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Published: April 12th 2010
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the train tickets from Rennes to Paris were booked a day in advance. it ensured that we got adjacent seats. it was all like clockwork, the taxi arrived at the right time, we checked out of the hotel, reached the station half an hour before departure, took our position under the huge screen to look for our train number, the french are so efficient, they will announce the platform number just minutes before departure. i was dreaming of a smooth ride sitting side by side, enjoying and sharing our experiences so far, seeing the beautiful french countryside roll by. i will be scoring over anupama on this one, a well planned in advance journey, that too on a train that will take us directly to the station on the airport, near our hotel, saving the money on taxi.
we all have a nagging fear inside us, that things will not be right, and sometimes these fears come true and that makes sure that we will have these fears all the time. just five minutes to departure and still no mention of our train number on the board. thats when anupama made her move. asked the information desk and came back
running, THERE IS A TRAIN STRIKE, many trains are cancelled and ours is one of them. she said, and there is a train to paris leaving in a few minutes and we can board that, no seat number just jump in and move. off we went with our legendary heavy luggage. pushing and pulling it down the stairs, being Indian helped us in squeezing in the already crowded train and we somehow reached paris, i was standing with the luggage between two coaches when anupama called me in, she had managed to find two seats, though they were rows apart, at least we could sit. what was supposed to be my planned trip was turning out to be a victory for her. she obviously feels that i would be standing with the luggage all the time, if not for her, or maybe still standing at the station looking for our train number to appear on the board. 1-0 to anupama.
the route to her office from the hotel was as complicated as it could get. changing trains at four stations, from blue to red to pink to yellow line and take a taxi from there. key words would vanish
from maps on the train, as i frantically compared them with the map in my hand. i suddenly realised that the red line would directly take us to her office. just one train change, it was time to get even, had we taken her route we would have reached her office the next day, she just had to recognise that, this time it was my route that worked. 1-1.
we had very limited time, just could not afford the luxury of another day in paris, so we had to do some sight seeing in the evening and it was decided that we will start from her office at 6 pm sharp. a taxi was booked by her for that time. we had missed eiffel tower last time, so it was a must see this time. hence a taxi to eiffel from her office, so that we could reach there and not spend the evening running after people asking for directions. i was at the designated spot five minutes early, and she was nine minutes late, (anupama insists it was seven), so much hectic running around like headless chicken had taken its toll on me, and this fifteen minutes wait
was the final straw, she too was grumpy with all the meetings and would not take things lying down. it was a powerful but subdued explosion, like an underground nuclear one, here we were in a luxurious mercedes gliding on the streets of paris but looking in opposite directions. ye to hai hi aisa/aisi.
you want the pictures for your blog, to show the world that everything is so rosy, she grumbled as she somehow managed a smile after a lot of coaxing by me. eiffel tower was just like india gate. just much taller. Indians have taken over the souvenir business from the official souvenirs that the french used to sell. instead of five euros for a eiffel replica from the official site you can get four for a euro from the street vendors. aap hi nahi loge to kaun lega, an indian made us buy some and then even guided us to the bus stop for our next destination.
the montparnasse tower, its roof and birds eye view of paris were a repeat for us, we had done that two years ago, so no asking anybody, we felt like seasoned parisians here. we knew exactly where
Bye Bye Paris
waiting for the airport shuttle to find the Indian restaurant and what to order, where to take a taxi back to the hotel. anupama asked the driver to stop at a bakery for some bread and butter so that we could avoid the 18 euros per head breakfast in the hotel. wahan par bhi to hum yahi khaate hain. we already have bhujia and taj mahal tea bags and milk powder and will use the electric kettle in the room. the bread and butter cost just three euros, 2-1 .
the flight back home is always a pleasure. more so when we could finally figure out how the tv in front of our seat actually works. we still haven't been able to have a consensus on who was at fault for the showdown in front of her office, if i can somehow prove that it was her fault it can be 2-2, but anupama has been a manager for too long to allow it to happen. advantage anupama.
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Sandip
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Good stuff
Hello Anish, Good stuff, what about trying some french food; you have Indian food everyday! Sandip