Bienvenue à la France

[I have been writing but not posting these so here is the first week of my adventures all in one go!]

The Journey; Day 1
(I say day but it seemed closer to a week)

Waving a sad good bye to the family I boarded my Etihad Airways flight to Abu Dhabi (17hours) connecting to Paris; Charles de Gaulle airport at 4pm... but not before some quick duty free shopping! [Dad; thought you would be happy to know that for the first time ever I was not “randomly selected” for further bomb testing at the Sydney airport!]
Trudging the distance back to seat 45C I passed the ridiculously luxurious first class seating equipped with full length day beds, massive entertainment screens and gold encrusted sliding door. 
I spent the 17 hours watching no less than 5 movies, sleeping for two hours and eating for the entire duration. Looking around at the screens of the three Middle Eastern men who surround me; I was amused/delighted to see that they were watching Hannah Montana, Eat Prey Love and Eclipse; the Twilight saga...
After two hours wait in Abu Dhabi airport and then another 7 hour flight to France I arrived at Paris Charles de Gaulle airport. No less than two minutes into my Parisian adventure I make my first faux pas; I pressed the emergency stop button on the revolving door! (Don't ask why because I couldn't tell you! Perhaps my subconscious wanted the world to stop for just a moment so it could catch up).After the security lady scolded me, but not before a queue had formed behind me the door was reset and I was on my way. 

As I approached the information desk I ran through everything I was going to ask; "Où est le bus à destination de Paris Gare de Lyon s'il vous plaît?" [Where is the bus to Paris Gare de Lyon please?]  but when I opened my mouth all that came out was a meek "Parlez-vous anglais?" I did however manage to buy my bus ticket in French (albiet it isn't that difficult howeverone small step for man, one giant leap for Margaux!)

I spent my time at the train station (4hours) people watching, drinking expensive tea (3.50 euros!!), and courtiously accepting the copious amounts of chocolate covered almonds the waiter kept giving me; in the  end I had to say "pas plus s'il vous plaît!" [no more!]

I would like to take a moment now to acknowledge the crafty begger woman who watched me buy a baguette (because I am in France!!) and, as I was receiving my change, pounced on me with her puppy dog eyes. Needless to say, I donated 40 centimes to the "homeless Parisienne food fund."

After three hours on the train, making a combined travel time of about 35 hours, I arrive in Vichy! Thierry, my host father picks me up from the train station and takes me for a tour of Vichy (he speaks some English so I am quite relieved!) Murielle, my host mother made dinner for us so I had soup, bread and cheese for my first night in Vichy followed by home made crepes!! (Dad Thierry loves the book you gave him and Mum the scarf was a fantastic idea!)   

So after an exhausting trip I collapsed onto my bed hoping to get a good nights rest for my first day of school!