Paris, France via Brussels, Belgium

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Wednesday - Friday, September 2 - 4, 2009

Houston - Atlanta

Today I was able to catch the plane to Atlanta and but did not make it in time to be on either of the flights to Paris. So I spent the night in a hotel in Atlanta and got a good night’s rest. The next morning after breakfast, I went to the airport to attempt to get on the flights to Paris. Unfortunately, the four flights to Paris were full all day, so I decided to change my ticket to Brussels, Belgium. This turned out to be the best option to get to Paris. Paris is about a one hour and tweenty minute train ride from Brussels.

Bruxelles, Belgique

As I arrived in Brussels, I became aware of the fact that all the signs were not only in French but also Flemish. Apparently, about one half of the country speaks French and one half speaks Flemish. The immigration officer at the airport made sure that I had a brochure about the H1N1 influenza A virus. I took the Metro (subway) to downtown Brussels to find the train station and purchase my ticket to Paris. Even the newspaper that someone left in the subway had a first page story regarding the H1N1 influenza A virus and the stockpiles of Tamiflu. I couldn’t read any of this story since the newspaper was a Flemish one. With ticket in hand I headed out to downtown to grab a bite to eat and had about an hour and a half before the train departed. I again took the Metro to two stops in the direction of the airport to go to downtown Brussels to have lunch. When I left the underground station, not wanting to get lost and because of the drizzling rain, I found the first little sandwich shop and ordered a sandwich. After lunch I decided to walk around a little bit before my train departed. I was able to wander around a little bit and see the cathedral, a small park, and go inside the cathedral. I didn’t want to wander around too far from the metro station, risking getting lost and missing my train for Paris.

Paris, France

After the flight over to Europe, I was really tired, having only had a few good cat-naps during the flight. I fell asleep on the train from Brussels to Paris and woke up about 10 minutes before arriving in Paris as the passengers began stirring about. Upon arriving in Paris in the Gare du Nord (North Train station) I made my reservation on the night train at 10:20 pm to Nice. I then made my way across the city in the Metro to the Gare Austerlitz where the train would depart for Nice. I then bought a booklet of metro tickets and I left my luggage in the luggage lockers here in this station and set out to see a few sites in Paris and do a little shopping. I walked across the bridge from the left bank of the Seine River onto the Ile de la Cité and then across into Le Marais. Here, I walked past La Bastille, which is now a major traffic circle. I found a cellular telephone store and purchased a SIM card for my Blackberry so that I would have a local pa-as-you-go French cellular number to make reservations and all. I had a few minutes to have a coffee and do a little shopping for some items before heading back to the left back via Ile de la Cité where I saw Notre Dame and then walked over to Ile St. Louis. From the bridge that connects Ile St. Louis to the left back, Pont Tournelle, I took a few pictures of Notre Dame as the sun was setting. Upon arriving at the Gare Austerlitz, I went to the luggage locker area and retrieved my bags and went to the train station shower facilities. I know, you may be thinking ewwww gross, but believe it or not, the facilities, tightly controlled by two Mesdames, were remarkably clean and spiffy. For 6 € ($ 1 US = 1.5 €) you get a little room all to yourself with a sink, changing area, little luggage rack, toilet, and shower. They even provided a bath towel, hand towel, and bathmat. I had been up for sooooo long and this shower was so great. I was about to board a 10 hour night train to Nice and didn’t want to be smelly. I really felt like leaving the shower facilities wearing my pajamas as I was soooooooooo tired at this point, again beginning to feel the effects of jetlag. After cleaning up a bit, I went to the little bakery and bought a chocolate croissant, a plain croissant, a bottle of water, and a fruit juice drink. When I boarded my train car, I found the sleeper cabin (couchette) to which I had been assigned and discovered that unlike what Rick Steves has stated in his guidebook, the sleeper cabins were not gender specific. I was on the bottom bunk with a Belgian girl right above me in her bunk, above her was a French guy, next to me was an older French man, above him was a Belgian guy (the boyfriend of the Belgian girl), and above him was another guy (don’t know his nationality since he was sleeping when I boarded and was gone by the time I woke up the next morning). I made my bed with the nice little coverlette and sheet set and pillow and turned in for the night as the train was leaving the station.

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