From Paris to Moscow

Hey Everyone !

So here we are, the big trip starts.

I have my plane tickets : Paris-Vienna & Vienna-Moscow.

Natacha from Nord Espaces gave me my Transiberian one-way ticket to Ulaan Bataar Mongolia.

My backpack is ready (full of shit I probably don't need). I watched all the seasons from Man VS Wild. Everyone knows I’m leaving, there is no turning back.

We use to say that the hardest part is not to be far away, the hardest part is to actually reach the destination.

And here is a good example :

My first flight to Vienna has a 30 minutes delay because of some on-board meals. As a consequence I only have 15 minutes left for my transfer to Moscow.

If you are used to take planes you know that your name must be Hussein Bolt to run through an airport from a terminal to another in such a short time.

So I try to stay calm, and ask for the next plane to Moscow.

Full. 

Wait at the gate, she says, there might be a no-show.

Nope...

Getting nervous here.

So I wait for the one after.

- We do have empty seats.

Good. I am going to make it to Moscow

Yes !

But... I need to arrive on time to get my train to Mongolia...

Calling Natacha... 

- Heeelp ! I think I'm not going to make it.

- Ok. Stay calm Tom. Give me all the information.

…

Right...

We're gonna make it work. Just take that plane.

Right, no time for trust issues here. 

I have to believe her. 

I am not going to get stuck in Moscow.

So a few hours later I am at Moscow airport and I need to get my bag and go through the customs.

I was said that it could be tough to go through that, but I did not expect that there would be just one person to check every single passport of the whole plane.

I mean a second dude would have make the whole process a little bit faster.

She was asking questions to every single passenger looking at them in a very suspicious way.

And my turn comes. I have a visa for about a week. 

- Why so short ? 

- Um I'm taking the Trans-Siberian to Mongolia. 

She raises an eyebrow. 
- Why are you going there ? 

( I don't know !!!) 
- For tourism.

(Hurry for god's sake I have 45 minutes to cross Moscow from one end to another !!)

When I'm getting my bag Natacha calls me :

- A man is waiting for you, he will drive you to the station.

-Thank y...

- RUN !!

That's how I meet Sergey. 

He's waiting for me, my name on a piece of paper, to drive me to the train station.

It's in his car that he explains me that it is actually too late to go to Moscow station, We are going to Vladimir's... Wanna Russian cigarettes ?

Ho God ! We actually are racing with the Trans-Siberian...

Sergey's a legend we arrive at the platform 10 minutes before the train arrives