July 17^th, 2012

Day 59: Nice & Montpellier, France & Figueras & Barcelona, Spain

Today was our longest travel day yet. That’s essentially going to be the message of this post. That, and always always always check under your seat before you get off of a train.

We had a 7:55 train from Nice to Montpellier this morning. We arrived in Montpellier a little after 1. Stephen and I got off the train and went across the street to a McDonald’s to get free wifi, and maybe lunch. Waiting in line to buy something, I realized my wallet was missing. Stephen and I pieced together the morning- I had my wallet when we left because I put my license back into it, I had my wallet when we paid for breakfast next to the train station before we got on the train and now I don’t have my wallet. That was the timeline of events, so our options were a) it was stolen/lost somewhere in transit from the shop to the first train, it was stolen/lost on the train, or it was stolen/lost in transit from the station to McDonald’s. I remembered that I had put my purse underneath my seat on the train to Montpellier, so I ran back to the train station to see if our train was still there (it had a short stopover and I wasn’t sure how long that would last). Unfortunately, the train had already left and was on its way to Bordeaux, Toulouse to be specific.

At this point, I was crying. Upset that it was lost/stolen and that I had no money, no license and no cards. I tried to keep it together enough to ask for help at an information booth and was told to go to the information station, which was downstairs. My fingers were crossed that it was still on the train and they could do something to help find it. I walked in holding back tears and politely asked for help (in English, since I don’t know a word of French). Maybe my first question should have been if the customer service agent spoke English because apparently I set him off by just beginning to speak. He immediately got very angry and started yelling in French about how he didn’t speak English (I think), shaking his head back and forth, getting out of his seat and throwing his hands up. I tried to ask if there was anyone else I could speak with that could help me, and I think the gist of what he was saying was “no, no one here speaks English and no one can help.” Comforting words (regardless of the chosen language) to hear for an American traveller who just lost all of her money, access to money, and personally identifiable information.

The man then stormed away from his computer, went into the room behind the booth and slammed the door shut.

That was going nowhere fast. I walked back outside to the main station and tried to find someone who spoke English. Luckily, I found a man who understood me a little bit and explained my situation to him. He then went into the station I had just left, went behind the desk, and called the lead conductor on the train that I had been on. He asked the conductor to have his staff look for my wallet in the seat I was sitting in and asked that I stay in the area so that he could find me when the conductor called back. I was beyond grateful that this man was willing to help me and sat down in the information station to wait. Slightly awkward, since at times it was just me and the guy who originally flipped out in the room surrounded by a tense silence. I stared him down most of the time, angry that he was so quick to dismiss me and smug that I found someone to help and he just sat there looking like an asshole.

Long story short, I waited and about a half hour later was told that my wallet was found and was on the train. And then was told that the only way I could get it was to go to Toulouse. Well, since Toulouse was in the dead center of the country, that wasn’t going to happen during my 5 hour layover on the way to Barcelona. I reached out to a few people to try to see if there was any way that it could be sent to me, picked up by any locals, sent to someone in France, etc. I even roped in my roommate from Ireland, Riona, to do my bidding and call to speak to customer service/lost luggage at the Toulouse station. No dice.

Regardless of the status of my wallet, I was all set with money since Stephen and I both have Bank of America and I could just transfer him money to take out on my behalf. So, I can make it until I come home next week!

After the wallet drama, we just chilled in McDonalds until our next train, taking advantage of the AC, comfortable seats and free wifi. And occasional French fries.

The only cool thing about Montpellier.. decorative trams

Our train left Montpellier at 5 or so and arrived in Barcelona at about half ten. Judging by the nature of the day so far, I thought things couldn’t get much worse, but joke’s on you, Jill! We made our way to what (we thought) was our hostel for the next three nights only to find out that I messed up the booking and booked 3 nights for next week. Oops! After some quick searches online, we booked a room at a hotel for 1 night, booked 2 more at a pseudo hostel for the remaining 2 we had in Barcelona and set out to get some rest.

Our hotel was decent, but I wasn’t complaining with a hot shower and a bed to sleep in. After settling in and finally relaxing for the day, it was time to sleep J

*special appearance of a ‘lesson of the day’ instead of ‘favorite part’

Lesson of the day: Take things as they come and adapt to them. There’s no point in worrying about something that’s happened and wishing it didn’t- you can’t do anything about it after the fact. I lost my wallet, it sucked. I booked the wrong dates for our hostel, it sucked. It was stressful and definitely something I could have done without, but you know what? I’m all set for money, we’re all set for hostels, and we’re in a beautiful city that I can’t wait to explore. Bring on the trials and tribulations, world. I’m gonna take them in stride and continue having the time of my life.