Before I tackle writing this post I feel the need to give readers a brief forewarning: this is a recap of my least favorite day spent in Europe. I’ve been dreading writing this post. Before I get too emotional, let’s start off with the good.

After a cozy night at Jay & Aisha’s house, we were greeted to coffee with all of our friends. J&A went out of there way to find “good coffee” for us. The coffee was almost as lovely as these mugs.

Rob & Jess also joined us for are farewell cups. We all watched a very British game show and chatted about plans for the rest of the day. Before long, we were forced to head out for our next flight to Paris. We said our goodbyes to Rob & Jess with the comfort of knowing we would see them back home in a few days time.

Aisha and Jay drove us off to the airport for our final leg of the trip. It was a 30ish minute car ride that was honestly one of the most surreal experiences of my life. It was hard to talk and I did everything I could to refrain from getting too emotional during our upcoming goodbyes. One minute we were comfortably kicking back and the next…we were gone.

Before this trip, I had become very close to Jay over the past few years. We would podcast and email on a very frequent basis and we clicked quickly. I’m sure I speak for everyone else on the Baltimore side of French Toast Sunday when I say that Jay is an extension of our little friend circle. When Jay arrived to meet with Jess, Rob and I earlier in London, there wasn’t a moment of hesitation or awkwardness. It was like all of us had been hanging out around coffee shops for years together – not at all like we were seeing each other for the very first time.

When it came time to leave, I was suddenly very overcome with the notion of not seeing this friend. A line had been crossed and going back to emails and Skype seemed unfair. I want Jay and Aisha to hang out EVERY weekend. I wanted to be able to call him over when the group was getting together for drinks or heading out to a movie. This sensation, along with the weighing fact that we were almost finished our time abroad left me feeling unwound. I’d been riding high for weeks and this was a sudden emotional blow.

So like I said, we parted ways and walked into the airport. Jason and I could both feel the weight of the day and remained somewhat withdrawn for our remaining time in Bournemouth. It was a dreary day at the airport spent contemplating our time in Europe and what we would do when we got back home.

Eventually we ate some decent airport food and I had a nice cup of coffee at Costa Coffee while catching up with my RSS reader.

Eventually we arrived in Paris. It was later in the evening and it took a decent amount of time to get into the city from the airport. Our airbnb was right near a major train station so we made the ultra short walk and checked in. It was getting pretty late after we got settled so we decided to drop in somewhere close for dinner. Sushi sounded good so we popped into Osaka. I was a little nervous to try out my severely limited knowledge of the French language but the restaurant owner was super friendly and helpful.

We went back to our room after dinner to get some rest. It had been a bittersweet day but I am still so thankful that I was able to experience it. Maybe I’ll go check out what the current prices are for two plane tickets to Bournemouth.