Departure day is always bittersweet. One last delicious breakfast at Le Gaimont. A few moments of farewell and best wishes to our gracious host, Mathieu. A final glimpse of the paradise we have come to know as Le Gaimont. Along with a wish to return very soon ! 

Our travel plans include dropping off the rental car at the Gare de St-Pierre-des-Corps - the train station very near the city centre of Tours. On the way, we are listening to our google girl tell us directions. She can be so very entertaining when pronouncing the road names in French... she says "in 500 meters turn right on Rue Honore de Balzac". Gotta love Google. 

At the train station, we find the little parking lot next door where there is a place for our car. Dropping the keys off in the office is easy and quick. We have a little time to get our bearings, use the facilities and head to the platform to catch our train from here to the CDG Paris Airport. 

Cindy and Holly are catching a flight home from CDG Paris to Detroit Metro Airport in Michigan. Their flight leaves in the afternoon. We will arrive at the train station directly under the airport terminal with just enough time for these gals to check in about 3 hours before their international, long-haul flight. I am catching a different flight that will take me to Scotland. My flight leaves quite a few hours later so I will have more time in the airport before departure. The train arrives and we are off to the airport. 

At the airport, we say our farewells and hug each other good-bye. Holly and Cindy report that they do a bit of shopping before they board their flight home. Holly also gets to re-pack her bags thanks to security wanting to take a closer look inside (poor Holly). 

After saying good-bye, I am again alone. Immediately, I miss my travel buddies. However, I have 5 nights in Scotland to which I am very much looking forward. At the airport, I have hours extra so I head to the lounge of a hotel to have some light lunch and a drink before checking in for my Easy Jet flight. The lounge is a beautiful and comfortable space to relax in peace and quiet. The French Onion Soup is made with chicken base so I cannot resist... it is delicious. After some time relaxing and catching up online, I head out to find the check-in desks. 

On the way across the airport terminal, I receive bad news about my accommodation in Scotland. I booked months and months ago a room in an Airbnb in a nice area for a very nice price. I just received an email that the host has cancelled on me with some excuse about a family emergency. Well, I hope he and his family are fine but now I have no place to sleep tonight. I'm in the middle of checking in at the airport. So I leave the line to read a mess of emails from Airbnb. They send me a long list of other accommodations that I can send requests to and wait and see which one bites. I think that sounds like a terrible idea since I would like to secure an accommodation before I get on this plane to Scotland. So I hop on booking.com where I can search easily and quickly to find a nice hotel in the same area for the least amount of money reasonable at this late notice for booking. Of course the price is more than 3x the price of the room I booked months and months ago in advance. Oh well... I have a room booked for the 2 nights in Edinburgh. I don't have to sleep on the streets... 

The flight is almost delayed because we have to get the plane out on the runway by a certain time or lose the spot for our plane which would cause a huge delay. So after boarding, I find myself in the front of the plane and entertained nicely by the Scottish cabin crew, especially the leader dude who is desperately trying to get people to board, stow luggage and sit down. So we can leave!

After all of that ordeal, I decide to treat myself to a gin & tonic on the plane. I don't even care about the 9 euro price tag! I enjoy a nice Scottish pink grapefruit gin. Delish!

The flight is quick and easy. We land at the Edinburgh airport where I collect my bags and head out to catch the airport bus into city centre. The bus is quite nice and comfortable. I sit in the top deck to see all the views of Scotland as we drive by... while on the bus, I totally remember that I have arrived in the UK. It slipped my mind that suddenly I am going to need different money. It also took me a moment to notice that we are driving in the bus on the left side of the road (LOL!). What I do notice right away is how beautiful Scotland really is .... even on the drive from the airport to the city. Edinburgh is stunning with the landscapes surrounding it and the castle high up on a volcanic crag in the center of town. The bus drops me off in centre. I have a short distance to drag my bags to find my hotel. 

The hotel I am staying at is called The Place Hotel. It is located in New Town where the neighborhoods are lovely. The views out to the water in the distance and the hills are stunning. I check in at the hotel where I find a welcoming and friendly staff. My room is huge and lovely as well. The windows face the water in the distance with stunning views. The only thing is that the open about 6 inches ... did I mention the heat wave in Europe? Well, it was 103 degrees in Paris when we left the airport. .. here it's about 89 degrees or so. But still quite warm inside. They don't generally have a/c in Scotland b/c it is typically not ever needed. But today? I ask for a fan at the front desk. They are kind to put one in my room while I wander Edinburgh during the evening. 

Now to explore Edinburgh! Having never visited Scotland before, I am super excited! I wander across the town over to the old town section. I am looking for the locations of the filming of Outlander which is a verra good TV series filmed here in Scotland. In old town, there are all of these little alleys and side streets that are called "close". The whole town is amazing to wander. I duck into a little local pub for a drink and snack for dinner. I have a grilled cheese and chutney sandwich, called "toast" here. Some local old Scots sitting near me are kinda creepy but I choose to believe just friendly while I enjoy my snack and then leave. The barkeep guy was not creepy and very nice to talk to me about gin. The pub and many others on this road are pretty awesome. Very Scottish. 

The Bakehouse Close is off the Royal Mile in Edinburgh. It is the filming location of scenes in season 3 of Outlander. It also has a history of it's own. While there are many people in Edinburgh and in old town, I find very few people down this far on the Royal Mile this evening. In the close, there is nobody. All around the city of Edinburgh there are old, old buildings and the atmosphere oozes history. It seems a little haunted to me. But that doesn't really bother me as I head back through the city to rest my head on my nice pillow in my hotel room, complete with fan (thank the Lord!)