Le Havre to board the ship, maybe not?!

Last day in Paris, Hongyu and I chilled at the hotel then left to catch our train to Le Havre. We took the metro, and of course something unexpected had to happen. My leg got stuck between the metro doors while entering. Luckily, French people are so kind and helpful, they ran to push my luggage, help me get away from the door and make sure I was okay. They even helped us move our luggage in stations, how sweet of them!

We arrived in St. Lazare station two hours earlier than the train schedule, and then other semester at sea students started arriving one by one. We met a Canadian guy who had a chat in French and English with us about France. It was nice to get a Francophone's perspective about France. Thuy was already there, Wei, Brenda, Ahmed and Mohammed then arrived. The train was not as fancy as expected, but it was okay. No space to store the luggage, so we kept them between chairs. The scenery between Paris and Le Havre though is worth every cent paid. You get a true sense of French farms, greenery and European country side like those in movies!
            

When we arrived in Le Havre, our hotel was just across the street. What else could we ask for! Just be careful when checking in on a Sunday because there was almost no one at the hotel, and we had to find our keys in the safe. Fortunately, there was a resident who opened the door for us and helped with finding our room keys.

We were a bunch of SASers there excited to board the World Odyssey on the following day. Suddenly, we received an email saying that due to weather problems, the ship would not be passing by Le Havre anymore!! Wait what? How? What will we do? I wanted to see the ship and meet other SASers. I wanted to start so bad!!

To change the mood, Thuy and I went on a walk in Le Havre and had dinner at a Turkish restaurant, which was so good, filling and just for 5 euros. So much cheaper than Paris ;) Le Havre is quiet and cool. It reminds me of Port Foa'ad in Egypt, so refreshing to walk in.

That morning, the 14^th of Septemebr, we all went to Le Havre and found two SAS representatives there waiting for us. They tried to us feel better about the next couple of days and are currently working hard to plan them well. So, the plan for now is to take a flight from Paris to Rome and either to stay in Rome or go to Civitavecchia (technically our first SAS port).

They will also work with us on adjusting classes, receiving assignments from professors and staying on school schedule. We'll have our orientation with them, and it will probably be cooler than that on the ship, because they designed it. Also, seeing the ship arriving in port will be awesome, not so many people get to witness that ;)

What we will do next is still a mystery, stay tuned! :D