We left Barcelona at the crack of dawn, and arrived in Montpellier (France) after sitting for 5 hours on the train. Hopping off the train we expected to head up to the ticket desk and reserve seats for the next leg of the trip, Montpellier to Paris. In Barcelona the lady at the ticket desk said we would have no problem getting on the train to Paris and had a full hour, more than enough time to reserve our seats.
Walking up to the massive line at the ticket desk our dreams of a quick transfer were shattered. The line was so long, we stood in the line for 50 minutes talking to 2 Australian girls in the queue behind us, all 4 of us still carrying our heavy backpacks. Their train to Zurich came and went. And still we waited. Finally, with 10 minutes to spare before our train was due to leave we were next in line. We showed the lady the train to Paris that we wanted, pointing it out in our Eurail timetable book. She looks at her computer, looks at us and says “non”. So we point to the next time…she says “non”.
Through interpretive dance we manage to get the message across that we need to get to Belgium that night. Lindsay was talking at a conference early the next morning. She types into the computer, then says “allo, non”. Which basically means “computer says no”. Helpful. So we said “English, English?” and she directed us to a colleague who spoke perfect English.
This English speaking ticket woman was lovely, and we explained to her that it was vital for us to get to Belgium that night. So she found a train that was heading to Lille, from there we had 10 minutes to get the train to Brussels and then from Brussels we could get to Ghent, where the conference was being held. It turned out there was a public holiday in France and everyone was on the move. Catching a train to Lille instead of Paris was perfect. In Paris we would have to catch the metro across the city, but in Lille we could just change trains.
We had an hour to wait, so decided to grab some lunch and experience as much of France as one can experience at a train station.
Thanks to Lindsay’s non-paying clients, this is how much of France we got to experience:
A sandwich shop on a busy road next to the station.
(Guess who is officially off our Christmas Card list?)
We got on our train, which as far as trains go was pretty space age. It was like catching a train from the future decorated with an ’80s theme. There was a little dog across from us who fell head over heals in love with Lindsay. The dog tried to get Lindsay’s attention and climb on his lap, only to be pulled back by his owner. The little dog then lay on the ground crying, looking longingly at Lindsay.
We tried to sleep through the 6 hour trip, it was dark outside and looking out the window resulted in your own reflection looking back at you. A young woman opened her hand bag and a cat popped out. My sinuses went omfgzomgwtfzombiesomg. (I am allergic to cats)
Our train pulled up in Lille and we jumped off the train. We had 10 mins to find our next train. We raced up the escalators to look frantically for the departures board. The board said the train we needed was the last one for the night and on the platform we had just come from! So we raced back to the platform and discovered the last 3 carriages of the train we had just been on were continuing on to Brussels.
The train trip to Brussels took another 30 minutes. From there we had to find a train to Ghent. The train to Ghent took another 30 minutes, from Ghent we had to change to another train that took us to the suburb of Ghent our accommodation was in.
In one day we travelled approx. 1400km via public transport! YIKES! 
We arrived in Ghent in an Industrial area, by now it was 11pm. To navigate ourselves we were to look for a chimney stack… but it was so misty we couldn’t see any! After phoning the B&B for help we finally arrived. One of the hosts met us and took us onto their boat. Thats right! We stayed in a canal boat! it was huge and luxurious. With a big comfy bed and an ensuite. But sadly a cat…
Lindsay left the next morning for his conference while I hung out with 3 very English kids who were on holidays in Ghent. They were charming and loved photobooth on my laptop.
We then watched Sponge Bob Square pants on YouTube while their parents packed. The parents were so happy to have a moments peace and I was having fun hanging out with their kids so it worked out very well.
I packed my own gear and made my way to the train station. I considered hanging around in Ghent, but the cat at the B&B was really affecting me (I couldn’t breathe) so had to leave.
I caught a train to Antwerp station,
and back over the border into Holland. I was picked up at the station in Oss by Elke.
Up next … lots of thing and the reasons why I have been to busy to blog!