Riding the night train has been one of the experiences on Lori's bucket list, so we were excited to do that from Berlin to Paris. Although we could have flown there in two or three hours, we thought it would be fine because we would sleep the night away in blissful comfort, eat in the dining car, and wake in the morning ready to hit the streets of Paris. We watched a video on YouTube that showed people with a lovely cabin, charmingly called a couchette, complete with tiny bathroom and shower, comfy beds, doors that close and lock with a keypad, and silk pjams. They were eating a lovely dinner in the dining car and were served breakfast in their cabin by a smiling uniformed steward. Lulled by the YouTube video put out by the German train company, Bahn, we booked it with excitement.
We were duped!
It was hilarious. The train was old and very rusty, the cabin was minuscule with very worn, hard, and less-than-clean seat cushions that were our beds. We had a hilarious time figuring out how to get the seats set up, turned into bunks, where to stow our bags, etc. We did have nice clean sheets, but the blankets were pretty dusty. When Hannah climbed up to the top bunk and flipped hers up to spread onto her bed, a shower of dust rained down on the rest of the cabin. There were WCs at each end of the car that were fine, but the water wasn't potable--no teeth brushing. Luckily we had a little water in our water bottles to use. But worst of all--no dining car! No dinner and no breakfast. They did have an attendant in a tiny little room selling 5€ bottles of water and 6€ packages of cookies. They advertised about 10 items on the menu, but only had about 5. Not much in the way of real food.
Blurry, but maybe you can see our door and the security system--a slider chain. Even shut all the way, I could still put my whole finger between the door and the wall it was supposed to meet.
There was talk of being gassed and robbed. Lori was worried and made everybody put their passport and credit cards in their pockets while they slept for safe keeping. I didn't have any pockets, so I kept my purse between my pillow and the wall. There was also talk of possible organ theives.
This is Lori in our couchette.
Hannah climbing up to the top bunk, which was only about 5 feet long. Matt slept on the opposite top bunk. Don't ask me how.
We did see some interesting views out of the fairly dirty window, and when night fell, we decided to try to get some sleep.
That's when the fun started. This train stopped at every little town between Berlin and Paris. Sometimes, it would stay at a station for a long time--not sure why. It was a long night. But we all saw the dawn with our passports and kidneys intact!
The countryside of France was really terribly charming and beautiful as we watched it roll by in the morning. We got into Paris at about noon--16 hours. It was an adventure, and Lori was so happy! It was worth it.
We disembarked in a very large and packed train station in Paris and began our first foray into the subways. And so we come to transportation in Paris.
Like old Madrid, historic Paris streets are narrow, uneven, winding, stone paths not designed for cars. But cars and big trucks navigate them, none the less. Also like Madrid, there are many motorcycles. But most people walk and take the trains.
The subways in Paris are not very clean, very old, and very labyrinthian. It's hard to describe. They go down many levels, you have to go up and down many flights of stairs, they are lined with beautiful subway tiles in various patterns based on the part of the city and the station, many times three or four or five tunnels meet and intersect, sound travels in really strange ways, they are covered with advertisements, filled with musicians performing, random street vendors selling odd stuff (including a fishing pole, much to Matt's delight), beggars around many corners, and mold stalactites growing from the ceiling in places.
However, there are stations everywhere and it is very easy to navigate. It is also very crowded and busy. Many times it was like a clown car--the cars are full, but more and more people push on at each stop. Nobody seems to mind being crushed up against a bunch of strangers--except us, especially Hannah.
They are pretty convenient and make it easy to get around the city, but sometimes you have to walk so far underground, and up and down so many stairs, I wonder if it would be just as fast to walk above ground rather than take the metro. Here's a few pics.
The subway station at St. Georges spits us out right at the top of our street. Then we just walked half a block down hill to our charming Hotel France Albion.
Home sweet home.
We are in Paris!!
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