Sol Entry 8

The TGV and Strasbourg. 09/01/2021
Taking the train from Charleville to Strasbourg was a nightmare. We got to the station 30 minutes before departure, packed up our bicycles in their not-so-little bags, and rushed to get everything onto platform five. Why five? Because we hadn’t yet learned how to read the schedule screens. Turns out it was not the right platform, and ten minutes before take-off we had to haul everything back to the first platform and run to catch the train.
Just imagine the scene for a second. A family of four in a panic, rushing back and forth between platforms carrying giant bags, yelling the entire time to coordinate, lugging everything onto the train cart, blocking the entire entryway, keeping the train from taking off several times with the little green button. Once on the train, all sweaty, breathing heavily, a bit dizzy, we finally let the doors close, and now it’s time to reorganize everything to unblock the hallway. 
We’re also just very loud. We talk and laugh with pronounced volume, one might say. Not sure how we could possibly draw more attention to ourselves. On the train that day, we must have made quite a spectacle. Oh well. I’m getting used to it.
A couple stations in, a man boarded with his bicycle, fully loaded with panniers and a backpack. We all stared in disbelief as he quietly and calmly wheeled his bike past us and found his seat. It was the ultimate face-slap moment. Turns out we could’ve boarded fully-loaded as well and saved ourselves the trouble. Oh well, again.
The TGV to Strasbourg was even worse, since the luggage compartment was on the second floor (why would anyone do that) and too small for our stuff, so we had to split up: two bikes and a suitcase went upstairs and one person stood guarding those, another person stayed downstairs with the two burleys loaded past their limit with luggage, and a bike, and the other two people (my brother and I) got to sit in seats and guard the last bike and the backpacks. 
Upon arriving, we hauled our stuff to the front doors and spent three hours assembling the caravan, meanwhile looking for a place to stay. Ominously similar to our arrival in Brussels Airport. But this time, an employee at the station came up to talk to us, and we ended up talking about our whole trip, and she offered to look at a map with us and recommended places to stay. We actually managed to make it home before dark, and went for a walk around Petite France and down the river before heading back home and crashing.
Strasbourg was beautiful, enchanting just like I remembered it. We caught up with a friend, walked around a lot, ate more kebab, and got to play some music. We also got vaccinated for Japanese Encephalitis, Rabies, and Typhoid. One step closer to traveling in East Asia! Then we packed up and made ready to head south again.