Paris and Versailles

Found some amazingly cheap (70 Euro roundtrip!) train tickets to Paris, so Kimmie and Carolyn and another student named Karen all headed to France for the weekend. We booked this trip only about a week into the semester, so at the time we had no idea what we were in for. I'll start this story by saying that I really did have a great time in Paris with the girls and would not trade the experience for anything. I know I will laugh about some of the things that happened along the way for the rest of my life! Having said that, here's how I spent my weekend:

The trip started normally enough. I had made most of the travel arrangements and done most of the planning, so prior to the start of the trip I announced that as compensation for my hard work, I was entitled to the largest bed on the overnight train to Paris. This was my first time spending the night on a train so I really had no idea what to expect. I looked at a few pictures on the internet that showed the little cabins (called cuccettes) had bunkbeds. No biggie. The travel agent told us that we had been booked into a 4 person cabin so we would have it all to ourselves. Upon boarding the train, we found that they had stuck two other people into our small cabin, a man and a women both traveling alone. Thankfully, it worked out that they both were very nice, but I had read in the past that they usually don't mix sexes in the cabins if they are not all in the same traveling party. Apparently, I have been misinformed. Regardless, it ended up being fine because the man (from Spain) was very nice and seemed to be able to put up with us.

Because the cabin is so small, we hurried to put our things away and settle into our seats. Two beds (the largest) are at the top of the cabin. The seating converts into the other 4 beds. Karen jumped up into one of the top bunks right away. I didn't really think anything of it because it was only about 8pm and we would travel for a while before we hit the sheets. Let's just say that this girl Karen is not someone Kimmie, Caro or I would consider a friend. Actually, she is sort of an outcast in the group because she is really aggressive, difficult to talk to, and for a lack of a better word, weird. Of course we didn't know any of this when she decided to book the trip with us over a month ago.

The train pulls out from the station and we are all talking and looking out the windows. Karen produces a bottle of wine from her bag and starts chugging it and singing out loud to her Ipod. Then she takes off her shoes (mind you this is the bed that I am supposedly sleeping on later). Then from HER BRA, she produces a pocket knife which she flicks open and starts hacking away at a callous/blister on the sole of her foot letting the little skin bits fall to the floor. Kimmie, Carolyn and I stare at each other for a moment with huge eyes before simultaneously yelling at her to stop. She initially refuses but eventually concedes. She then returns to her wine-swilling and then lifts her leg and audibly passes gas. Needless to say, we were all horrified. This was about 30 minutes into the trip and already I am at my limit with this girl. There were more incidents throughout the train trip, most of which I will spare you, dear reader.

Ok, so then it's time for bed. Karen has taken up residence in my bed and fallen asleep. We are all so relieved that she has stopped embarrassing us/disturbing the entire cabin that I give up the dream of the good bed and opt for one of the lower berths. At the time, we weren't really clear whose bed was whose, so we let the other two people have the center berths and Caro and I took the bottom two. I figured they were all the same. Well, I has horribly wrong. The bottom berth is about 1/3 smaller than the other 2. The head rests from the seats that convert into the bed intrude on the sleeping space, making it much smaller. The bottom part that you lie on is tilted up so there is no flat surface to sleep on. I aborted my first attempt to get into the berth because I got totally closterfobic! I had to leave the cabin and walk around for a few minutes. Thankfully, one of the girls had tylenol PM. I popped a couple of those, squeezed myself in there laying flat on my back. I got my book out and attempted to read but it was so small that I couldn't the book far enough from my face to read! I found the only position that was remotely comfortable and stared out into the small open space between the berths trying not to think about how cramped and honestly scared I was being in there. I'm not kidding -- it was like being in a coffin. I caught a few snatches of sleep but it was a restless night.

In the morning, I waited for everyone else to wake up. The train was slated to arrive around 9 am but was running about 1 hour late. We all got up, dismantled the beds, passed around the salami, crackers and cheese we had brought for breakfast and stared out the window at the beautiful French countryside. Karen insisted on changing in the cabin (getting completely topless at one point) even though we told her repeatedly that it was completely inappropriate. We finally arrived at the station and headed to the hotel.

We hopped on the metro and arrived quickly and easily. I love the metro! Paris is such a huge contrast to Florence! It seems so… civilized is the only word that comes to mind. It is so metropolitan and the phones work. You can actually get a taxi on the street and they have public transportation! Everything is on a much larger scale and they have sidewalks! Vehicles follow traffic signals and there are crosswalks! Incredible! I hadn’t really been missing any of these luxuries until getting to Paris and realizing that I was living an impoverished existence without them. Don’t misunderstand me, Florence and Italian culture in general have my whole heart, but visiting Paris gave me a little taste of the modern world that I had conveniently forgotten. We checked into our hotel then headed to lunch. We found a great little bistro and we had quiche, croque monsieur, and french onion soup. Oh la la!

We spent the rest of the day walking around the city visiting the Tuileries Gardens then walking along the Seine Past the Musee D'Orsay toward Place de la Concorde. We took pictures of the obelisk then crossed the street. As soon as we crossed the street we were swarmed by a bunch of kids ranging in age from about 8 to 15. It was really chaotic and 2 of them kept shoving these folders with a petition or something that looked like one right in my face. Then an older boy did the same thing. I instinctively reached down for my purse and when I looked down I saw that he was trying to reach inside it. GYPSIES!!! I pushed the kid's hand away and said "arret!" He started making kissing noises at me to get my attention back up to his face but I just moved away from him. Then all of the sudden all the kids started running away. We all got our bearings and checked our purses, luckily nothing was gone. Karen, of course, was enraged and borderline hysterical. We came across the kids again a few minutes later and, I couldn't make this up if I tried, she got out her pocket knife and brandished it at the kids while shouting obscenities in English. Of course, I yelled at her because you can't just threaten people on the street with knives. Duh. This was apparently a new concept for her.

