Sarah Giesler
As we were planning to come to France, our families, friends and coworkers were really excited for us. We grew nervous about terrorist attacks, but everyone else stayed optimistic. As our departure neared, however, others started to mention their concerns. They nodded when we mentioned our nerves, posted articles on our Facebook walls about the things going on in France - and there were many things: terrorism, striking transportation workers, floods, the Euro Cup drawing thousands of soccer fans from around Europe to Marseille and Paris. “We’ll be fine,” we assured ourselves. This was all probably overblown.
It all seemed silly once we landed in France. Everything about our trip has gone smoothly (save Mike’s lost bag the first day, but all good there).
Last night, the Euro Cup began in Marseille. And as we wandered home from a delicious Turkish dinner, we watched as drunk British soccer fans lobbed fight chants and empty beer bottles at French police decked out in riot gear. We stayed long enough to hear a few songs before returning to the safety and quiet of our apartment to watch the game (and before the police released teargas on the crowd).
So that was interesting. Mike and I had to basically drag MC away from the “adventure” (her word). Still, we stayed out of trouble (a nod to my parents and Mike’s wife).
This morning, we packed up and Ubered to the train station, where we were entirely too early for our train to Paris. It wasn’t on the board of upcoming departures, but we didn’t worry about that until after breakfast and coffee. Then we worried. According to the official-looking man MC spoke with, our train to Paris was cancelled due to the strikes.
Of course.
Not to worry, he said. Our tickets were still good; we could board a different train to Paris but wouldn’t be guaranteed seats. As we boarded that train and grabbed some empty chairs, we worried about a host of possibilities: they would check our tickets and kick us off; at each of the next stops, we could get thrown off; there wouldn’t be enough seats and we would have to...stand? for the three-hour journey.
It turned out (of course) okay. We made it to Paris in one piece. Two Metro rides, five flights of stairs and ever-more cups of coffee later, we are home in the City of Light.
Paris: We can’t wait to see what you have in store for us.
It all seemed silly once we landed in France. Everything about our trip has gone smoothly (save Mike’s lost bag the first day, but all good there).
Last night, the Euro Cup began in Marseille. And as we wandered home from a delicious Turkish dinner, we watched as drunk British soccer fans lobbed fight chants and empty beer bottles at French police decked out in riot gear. We stayed long enough to hear a few songs before returning to the safety and quiet of our apartment to watch the game (and before the police released teargas on the crowd).
So that was interesting. Mike and I had to basically drag MC away from the “adventure” (her word). Still, we stayed out of trouble (a nod to my parents and Mike’s wife).
This morning, we packed up and Ubered to the train station, where we were entirely too early for our train to Paris. It wasn’t on the board of upcoming departures, but we didn’t worry about that until after breakfast and coffee. Then we worried. According to the official-looking man MC spoke with, our train to Paris was cancelled due to the strikes.
Of course.
Not to worry, he said. Our tickets were still good; we could board a different train to Paris but wouldn’t be guaranteed seats. As we boarded that train and grabbed some empty chairs, we worried about a host of possibilities: they would check our tickets and kick us off; at each of the next stops, we could get thrown off; there wouldn’t be enough seats and we would have to...stand? for the three-hour journey.
It turned out (of course) okay. We made it to Paris in one piece. Two Metro rides, five flights of stairs and ever-more cups of coffee later, we are home in the City of Light.
Paris: We can’t wait to see what you have in store for us.