travelparis

Date: October 2000
Place : Paris, France

This adventure began last Thursday, when Bonnie walked off the plane. First we put her suitcases in a locker so that we wouldn't have to cart them all over the city and then we hit the streets. We walked all around the city and because I had driven around the city the weekend before I had some idea of where we were. There was a little drizzle falling from the sky but not enough to detour us. We walked up and down the streets, peaking our heads into store windows and pining over the thirty thousand dollar watches in the window.

After about four hours of walking the streets and taking pictures we decided to head back to the train station to take the train to Montreaux on the way toward my village. It is my favorite little city on the shores of Lac Leman (Lake Geneva). I wanted so badly for Bonnie to see how beautiful the city is, but alas, when we arrived it was dark. It took a little more than an hour to arrive in Montreaux from Geneva and at this point we were really hungry. So the bags went back into a locker and we went in search for food. We ended up at this adorable little Italian restaurant on the main street in Montreaux.

We sat down a little after seven and didn't get back up to after 10. Food was good and conversation was great. Bonnie had her first experience eating horse. She ordered tortellini with meat inside and the meat was horsemeat. We had our first (of many) bottle of wine. After our wonderful meal we headed back to the train station and had a bit of a scare: all of the doors were locked. I was so confused and a bit scared that I had confused the train times but it just didn't make sense. How could the trains no longer be running at only 10:30. Then I remember that there was a staircase to the tracks on the side of the building so we walked over there and were happy to find the lights still on. We quickly found the locker with Bonnie's stuff and then we took a seat because we had a half an hour till the next train. It was pretty cold out so neither of us were too psyched for the wait but we had a little left over chocolate from our day so we sat and chatted and ate chocolate. Bonnie's first experience on the cog ride up the mountain was fun too. It was late so the castle in Aigle was all lit up and the city lights from Aigle disappeared in the valley as we climbed up the mountain.

Friday we had a 4:42 train out of Leysin to Geneva and then caught another train to bring us to Paris for 11:00. The train rides went very smoothly. We stopped at the corner store by the Fedey train station and picked up some Swiss treats for the ride. The super fast train from Geneva to Paris was beautiful and we had very comfortable seats with a table between us. We both closed our eyes for a bit and we had a little bite to eat. Before we knew it, we were in Paris. Unbelievable, isn't it?

We quickly found the metro and made our way to our hotel stop. It was really nice when we walked up the steps from our metro stop to find our hotel right in front us. By the time we settled in it was after midnight and my stomach was acting up so I was fine with calling a night and getting up early to start our first full day in Paris. But Bonnie was ready to go, amazingly enough, was still ready to go. So as I curled into bed, she headed out on to the streets of Paris. She headed toward the Eiffel Tower but arrived just after the lights were turned off. She said that she returned around 2:00 AM. I never would have made it.

Saturday morning the alarm went off at 5:45 to get us up and out by 6:45 to work our way to the airport to pick up Pete. Although we didn't get lost, the trip there took us considerably longer than we had planned. When we finally did arrive, Pete was right there waiting for us in front of the elevator. It was very nice to see him after so many months.

We went back to the hotel first to get rid of Pete's luggage. From the hotel we went across the street for a little breakfast. We sat a little outdoor cafe and had some bread and juice (very European breakfast). We even had our very own lively entertainment. About half way through the meal these three women were on the curb right in front of us. Two of the women were grabbing the third and preventing her from crossing the street. Then a car pulled across the street from the wrong direction and two men popped out and they all tried to shove the women in the car. Of course there was lots of yelling but I had no idea what was being said. After a few minutes of conflict a gentlemen who was eating his breakfast next to us stepped in and asked the waiter to call the police. Within seconds there were police on the scene. The police ended up taking everyone into two different cop cars and brought them (I can only assume) back to the police station. It was a very exciting scene for first thing on a Saturday morning on inches (meters) from our table. After the excitement we paid our bill and were on our way.