Anyway, we walked from there up the Champs Elysees toward the Arc de Triomphe. After some pictures, we hopped on the metro bound for the Eiffel Tower. Then we headed to the hotel to get ready for dinner.

We found a really cute bistro right near the hotel which was about a five minute walk from the Louvre and had a lovely meal. I had steak au poivre with the best potato gratin ever made. Karen had the roasted chicken which she proceeded to eat with her hands like an animal. She asked, rather she demanded, a taste of my food and when I cut a piece and handed it to her on my fork, she reached across the table and took it off my fork with her hands. Her hands! Again, Kimmie, Caro and I spent the rest of the evening horrified by her behavior. Of course we tried to correct her repeatedly or suggest that she not use her hands to eat but she always shrugged it off saying that she didn’t care what people think. Apparently, consideration for other people and common table manners are also new concepts.

After dinner, we went back to the hotel and collapsed into bed. At about 4am I woke to the most delicious smell in the entire universe. I remembered seeing a bakery downstairs and figured that they were preparing the next day’s items. When we headed out the next morning (Saturday) we stopped by the bakery for breakfast and discovered that in fact that glorious smell was jambon et fromage croissants! So amazing!

From there, Caro, Kimmie and I boarded a regional train for Versailles. Thankfully Karen decided not to join us. We spent the entire day roaming the palace and gardens and the Grand and Petite Trianon as well as visiting Marie Antoinette’s hamlet. The grounds were absolutely beautiful and it was amazing to think that we were walking in the footsteps of royals as well as all the major historical events that occurred there. We were there for a full 7 hours and only left because the palace was closing for the day. It was a great experience.

We took the train home and met Karen for dinner. We walked toward Notre Dame and the lively Latin Quarter. We browsed the menus at some of the bistros and settled on one that offered a prix fixe for 13 Euro. When we sat down and looked over the menu, Karen asked if they had any side items. I explained that prix fixe menus include different courses to which she countered that she only had 8 euro to spend on dinner. 8 euro! You can’t get a coke in Paris for 8 euro. I had heard stories about her borrowing money from other people in the program and not paying them back so I told her that if she didn’t think she could afford to eat there then we could leave and find somewhere else to eat and that I couldn’t cover her meal. She said no that she had the money and that she wanted to eat. So we ordered. I had French onion soup and when Karen asked for a taste she complained that the bite I gave her didn’t have any cheese on it. When the bill came Caro, Kimmie and I all anted up but Karen just sat there putting on lipstick. When I asked her for her share of the bill (18 euro) she said, “I’ll just pay you later.” I almost exploded. Rather than making a scene in the restaurant, I paid her share. Needless to say, I was angry but I was exhausted and didn’t have the energy to fight with her. When we got home she decided to strip down to her thong and carve at the bottom of her feet in front of a window where she was clearly visible to other people staying at the hotel. All of us pleaded with her to get dressed and stop picking at her feet with a pocket knife but she refused. She left a pile of skin next to the bed. Eventually she put on pajamas but when we woke up in the morning she was buck naked again. I swear I am not making any of this up.

The next day (Sunday), we had breakfast – lovely potato, ham, and swiss omelet and the most expensive cup of Earl Grey known to man – and then Kimmie, Caro and I visited the Louvre for a little bit. Kimmie and I split off and visited Sainte Chapelle (the nave was being restored which kind of ruined it L) and Notre Dame. I also had a crepe with nutella at some point. We met back at the hotel at 4 then went to the train station to catch the train. We had dinner nearby – ham and cheese on baguette (Jessica’s favorite!). The train ride home was mostly uneventful. The lovely Italian couple who got stuck traveling in our cabin with us helped us with our Italian pronunciation. It was so fun! Later, Karen came on to one of the conductors, promising to meet him later for some kind of tryst then reneged. The conductor continued to bother us all night long in an attempt to get Karen to come out of the cabin. It was totally embarrassing. I slept pretty well and woke up back in Florence around 7am. Karen got topless in the cabin once again. Horrifying.

Kimmie and I walked past the Duomo on the way to my house. The piazza was almost empty and the sun was just coming up. What a nice way to end a crazy trip! As much as the lights and bustle of Paris seemed wonderful at the time, it was so nice to return to sleepy, Ocre-colored Florence. I had just enough time to drop off my stuff at home, get cleaned up, and head to work for the day. Trust me there are plenty of Karen anecdotes that I left out of this post due to their explicit nature. Every moment we spent with her was like a complete freak show. Regardless, I had a great time with Kimmie and Carolyn.

On Thursday, the girls and I are heading to London for 5 days, then Dublin for another 5! Must pack tonight because we leave right after work tomorrow. I am so excited to see London again. Love that city. Hopefully I will make it to Piccadilly Circus, the National Portrait Gallery and Buckingham Palace this time! The weather should be chilly (high of 55 degrees) so I am nervous about what to pack. Coat or no coat? Also, excited for free museums! Ciao!