Bye-bye! France

With the thought of not wishing to miss my train, I had not been able to sleep soundly. It seemed that I had set my watch alarm in a way that it beeped once every hour, which was probably quite annoying to Edidav who had left their bedroom to the parents to sleep in the same living room with me.

The alarm officially made a noise to wake me up at 4.35am. Edidav got up not long after I'd washed my face and changed clothes. I was relieved that Ernest's "maybe he would see me off" did not come true. I hated to disturb people to do things for me, including saying goodbye.

When I was pulling my luggage from the house to the car, I fell on the front doorsteps. An incident to mark my last day in France. I was so used to falling in front of others so many times that I had learnt to laugh at myself to disguise my embarrassment.

The sky brightened early in spring mornings. We hardly saw other vehicles at 5.20am. It only took us less than fifteen minutes to reach the railway station. I had a lot of memorable moments in this place during my stay as a student. Friends came and friends left, all through this train station.

I had a little time to take pictures with Edidav who looked fresher than I,

before my train arrived at the platform A. It was a high-speed train which would bring me directly to the Charles-de-Gaulle airport.

I was holding a printed electronic-ticket that I had booked for the first time online and paid with Ernest's credit card. I was blessed to get the half price as the transaction was done early. Ernest insisted not to accept my money when I wanted to pay him back by cash. Actually he would have loved to travelled with Nicole and me in the northern France and then send me to the airport with Emmanuel's camping car. His age, health conditions and especially lack of experience were the reasons why he received all kinds of discouraging reactions from the family which finally make him decide to abandon the eccentric idea.

When I was sitting in the carriage looking through the window outside which Edidav were waving at me,

I thought the train was the best way for me to leave, for in less than twenty minutes, they could be back to their bed again. With Ernest and Nicole in the camping car at the airport, I would be the one worried about their safety on their way back.

A friend that Edith met at the platform happened to be a guard who checked my e-ticket. I closed my eyes, but so many things were passing in my mind. I really thanked God for all the blessings He had poured to my whole trip.

Was my connection with France coming to an end this year after I had flown back to Malaysia?

Not yet...