It%26#39;s been a month since I was in Paris, and I%26#39;m still not finished writing my trip report. I decided I%26#39;d better start posting it to give me incentive to finish.
Friday, April 28-Saturday, April 29
My schedule was to fly Northwest Air St. Louis-Detroit-Paris. The flight to Detroit was delayed due to mechanical problems, %26quot;cannibalization%26quot; of a part from another plane in for maintenance didn%26#39;t work, and finally, almost four hours after departure time, the flight was officially canceled. During the waiting time, other passengers had been switched to other airlines, but because I was an international passenger, they said they couldn%26#39;t do that for me. To apologize for my inconvenience, the gate agent gave me a $10 certificate for food in the airport (and since I got a bottle of water to go with it, it cost $12). I was re-routed St. Louis-Minneapolis-Amsterdam-Paris, getting into Paris about four hours later than planned but at least on the same day as scheduled.
On the flight to Amsterdam, I had an aisle seat in the middle section, someone was in the aisle seat on the far side, and we had two empty seats between. As soon as the plane took off, we each made the empty seat next to us our own territory, piling it with our stuff. The plane had individual video screens on the back of each seat controlled with a remote that fit into the arm of the seat (an Airbus 333, as I recall).
My seat was in row 33, the very row I never wanted again because it%26#39;s where the food carts meet and they always seem to be out of something. This time they were out of chicken, and we all got vegetarian curry. I don%26#39;t eat meat, but I hate curry. I wasn%26#39;t hungry anyway, since I%26#39;d gotten pizza-to-go with my food coupon and ate it on the St. Louis-Minneapolis leg. I ate the sides that came with the curry, plus cranapple juice, and two little bottles of wine (free). I had about an inch of cranapple juice left in my glass when I managed to spill it, mostly on my food, but a little on my dark blue velvet blazer that I%26#39;d planned to wear all week. After dinner, I found if I curled into a fetal position, I could use two seats to sleep, and I did catch a few winks that way.
The gate agent in St. Louis had told me I%26#39;d have to claim my suitcase in Amsterdam, take it through customs, and recheck it; however, a flight attendant announced that those continuing to Paris who had boarding passes for the Paris flight didn%26#39;t need to claim their luggage in Amsterdam. I had a boarding pass, but I double checked anyway, and the flight attendant suggested I see the transfer agent at the end of the concourse when I got off the plane.
I will never be a candidate for The Amazing Race. I have such a talent for missing the obvious. I never did find the transfer agent, although there were plenty of transfer areas (T-2, T-4, T-6, etc.) An airport employee said I couldn%26#39;t miss the transfer desk, it had a big T over it, the information desk said it was right around the corner, the person at the window right around the corner said I needed to go two windows down. After a considerable wait in that line, I was told I did not have to claim my luggage. With relief, since by then it was getting close to boarding time, I set off for the long walk to my gate.
On the plane to Paris, I was seated next to a tall young man whose hands were constantly going to his face--biting his nails, adjusting his glasses, running his fingers through his hair--and each time I got a whiff of his armpits which were about my nose level. Fortunately, the flight to Paris was only 45 minutes and I didn%26#39;t pass out. We exited onto a jetway into Terminal 2F of CDG.
I followed the herd to the correct luggage carousel and waited. And waited. When it became obvious my suitcase wasn%26#39;t there, I found Air France%26#39;s lost luggage office. When it was my turn, I explained the problem and reached for my claim check. I didn%26#39;t have it! I searched through my purse. And searched through it again. I pictured it fluttering to the floor in Amsterdam when I handed my ticket to the agent to board the plane. As if I didn%26#39;t feel stupid enough already because of the luggage thing, now I don%26#39;t have a claim stub. She filed a report by name and told me to call that night.
This is getting pretty long, so I%26#39;ll continue in another post.
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I took a cab to the Welcome Hotel on the corner of Rue de Seine and Bd. St. Germain. As we%26#39;re poking along in a traffic jam, I remembered I put my baggage claim stub in the back pocket of my jeans. Duh! Once we got into Paris, the driver terrified me. I swear he came within an inch of hitting people in the crosswalk. Once he almost took out a baby in a stroller, and I wanted to yell at the father pushing it to jerk that baby back! During my week in Paris, I decided this is a game of chicken played by drivers and pedestrians, with the pedestrians having the right of way because of the green man and the drivers needing to get into position to complete their left turns before the light changed. My cab fare was less than 50 eruos.
