Our Last Sunny Paris Day (this time around)

Today was another beautiful day, and Erin remarked to James that we have been incredibly lucky thus far - our entire stay in Paris was warm and sunny. Unlike some Paris days, today was an early start, as we had to pack up our bags and check out of our hotel before 11am. Erin never enjoys packing her bags because they are so full that it resembles a jigsaw puzzle to put everything back in. But, despite her initial concerns, she was able to get everything in its place.

We left our bags with the hotel while we ventured out into the city for our one last taste of Paris. Our first stop was at the train station, where we had to get our EuRail tickets validated for the trip. We would have done it when we made the reservation, but the ticket agent said it had to be done the day of the first train trip. James kindly offered to wait in the long line while Erin headed across the street to the Post Office to drop off some mail. On her way back, Erin stopped to buy a coffee and mistakenly purchased an expresso because either (a) her French is not very good, or (b) the French have a different understanding of a small "coffee." Regardless, she drank the expresso and headed back to the ticket office - just in time, as it turned out.  James was now at the front of the ticket line, and called out to Erin as she hurried up.  It turned out that Erin needed to be present in order to validate the EuRail ticket – and without her there, we would have to wait in the line a second time!  As it stands, our EuRail tickets are good for 21 days from today, so hopefully, we will get a lot of use out of them!

After we finished our ticket validation at the train station, we headed back toward Notre Dame Cathedral. The other day, while walking to the church, we had noticed and meandered a bit through a trendy shopping district filled with street cafes and boutiques. We sought out that area again, and walked around a bit, stopping in a few shops along the way – one of which was Sephora, where we doused ourselves with perfume and cologne, and used some of the high-end lotion to repair our dry hands. We also decided to eat lunch in this neighborhood, as it offered quite a few outdoor restaurant choices. We have been very budget-conscious for each of our meals, so sitting outside at a cafe was a bit of a treat. Erin selected a Mediterranean-inspired restaurant where we shared a platter of chicken, lamb, hummous, couscous, and tabouleh. It was delicious! After eating, we continued to wander through the neighborhood before beginning to head back to the hotel to get our bags.

The closest Erin got to buying some Chanel No. 5.  Thank goodness for "testers"!



Our Mediterranean treat - Clockwise from top: Tabouleh (green), Hummus (white), Lamb (grey), Chicken (sand) and Quinoa (orange).



It's not quite Diet Coke - but it's pretty close.

James imagined that we would walk to the train station from the hotel; however, he quickly realized that Erin was not the most enthused about making the 35-minute walk while carrying her backpack, her daypack, and her ancillary bag. While James doesn't seem to be bothered by carrying all of the weight, Erin feels as though upper and lower back pain is something she'd really like to avoid if at all possible. So, we purchased Metro tickets, and went directly to the train station.

Our train was easy to find, and after a short wait, we were settled on board. For this first trip, we purchased 2^nd class seats because they were cheaper - again, trying every which way to stay close to our budget. The seats were actually quite nice, so we aren't really sure what 1^st class would be like. (Maybe we'll try 1^st class when we have a longer ride). The train ride from Paris to Brussels was a quick hour and a half, with James reading his Kindle while Erin did some work for CMU and updated the travel blog.

Erin is thrilled to put down her heavy packs and wait for our train on one of the train-entry dampening mechanisms.

A EuRail High-Speed Train waiting to leave Paris Nord Station.

Once in Brussels, we headed to the station's travel center to book the next stop on our trip: Amsterdam. Unsurprisingly, there was quite a long line at the travel center, and while waiting in the line, we tried to figure out which language is primarily spoken in Brussels. On the train, there was a pre-recorded announcement that kept playing in four languages: French, Dutch, German, and English. And, in the travel center, the signs were also printed out in those four languages. However, many of the shops and eateries within the train station had English signs. When we finally got to speak with the agent at the travel center, he advised us that most people speak French, but many also speak Dutch, and English – and, that many people often combine the languages when they speak. The agent explained to us that the Amsterdam train left every hour during the weekdays, and we didn't need to purchase a ticket in advance, we just needed to show up and board the train with our EuRail passes. (So much easier than in France!)

James had e-mailed the directions to the hostel to Erin, so she would be able to pull them up on her blackberry when we needed them. When we reviewed the directions, we realized they were a bit scarce and didn't provide much guidance. We needed to take a northbound (or Nord) tram into a station titled Boukerie. However, we weren't sure which tram was heading north. We asked a few people but they just looked a bit confused. And, unfortunately, the directions at the train station were in French – which made it impossible for us to read. However, a gentleman helped guide us to the right side of the track where we quickly boarded what we thought was the incoming northbound tram.

Once on the tram, we thought we were in good shape. James began to review the stops that were printed on the inside of the train and couldn't find the stop we needed posted anywhere. When we asked a few people on the tram, one helpful gentleman told us that we would need to get off the tram and catch a bus heading in a different direction. At this point, everything seemed a bit confusing and Erin was ready to just pay the extra money and take a taxi. However, James insisted that we take the bus, so we did. We got off the bus at the Boukerie station just as we were supposed to. From there, we walked to the hostel. The walk was pretty straight-forward once we were eventually pointed in the right direction, but the directions we had were poorly written, so we still found ourselves feeling a bit lost the entire time.

When we arrived at the hostel, there were also many other people entering at the same time. There was a big group of people who were in front of us, so we stepped aside and grabbed a seat while removing our bags so we could rest a bit. We were in for another lengthy wait - the hostel had lost the reservation for the large group of five in front of us, and had already given their beds to other people. So, the one person manning the front desk of the hostel was frantically calling other hostels trying to find a place for the group of people to stay. After about 45 minutes of waiting, James finally stepped in and asked if we could just check in rather than waiting for them to sort this issue out. The man at the front desk seemed a bit bothered to have to deal with us while he was clearly focusing his energy on the big group of people. But, nonetheless, he helped us and another party get checked in.

We were happy to find out that we were in the same dorm room; however, the room slept 10 people, and we were on opposite sides of the room. We quickly put our sheets on the beds and locked up our belongings before heading downstairs to the lobby to try to get on the internet. Unfortunately, Erin was having difficulty finding a working wireless signal. She was really frustrated because she wanted to book a room for the next trip in Amsterdam – hopefully, one that was a bit nicer than the one James had booked. James was nice enough to let Erin use his computer to work on accommodations while he tried to figure out a plan for our one and only day in Brussels.

After we agreed upon (and booked) a bed and breakfast for our time in Amsterdam, we decided to head outside and explore a bit of Brussels while grabbing some dinner. We were quite surprised by how cold it was outside. Brussels is further north than Paris, but we weren't really expecting the difference in temperature to be so dramatic. After we were unable to find an open grocery store, we headed to a small pizza parlour across the street from the hostel where James ordered a pizza and Erin ordered a salad with what she hoped was grilled chicken (luckily it was).

Erin pretends to be happy in a room she will share with James and 8 strangers, including her bottom bunk-mate.

At least it had high ceilings?

We ate our dinner in the common lobby of the hostel where they were showing an ESPN NFL preview show on the large screen television (a bit odd, considering we are in Europe and no one plays football here). James befriended a few New Zealanders sitting nearby who were traveling through Europe as well. (He overheard them talking about American football, and added his opinion to the conversation). After we finished our dinner, we headed up to our dorm room where Erin (in a very Erin-like fashion) hit her head quite hard on a stone mantle near James's bed.. Once he had stopped trying to comfort Erin after her mishap, James decided to shower, while Erin decided to climb up into her top bunk and head to bed.