Our first Parisian stop was the Eiffel Tower. It was a pretty nice day out although there was a cool breeze so we decided to stay in line to go to the top. We stood in line and watched all the tourists around us for about 45 minutes There were lots of guys selling tourist junk, like Paris hats and plastic birds, miniature Eiffel Towers, and other random knick-knacks. The time in line went by really quickly until we reached the front and found out that the top was closed. I was so disappointed. The top was closed the last time I was there, it seems as though my destiny is to not see Paris from the top of the Eiffel Tower. We decided to go as far as we could anyway and rode the elevator to the second level, (which is still pretty high up). It was incredibly windy at the second level so staying out in the wind to enjoy the view was limited to a picture from each side (north, south, east and west). We walked through the gift shops on the level and quickly made our way down. The view was beautiful and I was glad that we went up even though we couldn't go to the top.

From the Eiffel Tower we decided that since we had a nice day that we should do all the outdoor things and should save the museums for tomorrow in case it rained. So we walked across the bridge that is directly across from the tower over to the Trocadero Fountains and what is known as Chaillot Hill. It is a beautiful spot that lends itself nicely to complete shots of the Eiffel Tower. We walked around there for a bit, took some pictures, I ate a crepe with sugar, and then we started walking again. We decided to head along the river in the direction of the Champs Elysees. It took us quite a while to walk there but I don't think any of us minded. There is so much to look at as you browse through the streets of Paris.

When we arrived the street was packed. There were people everywhere. I could feel the energy of the street revive me after our long walk. We entered on the street quite a few blocks from the Arc d'Triomphe so we walked in that general direction. We stopped in a few stores along the way. We also went into a few tourist trap shops looking for possible gifts but again, found nothing. After about an hour or so on the Champs Elysses we made it to the base of the Arc d'Triomphe. It was even more beautiful than I last remembered it. We all took some photos but decided against crossing the insanely busy street to climb to the top.

At this point we decided that a little naptime might be good. We headed back to our hotel and arrived within a half an hour. While there Bonnie and I did a little searching in our trusty little Paris book and found a good local restaurant. We decided that we would go to dinner around 8:30 - 9:00 and since it was about 6:30- 7:00 that would give Pete a few hours to sleep. Before we had even made a final decision. Pete was fast asleep so we crept quietly out of the room, to return in a few hours to wake him up for dinner.

Now you may ask yourself, what were Bonnie and I to do, on the streets of Paris with a few hours to kill, as if it is that hard to figure out, we went shopping!! And what fun it was. We headed into all these adorable little boutiques that marked the main street close to our hotel, the Boulevard Saint Germain.

It was a little after nine when we were back on the streets looking for our restaurant. After about a half an hour of searching we realized that our restaurant (listed in the guide book) was no longer open. Luckily enough there were some other cute little restaurants near by, so we scooted into one of those.

Excited to sit down for a nice meal, we quickly realized why were seated so quickly, we were in the smoking section. Next question was to ask the waitress if there was a table available downstairs in the non-smoking. Luckily there was an available table downstairs so we picked up our stuff and went down. Not two minutes after sitting down we realized that the downstairs was not the non-smoking section, if fact, none of the restaurant was non-smoking. At this point we were beginning to think that it really didn't matter. We were hungry. We were in a great little restaurant, and we just wanted to eat. So we ordered. Bonnie and I decided to share a bottle of wine.We stayed in the restaurant for many hours having a very nice, relaxing meal.

Around eleven thirty or so we made our way from the restaurant toward the Metro. We wanted to make our way back to the Eiffel Tower to see the tower lite at night. We did get a chance to see the Tower lit up with its normal lights and that is always such a beautiful thing to see. We only spent a few minutes walking around that area when it occurred to us that we needed to get back across town before the metro shut down for the night. When we arrived back at the metro station, the woman that worked there refused to sell us any more tickets as she put on her coat and pointed to the change machine to buy tickets. Luckily we had enough change to buy our return tickets so we raced down to the tracks and hoped the train.

Now because we were across town catching the first train did not guarantee that we had made it there yet. In fact we ended being one train ride short of making it to our hotel stop. So at 1:00 am we were on the streets trying to find our way back to the hotel. It did not take us long to settle into our beds and set the alarm for 7:00 in hopes to be out of hotel for our last day in Paris by 8:00 ish.

