It Begins (Paris Day 1)

The morning of departure was incredibly hectic for me. Of course the boys were calm and relaxed, but I had so much to do. I had to finish packing the little things, book our tours so we can print stuff out, and order mine and Ray’s train tickets home from London. Things got even worse when I screwed up a booking and then our train tickets weren’t booking, because the National Rail had changed their ticket format since I ordered tickets last and they weren’t taking my credit card payment! But time was ticking and we needed to catch the bus. So I said we’d order the tickets while on the road and we hit the road.

The 35 bus took longer than anticipated to get to the airport. Between 50 minutes and an hour (Ray said it only takes 30 minutes… but he sleeps on the bus ride, so how would he know?). The bus also made several long, lingering stops which was just delaying us even more. Upon our arrival at the airport, a line at the EasyJet counter was nowhere to be seen and we waltzed right up and checked in without any problems. My anxiety over flying is always incredibly huge and revolves around luggage, carry-ons, and seat comfort-ability. It wasn’t until we were settled on the plane that my anxiety abated, but we had to get through the process of actually getting on the plane. EasyJet has a “very strict” boarding policy. There are four groups of people who board. SB (Speedy Boarding), SA (Special Assistance), A, and B. We were in group B, so we would be boarding last. This made me so nervous about getting seats together, but Speedy Boarding was too expensive. It was so crazy, but once we made it on, we were all together with a little room to spare, which was nice.

Flying was nice. I got to take pictures of the English Channel and the French Coast as we flew towards Paris. Landing and exiting the plane was fine, as well as picking up our luggage. No customs, but we got our passports stamped as officially being in the EU (European Union). Then it was the long trek to the train into London. We passed by some fun stuff, like the French McDonalds. I didn’t see a “Royale with Cheese”. Purchased our train tickets and hopped on the train. I can honestly say that our train ride on the B Train from Charles de Gaulle Airport killed a lot of my excitement for Paris. The ethnic ratio on the train made the three of us an minority, which I haven’t experienced since moving out of North Carolina. Also, the train took us through some really terrible looking neighborhoods. Shanty-towns in people’s back yards, graffiti everywhere, rundown building, gangs of people standing on corners. . . it was all very “wrong side of the tracks”. It reminded me of the Ninth Ward in New Orleans, complete with shacks. Even some ladies got on the train and were all decked out in glitzy African style outfits. They were very aggressive about sitting down. The trip just took all the glamour out of Paris and my heart sank every minute we were on the train. Hopefully once we were in the heart of Paris my excitement would be renewed.

Finally, though, we were able to alite from the train to get on the Metro line towards our hotel. The trains were similar to the London Underground, but the people were far more aggressive than London. When we made it to our stop, we had to climb up a medium sized set of stairs and headed towards our hotel. We were staying at the Caulaincourt Square Hostel in Montmarte (Moulin Rouge country). The neighborhood seemed nice enough and the concierge was really nice. Turns out we have free unlimited internet, free breakfast, and no lock-out due to our status as “Bed & Breakfast” guests. We had a private room for the three of us, which ended up being two beds and a cot. We put up our things and decided to explore and grab some dinner.

Ray talked to the concierge guy, Reggie, and found out that if we go to the right we’ll find places to eat. So off we went and the first place we stopped was a chocolatier. Ray was just blown away by these cookie-looking things in the window and I told him to go in and enjoy. Ray got some of the cookies and Jim got some cake looking thing. I figured I could nibble on a cookie or two from Ray, so I abstained from purchasing any of the delicious goodies.

We continued to make our way down the street, down a hill and around a corner where we then got our first glimpse of the Eiffel Tower! Crossed a bridge, past a cemetery, and then Ray Even/Odded us into picking a restaurant. We settled on a place called “Café Luna” and went in. We got settled (with the ever-changing neon lighting and the strange techno music that seemed to go on forever… skipping potentially), but while we sat there, an old French man kept staring at us. I know I’m usually over paranoid about this kind of thing, but this time it was for absolute real! It was almost as if we were a sideshow to a main attraction or something. He was just so bold and abrasive with his starring and it irked me a bit. I put it aside, though, so that we could enjoy our first French meal. Ray and I shared an order of escargot and Jim ordered French Onion soup. The escargot was in a garlic-butter-lemon sauce and they were SOOOOOO good. We both could have made a whole meal out of an order all to ourselves. Absolutely delicious! Jim also enjoyed his soup. I had ordered a rump steak with béarnaise sauce, which was absolutely delicious and I thoroughly enjoyed. Ray ordered lasagna and Jim ordered pizza. Can I just say. . . what the heck you guys!

Ray had been very into practicing his French before we arrived in Paris and this was a good opportunity to show the locals that we really tried to learn their language and speak it properly. Sadly, this attempt failed as our waitress couldn’t even understand the phrases from our phrasebook. She tried very hard to work with us and was a very good waitress, but she couldn’t figure out our request to pay half credit/half cash on the bill. She actually got out her phone to do the subtraction! Nice girl though.

We made our way back to our hotel. On the way, we saw the Eiffel Tower again and it had sparkling lights! It was so awesome! I tried to take night pictures, but I don’t know if they turned out. It was at this junction that Jim and Ray almost got us lost! I thought men were supposed to be good at directions! I insisted we go up the hill and they lightly protested before just following me and I led them home. I hope the rest of the trip doesn’t turn out with them second-guessing everything. When we arrived back, Reggie, the concierge, was on the porch smoking and we learned that he was from Washington, DC and had traveled a bit. He recommended a restaurant for us the next time wanted dinner out. And then he left for home, because his shift was over.

All I wanted to do was settle in for the night and sleep, because the next day was a big day. I tried to get our really tiny room organized, but it was too difficult and so I turned in and the boys went off to do their internet stuff in the lobby.