Right to the end, the French have sought to impress and excite us! We caught the morning train from Carcassonne to Montpellier. The sun was shining after last night's high winds and rain and there were mountains, vineyards and my fields of poppies! My camera was not accessible but I have seen my poppies and will hopefully continue to do so. Such a lovely sight!
We arrived in Montpellier just after 10 a.m. to see the street in front of the station roped off and a group of gendarmes gathered outside the station door. At the other end of the street were firemen and a firetruck. At strategic spots along the street were men in army fatigues carrying machine guns!! Traffic was stopped and people were gathering around the barricades. I couldn't see what was going on or understand what people were saying but it sure looked exciting!!
A few minutes later, some very official looking train personnel came through the station saying "Evacuez! Evacuez!" Mom had gone to the bathroom and I asked one of the men, "Does anyone speak English?!" I'm not doing an "evacuee" without knowing why!!! The first man just motioned me forward and didn't reply but the second man said, "Bombe...terroriste"!!! I UNDERSTOOD THAT!!!!!! They kept moving us along and Dad kept telling them "ma marie est dans les toilettes!" They then motioned towards the platform and the direction of the toilets. Dad and I grabbed all the backbacks, sweaters and suitcases and headed off. Dad stayed with the bags while I went looking for Mom. "Je cherche ma mere!!!" The woman in the bathroom let me check the stalls but "ma mere" wasn't there. By this point MY stress level was rising just a titch!! A bomb threat I could handle but not without my whole family together!!
Mom had gone to a bathroom upstairs and was rushed down when the station was evacuated. Yes, Hilary, there were a few tears when I saw Mom had returned!!
So...we stood on the platform and hoped that it was safe!! A few minutes later, the barricades were pulled down and life carried on once again!!! Mom asked a passing woman if she spoke English and got the story. A piece of luggage had been left on the street and they suspected a bomb. This woman had seen the bag AND spoke English so she was reliable!!
Off and on for the remainder of our time there, the army, gendarmes and station security did periodic patrols of the station and platforms - looking behind tarps, surveying the tracks, even checking the toilets....!
Meanwhile Mom's drink had somehow got wedged in the drink machine and Dad and I were on our knees in front of it trying to get it out!! We must not have looked too suspicious because we weren't questioned or even acknowledged! It became quite a physics lesson and science experiment as we put in more money to get heavier items to knock the drink box into the proper position! We got it to move and then I stuck a heavy envelope (with Mom's medical information from her doctor in it!!) and got it out the rest of the way! Quite satisfying and entertaining for the Mormon (cute young engineer from California) who joined in on our little escapade!
So...here we thought our 4 hour layover in Montpellier would be boring!! We all desperately needed some food and coffee after that and hope this is our last bit of excitement for a bit.