Sunday morning came soon enough, and I dreaded getting out of bed. But I really wanted to see as much as Paris as I could so I got up and into the shower. As I was getting ready though I noticed that, I was sick. My stomach was killing me and it soon became quite clear to me that I should not leave the hotel room for a while. So around 8:30, I sent Bonnie and Pete out to see the Sarce-Coeur without me. We had decided that it would be best to have them call around 10 to see if I could meet up with them and then hopefully head to Notre-Dame together. Well 10 came and went and my stomach was still not cooperating so we set a new time at noon to touch base. In the meantime, Bonnie and Pete had taken the wrong metro to Sacre-Coeur and ended up at Notre Dame so they had a little breakfast and then after talking to me decided to walk to the top of the towers.

At 11:45 I was finally feeling better so I got up and out and met them at the Metro stop for Notre Dame. Bonnie and Pete were nice enough to allow me a little time to go back to the church and look around for a little bit. It was a rainy wet day but that didnt stop us from walking around the church and to the back to see the gardens. It really is quite the fabulous building. After a few hours we decided that it was time to head to the Musee dOrsay (one of the few sites that both Bonnie and I had decided we wanted to be sure that we made it to). On the way we stopped at the hotel to make sure the room was all set for Pete for the night and Bonnie made sure that we were all packed up so that we wouldnt waste time doing that before our train ride. Then we headed toward the museum.

Now the rest of this story is quite tragic but a bit amusing as well. There were two stops for the museum, neither looked closer than the other from the map so we took the second of the two stops. When we walked up from the station there were no signs to lead us in the right direction so we just started walking. We walked for a bit and then saw this beautiful huge building off in the distance over across the river. We started to head toward it thinking that maybe that was it but then decided to stop and ask a guard for directions. As it turns out we were walking in the opposite direction than where we wanted so we quickly started backtracking. After fifteen or twenty minutes we finally reached the museum and found a huge line to get in. Since I hadnt eaten all day, I decided to run down to the little market just beside the line to grab something to eat while Bonnie and Pete waited in line. When I arrived back with some bread and juice I could only find Pete (out of line) and Bonnie was nowhere to be found. So Pete and I got in line and Pete explained that all of a sudden the line moved really quickly and they were at the front before I had returned. So Bonnie went ahead inside and Pete waited for me. Well Pete and I were in line for not more than five minutes when Bonnie suddenly appeared. She said that she never would have been able to find us so she left the museum to come and go in with us. Of course while all of this was happening we were standing in the pouring rain and time was quickly escaping us. Once again the line began to move very quickly and before we knew it we were at the entrance to the museum. Right before we went inside we decided to jump out of line again. Why you may be asking yourself, and the answer is because we realized that we just didnt have an enough time to see the place and we didnt want to tease ourselves or make ourselves late for the train.

A little sad that we had to miss the Musee d'Orsay, we continued on in the rain back to the metro stop. While walking we came across a nice little caf� and decided that although we didnt have time for museum we did have time for a hot chocolate. So we went inside and found a table and sat down. It did not take us long to figure out that the place was hoping. All of the poor waiters looked like they were running around with their heads cut off. So we sat down and waited patiently for someone to come and serve us. Well we sat and we sat, and we sat. When again we realized that we were out of time so sadly we got up and left, yet again without what we had gone in for.

At this point in the day we were beginning to wonder if our day as jinxed. I got sick, Pete and Bonnie missed the wrong metro to Sacre Coeur, we got lost looking for the Musee dOrsay, we run out time for the museum, we dont get our hot chocolate, what was going to happen next? We didnt want to tease fate so we decided we had better go back to the hotel and get our stuff and make our way to the train station. Little did we know that the worst was yet to come?

