Les Gentlemens

In order to save money, I flew into London Heathrow in lieu of Paris Charles de Gaulle(CDG). I figured either way I’d have to take a train to get to Lille, and if you buy it early enough the Eurostar isn’t too expensive. It’s cheaper than trying to get a flight into Lille directly.

The downside of flying into London Heathrow is that the train station is not located directly at the airport like it is at CDG. This means that in order to get from the airport to the train station, one must take two other forms of public transit.

Getting to the Heathrow Express is okay, because it is located in the airport. It is after you get out of the Heathrow Express and are suddenly faced with a bagillion flights of stairs that causes problems.

As I explained in my previous post, I had at least 80 pounds of luggage with me. I am not strong. I exited the Heathrow Express, rolled my suitcases down the platform, and looked up anxiously at the stairs. I was struggling feebly to carry both suitcases at once when a thirty something Englishman offered to help me carry my luggage. I greatly accepted, all the while being afraid of him running off with all my clothes. Luckily, he did no such thing. At the top of the stairs I thanked him, and then continued on my way.

Well as luck would have it, even though I lost mr. niceguy in the crowd, there he was again while I was trying to climb back down the stairs on the other side of the platform onto the underground.

Unfortunately once we were both on the same tube heading towards London, I saw him get off at a stop that wasn’t mine. I knew there would be more stairs ahead of me to get off the tube and up to the Eurostar. Upon reaching the stairs, I thought I was in luck. I saw an elevator. I pushed the button and entered.

I quickly realized that this was an elevator that only goes down. Greatly disappointed, I once again attempted to muster up enough strength to carry 80+pounds up the stairs. This time, just as the first, I was saved by another stranger! It has made me think that if the airlines suddenly got rid of their weight limits on suitcases, I could probably make do with 200 pounds worth of items. If only!