I was put in room 63 on the sixth floor (seventh American), and it was like a dorm room, which wasn%26#39;t totally unexpected since I was paying only 70 euros a night. I didn%26#39;t mind it was small, I didn%26#39;t mind one wall having sloping attic ceilings, but I was disappointed that the only window was too high for me to see out of unless I stood on a chair. I might mention here that the sixth floor of the Welcome Hotel is not for tall people since, at a little under 5%26#39;4%26quot;, I bonked my head on the ceiling once or twice a day. I asked the desk clerk if I could change rooms, but he said it was his first day on the job and he couldn%26#39;t help me. Maybe tomorrow.
After a call to Air France to give them my baggage claim number, I set out for a walk along Rue de Seine toward the river. I brought my long blue raincoat (London Fog style) on the plane, still with its lining zipped in, and now I%26#39;m very glad because, although a late afternoon sun is out, it is quite chilly. At Quai Malaquais, a long line of police vehicles roared by, their blue lights flashing and sirens blaring, and I wondered what that was all about. I checked out the view from Pont des Arts and noted that even though it%26#39;s cold, there were a few picnickers on the bridge. It had been a while since I%26#39;d eaten, breakfast on the plane I guess, so I stopped at Cafe des Beaux Arts and picked out a table in the back room (non-smoking) near a window. I ordered an omelette parmentier that came with salad and bread (7.5 euros) and a Coca Light (4.2 euros). The egg and potato combination was an interestintg blend.
The window where I%26#39;m sitting is only a narrow sidewalk away from Rue Bonaparte, and when the light is red, people on busses and in cars are almost next to me. A silver Peugot drove up, driven by an elegant older woman with white-gold hair who wore an ivory wool coat. When she stopped at the light, she reached for the round tin on her dash and tucked a pinch of something (snuff? tobacco?) into her mouth. Walked back along Rue Bonaparte in the dusk, saw some of the cows in the Cow Parade (or whatever it was called) in front of St. Germain des Pres. One cow, or steer, had two long horns. The next day it had only a horn and a half.
Before I went to bed, I called Air France and was told they%26#39;re showing my luggage had arrived, but it wasn%26#39;t confirmed. I should call the next day. I went to bed around 10:30 to the noise of drunken revelry somewhere in the street below, maybe holiday weekend celebrations, but fell asleep immediately. And awoke about midnight to the same loud shouts. Couldn%26#39;t get back to sleep, so I took a Benadryl and read for a while.
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I%26#39;m really enjoying your report Mimmy - I feel like I%26#39;m there!
Please keep %26#39;em coming.
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mimmy
You said it--your are wordy but it makes for great reading! Keep on being that way. I enjoyed reading about your adventures more than you enjoyed living them but know that it turned out OK!
Glad you are getting around to letting us all in on you trip!
CMFLVN
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I know there are many on TA who only want to read short trip reports, but since I%26#39;m one of those who loves to read all the details, that%26#39;s how I write. I will post about other days as soon as I have time.
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Go for it , Mimmy! We want to vicariously enjoy your trip....love hearing all your observations/opinions of what you saw!
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I am enjoying your trip report, Mimmy.
Do you speak French?
KBS in IL
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KBS, I don%26#39;t speak French, although I%26#39;ve taken a couple of classes and bought some tapes. I think I waited until I was too old for my mind to memorize a list of words. The Michel Thomas CDs are good though. Fortunately for those of us who don%26#39;t speak French, many French people speak English.
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Hi Mimmy
We are going to the Welcome Hotel in a month and I have asked for rooms in the 6th floor (to soften the noise from the street) - but now I read that it maybe would be a good idea to change the reservation to the 5th floor instead.
Is there no way you can look out of the window (other than standing on a chair) ??
Is the room and bathroom clean ?
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I love the long trip reports! They provide great assistance to me in planning my trip. Looking forward to reading the rest of your report. Thanks!
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Hi GitteK,
All single rooms at the Welcome Hotel are on the sixth floor, except for one that is on the fifth floor. I changed rooms the next day, still on the sixth floor, and had a different type window. It was smaller, but it was at a level where I could see out of it easily (and it had a view of the top of the Pantheon). Also, this window seemed to block noise from the street better.
The hotel is not air conditioned. The weather warmed up a couple of days after I arrived, and the room would be quite stuffy when I returned. It was then a decision about whether to keep the window open so the room would cool off and endure the noise, or close the window to have quiet, but it would be hot. If you%26#39;re going in July, it might be very hot. You might call and ask if they provide fans. That suggestion never occurred to me when I was there.
The shower in the first room where I stayed was a little moldy. The second room, room 61, had an updated bathroom and was always clean. The rooms were cleaned every day. The carpeting in both rooms had stains, but I%26#39;ve stayed in some much plusher hotels in the states that had stains on the carpets.
I can%26#39;t say enough nice things about the staff. They were great.
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