Problems in Paris

During my week in France with Katie and Jessie, I spent about half my time in Paris and the other half in Burgundy. The last time I had been in France (three years ago), I also split my time between the two places and decided that I had way more fun in Burgundy than in Paris. I was expecting to feel the same way during this return trip, but I wound up enjoying myself in both places. My experiences were radically different, but both a lot of fun... That is, except for a memorably unfortunate mistake I made in Paris regarding train tickets.

It started at the Gare de Lyon. I had purchased a two-day pass for the metro and then managed to drop it inside the little ticket machine. After some difficulty trying to explain what happened in French to someone who worked at the station, they finally sent a woman over to take apart the machine and retrieve my ticket. I should have known that the little drama was a bad omen.. since two days after that, I realized I had lost two other, far more important tickets: not only my, but also Katie's [rather pricey] TGV tickets from Paris to Burgundy. I woke up early on the day we were supposed to take the train, only to find that the tickets were no where in my bags, or on the nightstand, or in the bed... you can imagine that I was freaking out. I had been so careful about keeping the contents of my bag safe from pickpockets and I could've sworn I had them in the house where we were staying. But alas, they were nowhere to be found. In the end, Katie and I wound up going back to Gare de Lyon and I had to buy both tickets again. I was freaking out about all the money, and I was an absolute wreck for the rest of the afternoon, until we actually made it to Burgundy. As my mom and all of her French friends told me, it could have been a lot worse - I could have lost my passport or my wallet or someone could have gotten sick. All true, but it was still pretty upsetting. It certainly made me cranky, but at least it didn't ruin the whole trip for me. Despite my mishap, I wound up liking Paris a lot more than I had the last time I was in the city.

I believe I talked about this in the London posts, but I'll mention it again: I have no interest in going to toursity sites, whereas for my friends, the formal site-seeing can make or break their trip. So, for their sake, we waited on the lines and went to the very top of the Eiffel Tower on a very grey and blustery day (ahem, it was freeeeezing). I did like the view of the city though - it's designed so beautifully.

On another day, one of my mom's childhood friends offered to take me on a personal walking tour around Paris. I was able to experience it in a very anti-touristy way. She took me up to Sacre Coeur so I could get another almost birds-eye view of the city and then we went strolling up and down all the little side streets in Montmartre. Sacre Coeur is a huge tourist attraction, but none of the visitors ever think to explore the lovely little side streets. It felt entirely different from the rest of Paris; it was like we were transported to a little village where it was just so calm and quiet. As we moved through other neighborhoods, she pointed out all of her favorite buildings and tranquil gardens and all the spots she used to frequent with my mother when they were younger. We spent over four hours together, and by the end of the afternoon, I finally felt like I had really experienced Paris... and I finally really enjoyed it.