With plenty of time before the train left we decided to go get something to eat for the ride. First we went to a restaurant and watch the gentleman in front of us get served a sandwich to go and then when we asked for one we were told that he does not do that. Next we found another restaurant and for some odd reason the entire time that we were ordering the woman behind the counter was laughing at us and making it seem like we were doing something wrong when all were doing was ordering food . At any rate, after spending way too long looking for food we headed straight for the tracks. We had a very quick good bye with Pete, (I hoped that our bad luck didnt follow him). When we arrived on the track the train was right there so we boarded.

We quickly found some seats and starting to put our luggage away and make ourselves comfortable. Then a gentleman and a woman came up and said that we were in their seats. Unaware that there was assigned seats because there hadn't been on our ride to Paris we grabbed our tickets to see where our seats were and soon found out that we weren't even on the right train. Panicked we grabbed our stuff and tried to get off the train as soon as possible. Within seconds the train was leaving the station. Afraid that we were then going to miss our train we ran up to a conductor and asked where our train was. Very snubbingly he pointed to the same track but to a train that was parked right behind the one that we were on. (Not very clearly labeled). So we quickly got on the right train and started to look for seats.

We saw two seats and again tried to settle in when two people came up and told us that those were their seats. We tried again to sit with these nice two gentlemen but again were kicked out. At this point we grabbed our tickets to see where our seats were and then found out that we did not have reserved seats. The tickets didn't reserve us seats. I was so upset. And wouldn't you know that the train was jam packed there were people standing in between every cabin, and not an extra seat in the house. At one point Bonnie asked the conductor if he knew of any extra seats anywhere and he gave Bonnie this total wise-ass comment about there being extra seats out on the terrace. Jerk!! At this point Bonnie and I were so exhausted, we were both looking forward to our nice long train ride back to Leysin where we could each fall asleep. Of course neither of us were ready to deal with standing on a train for multiple hours, but we didn't have much choice.

We made our back to the restaurant car and found a little corner to put our bags and lean again the skinny counter. We werent there long when Bonnie had stuck up conversation with some young French guy standing next to us. They ended up talking in French for the next few hours. I listened for a while and caught what I could from the conversation. He was 24 and worked for the trains out of Paris. He lived in Dijon, which is a few hours out of Pairs by train. His grandfather/uncle own a vineyard in Dijon and he invited Bonnie and I out to the vineyard. That was about all that I had caught. I was tired and really didnt feel too much like a two-hour French lesson but I was glad that Bonnie was enjoying practicing her French. Two hours later in Dijon our little buddy got off and enough of the train cleared out that we were lucky enough to find seats. Before we even sat down Bonnie realized that she didnt have her backpack with her (the one that had her passport and purse in it). Panicked yet again she bolted back to the restaurant car to try and find it. Now I hadnt mentioned yet that there was some sort of sports team (football or hockey maybe) that was on the train as well. They were a group of loud, drunk, twenty something, young men that were impossible to miss. They had given Bonnie and I a hard time when we first got on and were looking for seats, and then they were in the restaurant car drinking more beers and playing cards. So when Bonnie went back to try and find her bag, of course they gave her a hard time. When she arrived back there the bag was nowhere to be found. She quickly found a conductor and told him that she had lost her bag and by some miracle this woman overheard the conversation and told Bonnie that she had left it above one of the seats that we had first tried to claim at the beginning of the trip. Bonnie went to where the woman said that it was, and there it was, thank Goodness.

When Bonnie returned to our new seats we quickly sat down and started to make a list of all of the horrible things that had gone wrong for us that day. I think that the list helped us to laugh a little bit at our day and help us to realize how much worse it could have been. Just we when we finished writing our little all the drunk guys from the team came into our cabin and come to find out they were seated right in front of us. So for the rest of the train ride Bonnie and I sat and listened to these crass men. By the end of the ride they actually had us laughing.

Now if only our evening was done at the end of our long train rides. But no, we still had to take the train from Lausanne to Aigle. Luckily this was all familiar territory to me by now and went fairly smoothly. The last glitch in our journey was that upon our arrival in Aigle we realized that we had just missed the cog up to my village and we had to wait another hour until the next one. We entertained ourselves by taking silly pictures in the train station and we were home and in our beds by 11:30. What a crazy adventure that was.

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