Two Weeks With Chelsea

Chapter 26

Chelsea gazed out the window of the train as it approached the city of Béziers, France. Trevor had already prepared to disembark several minutes earlier and stood in the aisle for a moment before he finally interrupted her.

"This is our stop," he said. "You coming?"

"Here?"

"Yes, but the train doesn't stop for long so we gotta move! I already packed up your stuff."

Chelsea took one last look out the window before moving from her seat. The stone walls and buildings along the west facing ridge and the Cathedral of Saint Nazier were painted golden orange by the setting sun. Shadows shrouded the bridges over the River Orb, turning them a cool grey that contrasted against the fiery glow of the historic city above.

"Please tell me we're going to see that church up on the hill," Chelsea pleaded when the train came to a stop.

As the door of the train slid open Trevor replied, "Yup, we'll head there in the morning."

Moments later they were standing in front of the station, ready to find the hotel. Trevor pulled out a map he had printed off and pointed.

"We are here, the hotel is here. Lead on! And, remind me to charge my phone when we get there. The battery is completely dead."

"We're walking? No taxi? No Metro?" she said as she inspected the map.

"It's not that far and not too hard to find. I think we can walk it. Don't you?"

Chelsea led Trevor through a tunnel that deposited them on the opposite side of the street in front of the station. She paused briefly then proceeded through a set of gates and into a park, tugging her suitcase up the hill.

"We'll have to come back through here and take some pictures during the day. Look at that fountain," she said as her eyes scanned the scenic park.

"In a couple days we're heading back to the train station in the afternoon, so if we don't make it back before then, we can definitely stop on our way through," Trevor replied.

"Why are we only here for a couple days?" she asked.

Trevor hesitated for a moment before responding, "Well, my plan, the original plan, was to only spend enough time in one place to get completely wasted, score some chicks, then move on to the next town. I have reservations in Marseille, so we're sort of stuck with the schedule of the original plan for the next few days. If we want to stay in Marseille for longer, we can, I don't have anything booked in Lyon or Paris yet. Hell, if you want, we can go off plan completely and head to Nice or something along the coast."

"So, I guess I've really messed up your big plans."

"Well, on the upside, I haven't been arrested yet. That was always a possibility and sort of a secondary goal. It's also one of the reasons I didn't book too much in advance."

"It just seems like a shame to get somewhere and rush to leave. I mean, don't you think it would be nice to spend a bit more time? See stuff without rushing to the next place?"

"Tell you what. If I can change my reservations, we can stay a bit longer," Trevor conceded.

Beyond the park gate at the top of the hill, Chelsea surveyed the area at the south end of Allées Paul Riquet. After a short walk they stopped to read the plaque on a statue.

"Do you know who this Pierre Paul Riquet guy was?" she asked as she gazed at the statue. "He's holding a pen. Maybe a writer or something?"

"When I was supposed to come here with my dad, I did bunch of research. The name is familiar, but I just can't remember what he did. Now that you've asked it's going to bug me until I look it up," he said as they resumed their walk.