Paris has been an eventful experience. We arrived in the evening, took a bus to the train station to come to the hotel. As the bus pulled out and we are walking up the street I said to my DH and friends, OMG, The backpack is left on the bus! I went back to the gentleman that was there to unload the luggage and in my rudimentary and rusty French he was able to understand what had happened. He contacted the bus and 45 minutes later the backpack, and my DH’s Winnipeg Jets jacket was returned to my possession. That bit of excitement aside it was an interesting experience to wait at that stop. The gentleman was most concerned that the luggage would be snatched and keep telling us to move in the shelter more, keep our hands on the luggage and attendez bien. We did indeed listen well. Of course when your DH stands there with his imposing frame and unsmiling face that does not go astray either! And the young man who wandered across the street to stand near me and pretend he was waiting for something decided that he should move along when my DH came to stand right in front of our cases. Then there was the car that stopped in front of the bus lane, turned on its four way flashers and two people got out. My friends and I thought little of it, maybe they had car trouble, maybe they were changing drivers, maybe they were there to pick up someone. All valid reasons. But again my DH wasn’t buying it, gave them the “eye” and the next thing we know they are gone. He still believes they were up to no good! And given the warning of the bus line worker he might just be right on that score. We finally got to the hotel in the wee hours of the morning with great plans for the following day.
It is now day three in Paris and I am sure that there are some looking for my blog or at least an update. Well, three of my travel companions have succumbed to what is likely food poisoning. My guess is they got bad beef in undercooked burgers before our pub crawl. I don’t eat beef because of an intolerance to it. The next day my DH and friends were not feeling well but we thought it might be from the drinks and again because I passed mine off to the three of them and several others in my group I had no ill effects (apparently being a non drinker has its benefits as well!). Within twenty four hours though we knew it was far more. And now three days in our time in Paris has been spent in the hotel. The three of them are most apologetic but one can not help getting sick. In the meantime I have explored the Bercy area where we are staying. There is a lovely park, marketplace, great patisseries and even a good Pakistian Restaurant about ten minutes walk from the hotel. Yesterday was spent riding in the Metro where again we met a lovely lady who was most helpful when she realized that where I wanted to go was no longer available on this line. She came back, got us off the train and to the different line we needed to be on. Making sure that I understood it was going to be the next stop. We made it to where we needed to go and back easily. So my confidence at riding the metro and reading the map is in good shape. Hopefully by tomorrow my companions will be feeling much better and we can take in a few of the sights. We have all decided that since we have all been to Paris before then it is a good place to have to lay low.
In the meantime, I confess the high temperatures without a breeze of wind are stifling. And I truly dislike saying that given the cold temperatures that we came from. The extreme heat alone could make one ill and I think the extremen temperatire change is definitely shocking to our bodies. So I am sitting in the hotel lobby writing this blog, but only after writing a thank you note to the Le Bus Direct company regarding their exemplary employees.
I promise there will be picturesque blogs to follow but in the meantime I need my travel companions well so this quiet and restful time for me is not necessarily a bad thing!
The lilacs scent the air in Bercy park
Not a particularly sturdy looking chair in the middle of the stale duck pond!
One of the bridges that creates an overpass to go to another section of the park
Some of the gardens and signs of spring. The Lilies were nearly finished
The Sheesha bar across the street
One should always be willing to try something new. Yes I did give the water pipe a try! The mint flavoured was lovely!
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