Post by LHR02 on Sept 5, 2003 14:19:30 GMT -5
A "vite" voyage by train!
Friday, 5 September 2003
Our night and day in Geneva were busy ones - filled with attempts to do laundry and lots of packing. Mohammad had three large suitcases of varying sizes and I had two very large ones. Needless to say the thought of getting all of these on and off the train was daunting.
Thankfully Mohammad's room mate drove us to the train station and helped us load our copious amounts of luggage onto carts. After an EXTREMELY quick jaunt through immigration (they didn't even bother to open the passport) we made our way to the platform.
To get to Paris we would be taken the TGV - a high-speed French train. It is said that it's top speed it is capable of going twice as fast as a 747 on takeoff! So in other words it's really really fast!
Mohammad was able to get all of our luggage onto the train. To be honest I'm pretty sure on my own it may not have been possible.
After getting settled we were off! Although the train is very very quick it makes a lot of stops at the beginning of the journey. As a result it isn't until halfway into the approx. three hour journey that it takes off and reaches it's potential. But when it does so it's very cool - my ears even started to pop - pretty impressive for a train I'd say.
As we approached Paris I began to get increasingly jittery. This wasn't just a city I'd be visiting for a short while but rather a city I was going to live in. Although I liked Florence very much for its museums I didn't find it to be very "livable." As such, I was terrified that I would think the same of Paris!
Despite my fears the train arrived at the station right on time. To make things easier Mohammad scurried off to find luggage carts while I waited on the train. I was sitting there ever so patiently when the lights on the train started to go off. That and a voice kept coming on telling me to vacate the train immediately. Fearing that the train would leave the station with both the luggage and poor Karen on board I decided it was time to take action!
That's when the warehouse worker in me made it's appearance! ;op I proceeded to VERY quickly unload all five luggage pieces from the train and onto the platform. It wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be. Of course when Mohammad came back with the one cart he was thoroughly shocked to find me waiting surrounded by five suitcases. See - I knew that IBM job would come in handy!! And before anyone asks I did not hurt my back.
Anywayz, I discreetly hurried off to withdraw hundreds of Euros. Being careful to look out for the Gypsies I'd been warned about (but which btw I've seen very little of during my weeks here).
With money in tow we joined the line for taxis. Much to my surprise the taxis were mainly little Citroens or Renaults. How our luggage was going to get in there was beyond me! The good thing about the very loooooong line is that it gave me time to appreciate my surroundings. I was delighted to see a city that seemed to be both beautiful and clean! It totally seemed livable and my fears had all but subsided.
Pretty soon we made it to the front of the line where a brave taxi driver decided to take us to my student residencet(foyer). On the drive there we crossed the Seine and I caught a momentary glimpse of the back of Notre Dame - so by this point I was completely giddy!!!
I'd spent so much time doing research for this trip that while the taxi driver was crossing here in there I had an ACTUAL real concept of where we were on the Paris map.
It was way beyond dark by the time we arrived at the Foyer. With our big luggage cases it took maybe 3 elevator trips to get them all up. FYI, the elevators here are incredibly tiny!
Our temporary home was a double room with two single beds. I'm living in a student Foyer in a really fantastic part of Paris - just across from the Luxembourg gardens and a couple of blocks from the Pantheon. The best part about the Foyer is that on the 7th floor French (that's 8th floor North American) there is a terrace with an INSANE view of the Eiffel tower!!! I'm absolutely not kidding when I say it's a million dollar view - I'm pretty sure that's how much other people in the area paid for the view.
So after settling in that first night we headed out for our first Parisian meal! So where did we end up? McDonalds!!!! Good old McDonalds! Trust me, late at night on your first day in a strange city you do not want to be trying any funny duck liver stuff. So instead I opted for something like a double cheeseburger.
Then I had the shock of my life - here there is NO ketchup! McDonalds don't have ketchup! Instead they have something called sauce for french fries. It's like mayo mixed with relish. Yuck!
Either way, with or without ketchup, I was thrilled to be staying in the city of lights and getting the chance to explore it with Mohammad!
The next day we would be exploring the most famous sight in all of Paris - the Eiffel Tower!
