March 2nd Sunday

Megan and I got up at 4:00am. Yuck. It was awful. My flight left Prestwick at 6:40am.

We went down to have breakfast. I ended up just having some Lemsip and a banana. Megan went into the kitchen and came out with huge eyes. She said “My brother went a bit crazy.” Megan’s brother had packed me a complete lunch. It included: two ham and cheese sandwiches, a yogurt drink, a mousse dessert, and candy. They were all neatly packed into Tupperware containers, stacked and then secured with a rubber band. It was very nice of him to do that.

Megan was able to take her parents’ car to the airport. They had a very nice tiny yellow car that had advanced features on it. We had only a 45 minute ride.

We got to the airport and went up to the desk so that I could check in. The woman there gave me a hard time about the weight of my bag. It was a kilo over the limit for a carry-on. She told me to try to take out some things and put them on my person. Does this make sense to anyone? Why does it matter if the bag is that heavy when I’m just going to put that weight on me anyway? The weight is going on the plane either way. I tried taking some things out of it but she ended up just giving me my boarding pass and waiving me on.

Megan and I went to the little airport gift shop. I hadn’t gotten a chance to buy any souvenirs. I bought some funny coasters that had Scottish slang on them. I bought my brother a bottle opener keychain with Nessie on it. I also got some Scottish Tablet. It was some kind of treat that’s very popular in Scotland.

I was starting to feel hungry so Megan and I went to sit at one of the Starbucks tables. I ate one of the sandwiches that Megan’s brother packed. I also had some yogurt and the mousse. I didn’t want troubles with security.

Eventually it was time to say goodbye and get in the security line. I really didn’t want to leave. I had so much fun with my friend. It was great catching up with her. I also knew that when I got back that I’d have some huge papers waiting for me. Megan and I made puppy dog eyes at each other as I slowly passed through security.

Once I was on the other side I went into the next lobby where they called flights to board. I came in just in time for them to say the last call for my flight. I ran into the next area into a huge line waiting to board. I was pretty much the last person in line. At least I didn’t miss my flight.

The flight went fine. I caved and bought a bottle of water on the flight because I felt like I couldn’t last until the end of it. The drinks are always so expensive on Ryanair flights. I also finished part of the sandwich I’d started in the airport.

We landed and I hopped on one of the buses to head back into Paris. This bus was extra tiny and there was no way that I could sit without my knees ramming the seat in front of me. It was a very long ride back.

Finally I arrived in Paris. I took the RER home and dropped my stuff off at the apartment. It looked like Karuna was still there. She’d come into Paris the same day I left. She and Adrienne were probably out somewhere. I called just to let them know that I’d made it. Adrienne said that they were going to the Rose Bakery with Amanda. It was a very popular English bakery that Karuna liked. I really wanted to sleep but I decided to go anyway. I hopped on the metro and made my way there.

I met up with the small group and we went to the bakery. There was a long line. We had to wait a while. It was a very cute bakery and had many delicious looking goods in the front case. I started to not feel well. I sometimes feel sick if I don’t eat enough. I was also running on less than 4 hours of sleep. Eventually we were seated in a small table in the back. I was going to order the soup but Karuna talked me into buying something more exotic. For some reason I chose smoked salmon with scrambled eggs. It was good but I was not in the mood for it. I should have stuck with the soup.

Overall, the place was nice and the wait staff was friendly if a little frazzled. I was not in the mood for it that day but I might go back on a day when I felt up for it. Karuna, Adrienne, and Amanda went to do their own things. I think Adrienne ended up at the Salon d’Agriculture. I went home and went to bed. My cold or flu had gotten much worse since the beginning of my trip.

I slept until Karuna and Adrienne came back. I didn’t eat much for dinner. We all sat down and watched the Woody Allen movie Alice. It was pretty funny.

After that I talked to my parents on Skype. We went to bed around midnight. It was a rough night. Every time I almost got to sleep I started coughing. It was the really wet cough that if I didn’t cough hard I felt like I would suffocate. I was miserable but at least Karuna and Adrienne understood and didn’t get mad at me for keeping them up. Karuna had to wake up early to catch her flight back to Madrid.