Finally, I arrived at the airport! My trip to France has begun. When I was leaving Latvia, I was worried that I had left the wrong gate! I was worried that I might have left the gate by mistake, but upon closer inspection, I found out that according to the Schengen Agreement, you do not need a passport to travel between countries in the EU. I thought, “This is great!
Despite my apprehension, I flew out of Latvia and went to Amsterdam, the Netherlands. When I arrived there, I bought a bottle of water, which cost 3 euros. It was so expensive! And for a very small one. So I had to wait there for about 2 hours, so I opened my computer and looked at pictures and videos.
Night flight to Toulouse
And finally to Toulouse! Departing from the Netherlands, the plane passes through Belgium and then Paris. Then it turned left and went to Toulouse. It was so beautiful because all I could really see was light.
KLM Dutch airport evening meal. Delicious!
I was thrilled to see that this is what it means to travel across Europe. I arrived in Toulouse earlier than usual! I was able to get out without passport control.
The night view of Toulouse is very romantic
When I went to the place of arrival, she was still not there, so I replied to April, who had helped me in Latvia.
Then, after about 10 minutes, she came. Then her mother was there too! She was totally different from my image. She was a very friendly mother and a really nice person. As soon as I saw her, I knew we would hit it off.
I could tell that Jelena’s mother absolutely loved jazz. So I gave her a hug and told her in French that I was very happy to meet her.
We were going to Jelena’s house in a cute little car.
So we go to the parking lot. It’s 11:00 at night. On the way to the parking lot, Jelena’s mother asked me how I was feeling. I told her that I was a little tired after a hard day with many plane connections. I put my backpack in the back of her car. When Jelena found out that I had come with only my backpack, she was very surprised.
After that, breathing the French air, we got in the car and drove to Aucamville (where the house is located).
In the car we talked about AIRBUS. Jelena’s mother works for AIRBUS. That was amazing. I also told her that Japanese airlines use BOEING. The aircrafts that always get into accidents are made by BOEING lol. Then, Jelena can’t use JAL or ANA! and then I would joke about it.
Finally, we arrived at her house in about 20 minutes! We went to Aucanville! Jelena’s house was really beautiful. The moment we entered, there were a lot of candles, it was so stylish that I couldn’t believe it was really a house, there were a lot of artworks, and it had a very nice, gentle, and lifeless atmosphere. It was a really nice room. There was something that I noticed, and it was a really great place, because originally there was no chest of drawers or any kind of furniture like that, it was like storing it inside, so there was no unnecessary furniture like that. The exterior of the house was also really nice, very cute.
The room was very cozy and had a nice atmosphere
I was shown to my room, which was her mom’s book room. There were so many pictures of Jelena everywhere, and pictures of her as a child. I could see that she must have been well taken care of growing up, and the pictures of her childhood are very cute. There was a bed there with a lot of blankets on it, so it was a very nice place.
Jelena and her mother were going to bed soon since it was after midnight. Only I took a shower. So the day was over.
I was thinking how really, really nice it was. I thought, “How wonderful to live in a house like this with mother, just the two of them.” It was very stylish. Me and Jelena sat in the living room, I had a cup of tea and we had a small talk. I couldn’t believe she was right in front of me.
From the moment I met Jelena, this moment feels very strange and unique.
1.5 years ago, I wanted to make French friends, so I sent a bunch of messages, and one of them was Jelena, and I didn’t even know exactly what she looked like until I met her, and I couldn’t believe it at all that I was in her house. It was like, “How is this possible?” Life is interesting when you realize that this is not a coincidence, but an inevitability. And the reason I am here now is because I went to Russia to study abroad, realized that my place was abroad, studied hard for 5 months, and became a freelancer, so we can celebrate the New Year together. I never thought that I would be celebrating the New Year with her, not even for a micron. I felt so happy. Thank you so much for inviting me to France, even though we have never met before. Thank you very much. I appreciate your courage. You are a very nice person. And a beautiful person with a beautiful heart. I hope we can talk regularly in the future. I really thought so.