I couldn't wait . . .
Friday, 5 September 2003
Our night and day in Geneva were busy ones - filled with attempts to do laundry and lots of packing. Mohammad had three large suitcases of varying sizes and I had two very large ones. Needless to say the thought of getting all of these on and off the train was daunting.
Thankfully Mohammad's room mate drove us to the train station and helped us load our copious amounts of luggage onto carts. After an EXTREMELY quick jaunt through immigration (they didn't even bother to open the passport) we made our way to the platform.
To get to Paris we would be taken the TGV - a high-speed French train. It is said that it's top speed it is capable of going twice as fast as a 747 on takeoff! So in other words it's really really fast!
Mohammad was able to get all of our luggage onto the train. To be honest I'm pretty sure on my own it may not have been possible.
After getting settled we were off! Although the train is very very quick it makes a lot of stops at the beginning of the journey. As a result it isn't until halfway into the approx. three hour journey that it takes off and reaches it's potential. But when it does so it's very cool - my ears even started to pop - pretty impressive for a train I'd say.
As we approached Paris I began to get increasingly jittery. This wasn't just a city I'd be visiting for a short while but rather a city I was going to live in. Although I liked Florence very much for its museums I didn't find it to be very "livable." As such, I was terrified that I would think the same of Paris!
Despite my fears the train arrived at the station right on time. To make things easier Mohammad scurried off to find luggage carts while I waited on the train. I was sitting there ever so patiently when the lights on the train started to go off. That and a voice kept coming on telling me to vacate the train immediately. Fearing that the train would leave the station with both the luggage and poor Karen on board I decided it was time to take action!
That's when the warehouse worker in me made it's appearance! ;op I proceeded to VERY quickly unload all five luggage pieces from the train and onto the platform. It wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be. Of course when Mohammad came back with the one cart he was thoroughly shocked to find me waiting surrounded by five suitcases. See - I knew that IBM job would come in handy!! And before anyone asks I did not hurt my back.
Anywayz, I discreetly hurried off to withdraw hundreds of Euros. Being careful to look out for the Gypsies I'd been warned about (but which btw I've seen very little of during my weeks here).
With money in tow we joined the line for taxis. Much to my surprise the taxis were mainly little Citroens or Renaults. How our luggage was going to get in there was beyond me! The good thing about the very loooooong line is that it gave me time to appreciate my surroundings. I was delighted to see a city that seemed to be both beautiful and clean! It totally seemed livable and my fears had all but subsided.
Pretty soon we made it to the front of the line where a brave taxi driver decided to take us to my student residencet(foyer). On the drive there we crossed the Seine and I caught a momentary glimpse of the back of Notre Dame - so by this point I was completely giddy!!!
I'd spent so much time doing research for this trip that while the taxi driver was crossing here in there I had an ACTUAL real concept of where we were on the Paris map.
It was way beyond dark by the time we arrived at the Foyer. With our big luggage cases it took maybe 3 elevator trips to get them all up. FYI, the elevators here are incredibly tiny!
Our temporary home was a double room with two single beds. I'm living in a student Foyer in a really fantastic part of Paris - just across from the Luxembourg gardens and a couple of blocks from the Pantheon. The best part about the Foyer is that on the 7th floor French (that's 8th floor North American) there is a terrace with an INSANE view of the Eiffel tower!!! I'm absolutely not kidding when I say it's a million dollar view - I'm pretty sure that's how much other people in the area paid for the view.
So after settling in that first night we headed out for our first Parisian meal! So where did we end up? McDonalds!!!! Good old McDonalds! Trust me, late at night on your first day in a strange city you do not want to be trying any funny duck liver stuff. So instead I opted for something like a double cheeseburger.
Then I had the shock of my life - here there is NO ketchup! McDonalds don't have ketchup! Instead they have something called sauce for french fries. It's like mayo mixed with relish. Yuck!
Either way, with or without ketchup, I was thrilled to be staying in the city of lights and getting the chance to explore it with Mohammad!
The next day we would be exploring the most famous sight in all of Paris - the Eiffel Tower!
I couldn't wait . . .