Day 3

Boy o boy, have I got some story to tell. Yesterday, after a (painful) day of stolling through Paris, I was on the subway towards my Hostel to pick up my luggage that I'd left in a locker there. Once I got off the subway I suddenly realized that it had just taken about 20 minutes to get from where I was to my hostel.. and that I had to hurry to the station. Well, I hurried but once I was on the subway there just wasn't much more I could do. (Can you feel what's coming?) I sat down and as the stations passed by I started to get more nervous... gradually building up to that feeling you get when you know you're about to miss a train. The subway stopped at Gare de l'est, and I ran as fast as I could (with a heavy backpack on me) towards the platform only to witness a sight I had witnessed before in Berlin. The sight of a train leaving right in front of you, without yourself in it.

I instinctively called home and my dad said he'd go and look for options for me. I sat down on a bench and just waited, looking at a homeless man and thinking that maybe I'd be like him for the night, sleeping at the station. Well that thought quickly vanished when I asked if the station closed at night, and the answer was at one o'clock. Just a few minutes later a truly miserable looking Frenchman (definitely not a homeless man) sat down besides me and said bonjour in a way that made me think it'd be the last word he'd ever say. I speak exactly one sentence in French, and that's how to tell a Frenchman that you don't speak French. Well we 'talked' for about 15 minutes using hand gestures and careful words, and the conclusion was that we both had missed our train. One difference is that he lived in Paris and had a bed (I understood at least that... ) After that he made it clear he was gonna drive home and I said goodbye.

Before the thought of sleeping (or wandering) through the streets crossed my mind my dad called and said he'd made a reservation for one more night at my hostel. So I got into the subway again (this is saturday night and the subways are full of clubbing or pubcrawling people). One difference with daytime: everyone was happy. One wonders how this could be... I suppose not because of the average consumation of beverages containing a varying of percentages of alcohol.. Well anyways, people started talking to me in French and once again I said only two things in return: Je ne parle pas Francais and Do you speak english.

Well I won't be boring you with any more stories from that night and begin with this morning. I got up with trouble and took the subway to gare de le est only to find out that all the trains for that day were full. (Sunday!!!). So after about 2 hours of careful consideration I booked a bed on the night train that leaves the station tonight at 22:45. The same train as yesterday only +24h.

I'll be arriving on time now, and I have to find something to do for the coming 10 hours. I any of you have any tips please do give me a call of an sms: 0031645027821.

My time is up now, I'll see if I can post something tomorrow.

Byron