is perfect. It is relatively near to the Place da la Bastille, and I just need to catch the metro straight up the hill.

** An hour into the bus ride going north and the sky is coving over as black as I have ever experienced. The storm lasted about 15 minutes as it seemed to be travelling south while we are travelling north. 

About 20 minutes later and another storm front appears to be coming our way. Matt has told me that a bad weather front passed through Paris just the other day.

With or without out these storms, the landscape is magnificent. The mountains are true to form as they clearly are reaching for the skies. Have you any given any thought that living in isolation, say on-top of a mountain etc, is always wonderful and romantic when it's not you who has to live there. 

Just crossed over the border, so Bonjour France and hasta la vista Spain, but maybe " I'll be back". The border on the map is the thin zig zaggy dark line. 

And the name of the border village is, ironically, La Perthus. Now who could have seen that coming?

We are now travelling very slowly in a northerly direction as there is a massive surge of cars and transport trucks ahead. I do not know if this is the norm or if there has been an accident ahead. The traffic going south into Spain is moving at a brusque pace. I'm obviously going in the wrong direction lol.

** When we crossed the border I found it very strange that we did not have to show our passports. I found it strange that I could cross an international border without anyone checking. Apparently not so. The bus had been pulled over and about half a dozen border officers have come on board to checked everyone's ID cards or passports if not from the EU. One chap has been removed, but he is very calm about it. Just waiting for his luggage to be found below. He was talking in a language not familiar to my ears so I do not understand why he was refused entry. But to be honest just about any language he may have spoken would have been foreign to me.

Me, on the other hand, they took my passport and asked for my visa. I replied that I did not know I needed a visa, but at that point the border guard found my Bilbao entry stamp and it was smiles all round. Apparently that very hard to read stamp from Bilbao airport on a very busy passport page was the visa they were looking for.

** Arrived in Toulouse around 8:40, more or less on time. The only place I could find open was a Subway, and you know how I love those. Not! In Spain I walked into a few but honestly I could not recognise the objects  that they wished to place in the roll. In Paris it was a bit easier. I could read and understand way more than the zero level of Spanish I arrived and left with. Ended up having a beef something, but my way. They were very compliant and with a smile.

The bus was possibly built before the Spanish Civil War. Although the ride was ok, so much was broken, from the broken power points bad placed in the ceilings, to the foot rests, the arm rests, to the general condition. Anyway, that trip is over and if nothing else has prepared me for the many future bus rides I have booked.

My ride to Paris is booked to leave here at 10:30pm and get me in to Paris at 8am. Marie has supplied Parisian directions for the Metro and I am hoping that I will be with the three of them before 9am.