Like the day before, we immensely enjoyed the hotel breakfast buffet. Then we grabbed our bags and took the metro back to the main train station. This was much easier than arriving, now that we understood the terrain and ticketing.

When we arrived in Narbonne the display was blank where our train’s platform should have been listed. I got a Coke Zero, now ten minutes to the departure time, and the display platform was still empty next to our route number. 8 minutes left, 6 minutes left. Now in a tiny corner the sign flickered “delayed 1h40m”. What?! The station agent was irritated and told us to get on the next train to Toulouse. It sounded like the train we booked was undersold, so they cancelled it? But why no warning or alert? We had reserved first class seats, and now piled onto a regional transit train with open seating. I was pleased we quickly had a solution, and overall only a 30 minute delay to the final destination. Stefani was very upset though! She assured me this would never have happened in this manner if we were in Germany! She notified her family and was confused about how we will get home, because her husband has a meeting and could not pick up at the new time. I assured her that there would be taxis at the train station to get us home. To make matters worse, there was a passenger common to American public transport- the confrontational mentally-ill person who yells in your face. My friend said she had never had an encounter like this. I shrugged it off but it really rattled her. To be honest, I was more impressed that other passengers called security, and within two minutes he was escorted off our car. Even so, my poor friend was beside herself! I reassured her all was well and we continued our pleasant conversation, filling in details of each others lives and how our cultures differ.

Back in Pibrac, Carl-Phillip made us a simple petit-dejeuner and I cracked open my first Orangina of the trip. I tried to lay low the afternoon. Stefanie had so many things she wanted to do together during our “free afternoon” but also needed to attend to house work and pack, both her Paris bag and her children’s things. (Florian is taking the kids on a camping road trip to Paris, meeting us Sunday evening. After I depart their family will continue to explore Paris for the rest of their school vacation time. ) I encouraged my friend to do what she needs to do without worrying about me, but stayed close by so she didn’t feel abandoned We both did laundry and had a cup of chicory – no coffee or caffeine, just chicory root. She said it is a favorite and offered me to try and I liked it a lot! Later she convinced the kids to accompany us to the grocery store. I was curious and she needed to restock anyway. The kids gave me good candy recommendations to bring home! Also I bought some chicory. I looked it up and I think in the US we only a version from New Orleans with coffee also?

After a quick stop home we walked to a restaurant in Pibrac to meet Florian after work. They explained that this bistro is connected to the boucherie next door. They close the shop at 12:30 and walk over to open the bistro for lunch, and back and forth each day. So they assured me the meat is top quality. On their recommendation I ordered the duck with today’s legumes, endives, in place of frites. I was pleased they let me pay for dinner as thanks for their hospitality. Then back home to finish packing. And that was the day! Tomorrow we wake extra early for our 8am train direct to Paris (no finicky connections this time 🤞).