[Written on September 9th]
We left Peyresq early in the morning, everyone tired from the party the night before. Saying goodbye to the tutors and some of the lecturers in the village square, most of the participants at the airport, the last few at Nice train station. Wondering who I would see again, at conferences or workshops or when visiting other universities. Unsure, right then, what I would be bringing with me from these two weeks in the southern French alps. Unsure, also, of what I had left behind in the others.
The train to Paris ran late. Suddenly, a heavy rain started falling and we were stuck in between Nice and Antibes. Apparently, the trains in Sweden aren’t the only ones that cannot handle weathers.
It was nerve-wrecking, arriving late in Paris and finding my way through the metro system and streets to the hostel. That is one backside to solo traveling: late evening arrivals in strange cities. But I made it, and celebrated by eating Finnish chocolate in my hostel bunk bed. Feeling a bit lonely – but luckily, sleep arrived quickly.
Katja Malmborg 