I'd only been in England for 3 years. School was settled, had some work and saved some money. I was only 16, and the thought of so many countries close by was a huge temptation.
There was a long weekend coming up soon. I would have Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday off. I entertained the idea of going on a short break to somewhere. Paris came to mind.
The next day I went to a travel agent and asked about short breaks to Paris.
It was possible to go for 3 nights at a very affordable price. It was good for my budget so I booked.
I went home and told mum. She asked if the travel agent had talked about visas. I couldn't remember if the agent had or not, I was too excited about travelling somewhere!
Anyway, ... what is a visa? I remember thinking later!?
Thursday night came and I packed a bag for my first ever alone adventure. Excited was the beginning of my feelings. I had no idea about France when I went to school in Australia. We were taught German at school. At school in England I was taught French and German. My French teacher was really cool and even though I entered the class lacking the knowledge of French as a new student from overseas, it was still fun learning about France and it's language.
Off I went.
My first leg was to catch a train to London.
The next leg of the journey was done by catching the bus from London to Dover's ferry terminal. I remember the bus seemed to take forever and was very uneventful.
Eventually arriving at Dover, I looked around at the largeness of the ferry port thinking ... WOW!!, and just across the water are all those countries packed together , so close, so many people and they all speak different languages!
At the immigration counter the passport checker asked for my passport. I only had one, it was Australian. He took a look through a few pages. ( I didn't understand why, I hadn't been anywhere so there were no stamps to look at ). He asked where I lived and where were my parents. I told him that we moved to England a few years ago and they were back in Somerset. I'm off for a Frenching good time!! :)) He waved me through. Though I was confused by the expression on his face.
Out on the ferry deck in the very fresh air and feeling the wind gusting, I couldn't help but keep looking for the French coast line.
There it is!!
Little did I know at that time that I would be spending so much time over there in the future.
Excellent!! I'd arrived. It was almost time for the sun to head off for the day. I wanted to get to Paris soon so I could look around before it got dark. Then hop into a cosy French hotel bed for the night. Tomorrow would be a busy day getting to know Paris by myself.
Another passport checker. Man, these guys are everywhere!
I hand over my passport. He also starts flicking through the pages. ( why do they keep doing that!? I haven't been anywhere! ) He starts asking questions.
" Where is your French visa? "
" Where do you live? "
"Where are you coming from? "
I told him the same stuff I told the guy in England.
He hands me back my passport and says ...
" You can not enter France. You have no visa! "
In astonishment I explain that I had a hotel waiting for me in Paris and I was only going to be here for 3 days.
" You do not have a visa. You can not enter France! You have to go back to England! "
I felt strange. I was so looking forward to this trip. I waited for the next ferry back to England ... starring at the French coast line through the window of the French ferry terminal!
I had to go back to England!! What a bummer!!
Back at the Dover ferry terminal I found the same bus driver that had brought me here just a few hours ago. I explained what had happened and asked if he could he take me back to London. He obliged and I waited inside the bus for my return home.
Back in London again. It was getting late and I needed to catch a train soon or I'd be spending the night in London instead of Paris! About half way through the train ride back I fell asleep. Fast asleep!!
I woke up 2 stations past my stop!
It was now 1am. I found out the next train wouldn't be for another couple of hours. SHIT!! I had done a couple of hitch hikes before but wasn't game enough to do a middle of the night hitch, especially having no map and having absolutely no idea where I was.
I hung around.
The train pulled in. Being that time of the morning there weren't many people on the train so I had a big empty space all to myself.
I fell asleep!
It had been a long day!!
I woke up just before London!! What a laugh. :)) I couldn't believe it!
I went straight out and bought a nice big breakfast, I was starving! Most of the day was spent looking at the sights London has to offer. I went back to the station AGAIN and caught the train home AGAIN!! This time I didn't fall asleep and made it back home with out any dramas. Mum and Dad were surprised to see me back so soon. I told them what had happened and would have been back the same day if I hadn't done an up and back and back and back again tour of the south of England a couple of times!!
... a couple of months later Dad gave me my new British passport. No visa problems from now on :))
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