We're getting closer!

I'm currently sitting in Belgium.  Only by the Grace of God did I make it here last night.  But, I'm getting ahead of myself.

We're still waiting on the final closing date on the house.  At the latest, it should be 2 weeks from today.  We're hoping it isn't any earlier than that because we still have packing and storing of stuff to take place.  My lovely wife has done an awesome job so far!

My work visa has (finally) been submitted.  Apparently the ball was dropped by people who shall remain nameless, but that has been corrected.  The company that submitted the visa is on top of things and is trying to get the French government to push the visa approval through quickly.  Good luck with that.  Once it is approved, it is sent to the French Consulate in Atlanta where everyone in my family must be present to pick up the visa.  Why do we all have to be there?  I have no idea.  I guess that is all part of the adventure, right?

So, speaking of adventure, my trip to Europe over the last 48 hours has been interesting.  The goal of flying here this week was to perform the walkthrough of the apartment with the management company and a bailiff since the apartment is furnished and then head to Belgium to work with the team for a few days before returning back to the US.

My flight to Pais wasn't bad.  Upon landing I decided I would tackle the Paris Metro system to get around.  I needed to get from the airport to my bank to pick up my bank cards.  Done without so much as a hiccup, including changing trains.  Then I grabbed lunch and made my way to the apartment.  The walkthrough went well and I have the keys.  I can officially state that we have a home in Paris.  When everyone left yesterday, I just sat down and took it all in.  "HOLY COW, WE'RE MOVING TO PARIS!"  Because apparently it hadn't officially sunk in yet.

So after that breakthrough, I headed back to the Metro to make my way to Gare du Nord to catch a train to Belgium.  I found my way to the correct ticket counter around 5:20pm.  There was a 5:25 train leaving that I had to catch.  In the words of the ticket agent.  "Your train leaves in 3 minutes.  Number 15.  HURRY!"  I saw platform 15 down the line and took off.  I jumped on board and settled in.  About 5 minutes later, the train pulled out.  When they came around to check tickets, the man looked at my ticket and started going on and on in French.  I had no idea what he was saying, but I believe "stupid American" was thrown in there a few times.  I've figured out how to say "Parlez vous Anglais?" to save me.  Basically, I got on the wrong train.  I was supposed to get onto train 15 instead of platform 15.  Thanks for that clarification.

So I was basically heading... somewhere.  Definitely not to Antwerp as I had planned, but I had no idea where I was going.  .  I got off at the first stop, which happened to be about a 45 minute train ride directly north of Paris.  For those of you wanting to see how big of a mistake I'd made, look up Longueau, France.  Now look well east to find Antwerp.  Not even close, right?  With my tail between my legs, I bought a ticket back to Paris, waited 40 minutes for the train to arrive, and then rode 45 minutes back to Paris.  The closest they could get me to my destination was Brussels on a train leaving at 10pm.  So I had a few more hours to kill.

I made it to Brussels, where I hopped a very expensive cab ride to my hotel about 30 minutes away.  I'm working in Belgium for 2 1/2 days and then head back to Paris for a Friday morning flight.  I will triple check the train before heading back to Paris on Thursday.

I've gained a lot of knowledge of the trains in Paris.  The Metro and RER trains within Paris are very easy to use.  I just have to make sure I know what train I'm getting on when heading outside of Paris.

I said this would be an adventure.  I just figured the crazy stories would happen after we moved here!