So, it was a long trudge from here at home to the St Pancras Station. Rainy, cold, windy to the point of turning my umbrella inside out. At least I didn't have to pull along the enormous suitcase that we brought. Now here is where it gets interesting and nightmarish. First of all, the day before departure Ralph discovered that I had mistakenly booked Eurostar tickets for the day before. Our hearts sank. We are talking hundreds of dollars in non-refundable tix. We despondently walked to the train station. We stood anxiously in line. There was a demonstration going on just outside the glass-enclosed booking office. Loud lamentations and signs about Turkey's turning it's back on it's Kurdish citizens leaving them vulnerable to ISIS. We didn't know what it was about specifically. (It turns out that there was a huge demonstration down in Westminster earlier in the day that stopped traffic). An angel attended to us. He could not have been nicer. Oh, lord, what a godsend. He said we could call internet services from a nearby phone and meanwhile he went in the back through a closed door to consult with someone. I called internet services and over the loud demonstration, described our dilemma. The woman seemed to be about to help when the man came out of the back and proclaimed that we would be given credit for the money we had spent and would owe a small fee for the difference in the price of the tix...a difference much smaller than what we had believed we would owe. I've rarely felt so blessed. How do you give adequate thanks for such a reprieve? We were exultant. We stopped at the atm to get Euros for the trip and were much lighter on the way home. Okay, that was the day before.
So back to departure to Paris day. We arrived on foot at St. Pancras again and were vigilant, we thought. We were very early. We bought lunch to carry on the train. Ralph purchased subway tickets for use in Paris. Set. We had to walk to the very last car on the train which made sense to us having booked so late. We got in and waited. No one came. Well maybe we were in luck and the only ones on the car!! And then, the train next to us across the platform departed at the exact time we were to depart. Oh yes we had boarded the wrong train and the train that departed was ours. Okay, I can see me doing this. But, Ralph? No way! I mean we saw the crowd of passengers boarding the train next to us. Why didn't it register? OMG. Gnashing of teeth. Embarrassment. $$$$$$$. We alight from the train. We encounter a train employee. We (Ralph) admit our idiocy. And this man is totally supportive. He empathizes. Says it happens. Says there is no point in his commenting as we are probably beating ourselves up sufficiently on our own. He accompanies us and says the only problem could be availability. He takes us to the counter and confers with an agent nearby. The agent assures us he can help us. He motions us to the line. We get in and tell the agent our plight. He says we should listen for the announcements, etc. We cower and admit we heard the announcements but were clueless. He proceeds to politely schedule us for the train leaving an hour later and off we go with no extra charge and licking our wounded egos. Ralph is bumfuzzled. I am very stressed but relieved as well.
We make the right train this time and unfortunately are seated facing a woman who seems uncomfortable with our being there. Not that it is desirable for us to be facing a stranger all the way to Paris. I've bought three different magazines to entertain myself.
Amazingly easy trip--I have to say that right now as I write this blog my nose is itching something awful. I hope this doesn't precede a virus attack. It's driving me crazy--Back to the blog. On the Eurostar I plotted out the route to get to our hotel via subway from the train station. Fairly painless. And the hotel turned out to be great. Clean, nice, and very nice people on the desk. Liked it very much. French doors opening out onto a courtyard. And located conveniently to things we wanted to see.
That night, we took Rick Steves' advice for a restaurant. Definitely an affordable place and on a little quaint square. Good food. Lots of happy people there.
I should remark here on my first impressions. Paris has more light than London. Ralph says it's because Paris is further south. And I think also that there were more streets that were wider and that opened to squares. Trees lined the streets but then so do they in London.
The architecture is distinct from London. Different. And, yet, it is another big city not unlike London or Manhattan. Big, bustling, chain restaurants. The ubiquitous Subway and Starbuck's. KFC, McDonald's McCafe. Please. Pret a Porter. Restaurants everywhere. And, another thing. I think the idea of sitting outside at restaurants having drinks was a novelty I imagined for Paris. And, now, I realize I have had this experience to some extent in Atlanta and definitely in London. And I thought there would be lots of family-owned bakeries, patisseries, specialty shops. And my impression while there was that the shops were run, just as in the states, by employees for some absentee owner. The one exception was the Thai restaurant which seemed to be owned by a man who waited the tables and a woman who was back in the kitchen. I could be wrong about the absentee owners but that was my impression. And have to mention that there were a lot of beautiful clothes in the windows. Oh, if only I were 20 something. But, on the other hand, I couldn't afford it. I can't imagine having the nerve to walk in some of those boutiques. I did not notice dressed to the nines ladies. I did notice a LOT of beautiful young women and men. More so even than London where there are many. Some of the women have complexions that are flawless. Lots of very cute short boots. And blue jeans. What else? Oh the river Seine is beautiful. Narrower than the Thames. And skirted by fashionable apartment buildings rather than govt. and business bldgs. Trees lining the river. And almost no litter thanks to beaucoup de trash receptacles. A contrast again to London which has no trash receptacles anywhere!!! What is up with that? Lots of litter!!
One night we stopped for dessert and a drink at a little café on the Isle St Louis (?) looking out at a bridge over the Seine. Nice waiter though they took away our table cloth and cloth napkins and replaced them with a paper table cover and paper napkins when we said we were only having dessert. The waiter seemed to apologize and said it was his boss. Anyway, we ordered cognac and the waiter asked if we wanted XO. I recognized this as a grade of cognac but didn't know how it ranked. Ralph didn't know what he meant and didn't understand him as a consequence. While he was gone Ralph mentioned he'd noticed two grades and that they differed considerably in price. Well, we got the steep one! Luckily, it was a lovely spot. And the cognac was smooooth.
We went to the Musee d'Osay, the Orangerie, the Pompidou Center. And I was lucky to get the last reservation for a ride to the third floor of the Eiffel Tower at night. Since both of us are afraid of heights, we stayed on the second floor. I cannot imagine going all the way to the top. How high must that be?! Magical experience.
I keep trying to come up with souvenirs. They all strike me as so tacky. I know it's the thought and memory that counts but I'm not bringing back junk.
So we went also to Notre Dame and to Montmartre. I have to go to bed. We've been talking and it's gotten late. Tomorrow we leave at 9:45 to get to the airport to pick up Walt at 12. Ralph is fighting off the flu. He needs to sleep. I am a night owl and want to stay up but I should keep him company. My mouth is driving me crazy!! Hope I can keep my memories fresh by the time I get back to this.
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