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We arrived in France on the 3rd of May and had a fantastic time touring about but lets start at the very beginning.
The three of us, Kirstin, Kailey and I were in Porta Westfalica, Germany, exstatic to be leaving for Paris. It was an early train to catch but so worth it! Nellie and Eddy, the efficient travelers that they are, suggested that we pack a lunch for the journey. We all made delicious sandwiches! You really can't go wrong with German bread, German cheese and German meat! We ended up packing quite the picnic.
With that organized the night before we had a fairly smooth morning the following day. We made it to our train on time with no complications! YAY us!! (Mostly thanks to Nellie and Eddy) We were off to Paris!! Our train ride took us through Amsterdam where we would have to change trains to get to Paris. This is where it gets tricky. Our train from Germany was a tad late getting into Amsterdam so we ran off the train rushing to see what platform we were to get to. With minimal heavy breathing we made it. As we stood we heard an
annoucement stating that our train would be 40 minutes late. Not wanting to die of intoxicating fumes, we had the clever idea to head upstairs and grab a cuppa joe. Getting a bit nervous that we'd missed our train while waiting for our Starbucks barista to finish with our drinks, we booked it downstairs. Hearts pumping, fingers crossed that we didn't actually miss our train. A helpful barer of bad news let us know that yes, we did in fact miss our train.
Though no distasteful words passed our lips, we all couldn't beleive it. It was like a cold chill ran through the train station or maybe it was just my own reaction. Kirstin and Kailey thought it was pretty funny, I on the other hand, couldn't quite get a genuine chuckle to form. WE MISSED OUR TRAIN!!!! Apparently none of us can hear or decifer Amsterdam English. The annoucer really said that our tain would be 14 minutes late, not 40. Stunned and distraught, we hiked upstairs again to see if there was a way around this kerfuffle. The lovely lady at the window informed us that we'd have to spend 123 Euros to catch the next
train heading for Paris. Kirstin, the "asker of important questions" asked if there was any other way. After a quick powwow with colleagues, she said we might be able to get on the next one by explaining ourselves to the offical. Keeping all doubts from our mind and preparing our sob story, we waited for the next train. Thinking we'd have a better chance with a gentleman offical rather than a women, we made our approach. Praying that I didn't just buy the most expensive Chai Tea Latte ever, he said those magic words "Yes, follow me". Our hearts swelled with gratitude! We just sat there, cherishing the moment, loving that luck was on our side!!
After all that excitement, we made it to our hotel in Paris! We couldn't believe our luck again...we could see the Eiffel Tower from our room window. We just about managed to walk our legs off touring Paris. It's a tourists paradise, all the sight-seeing you could possibly want in one city. We hiked up the Eiffel Tower, shopped the Champs Eylsees, saw the Louvre, ate crepes in the park, visited the Notre Dame, the list is really endless but you get the
idea. Since Kirstin was leaving France, Kailey and I decided to head southeast to Bordeaux. After a bittersweet goodbye, we were on our way, determined not to allow Starbucks or any other kind of catering venue keep us from getting on our train. We made it to Bordeaux unscathed. Our hotel turned out to be a little outside of Bordeaux but easypeasy, we just hopped on the tram. Knowing what stop to get off at, we felt pretty confident coming in....(queue in daunting music).
How easyily we can fool ourselves. Our hotel was nowhere to be seen. Left....Right....Left again....Right again...no luck. We saw a man, lets call him Pierre, taking an evening stroll with his daughter (age maybe 7-10 years old) so we thought it was pretty safe to ask him for some help. He couldn't speak much English but, bless his heart, he tried. As Pierre was showing us in what was hopefully the right direction, a car pulled up. Windows rolled down, arms waving, and a pile of French words coming from it. Turns out they were all friends!! Pierre asked if they knew where our hotel was. They did but even better they offered to take
us there. Seeing as how they're friends with Pierre who we randomly asked for help and they worked for Night Security for the neighborhood (it was in French on their car) we felt pretty good about the situation. They turned out to be very sweet guys, truely delighted to help us Canadians! One kept shouting "CANADA, WOOOOH!!" They even tried to make conversation which was a mix between French, Spanish and a little English.
Our hotel was right around the corner. The nice monsieurs also gave us their business card should any problems arise as well as a map. Our knights in shining armor (aka a white Honda hatchback)!! Unfortunatly our gratefullness quickly turned to frustration. Our hotel reception was closed. We could even get into the lobby. We were to use the outside terminal to check in but it wouldn't take either of our credit cards. Luckly, two more guys, one English speaking and the other French, come to our rescue. They let us use their phone to get a hold of reception. After a few broken French/English sentences, a very nice old man finally came out and checked us in to our room. Turns out they never
got our online reservation or my email letting them know we'd be arriving after hours. Oh such adventures we've had in France!!!
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