So even though this say Day 2 of Eurotrip, I'm going to start on Day 0, Oct 22, the day before we came to France.
Micky and I left Glasgow at 11:45 on the 22nd because our flight out of Edinburgh was at 6:40 am and this was the only way we that we would be able to make it to our flight.
So we got dinner at Wudon, this nice little Japanese fusion restaurant on Great Western Rd. Then we went to Buchannan St. to see The Social Network (which I didn't like because Eduardo--thehotone!!--gets fucked over). We have to leave the movie theatre 45 seconds before the movie ends because our bus is about to leave.
On the bus Micky reads the Tenant of Wildfell Hall like the good Victorian student she is. I email Saagar and look at people on the bus.
We get off the bus and stand under a slightly leaking bus stop box for half an hour before we realize that the bus isn't coming and split a taxi with a nice Polish woman to the airport. Neither of us packed any pants. This was the first sign that things might not go as planned on our trip.
So we get to the airport at 2:00 am and camp out in the Costa Coffee...a surprising amount of other people are hobo-ing it up as well. After about two hours of freezing to death, Micky and I put on a second pair of leggings because we got it like that.
I fall asleep for two hours, Micky does not. She is still engrossed in the Tenant of Wildfell Hall....no judgement.
So at 4 am we check in. (The guy who checked us in was the same guy who checked us in for Brussels! He didn't recognize us. Oh well.)
Finally, we are inside the airport, and we board the plane to go to Paris!
--
Day 1 of Eurotrip
Now begins actual day 1. Paris Beauvais airport is this tiny airport that specifically caters to Ryanair, the budget cheap-o airline that Micky and I planned our Europe trip around. This means it was one hour away from Paris city center and we had to take an hour and a half long bus ride to the city center.
Micky and I sat next to each other. But in front of, in back of, and generally surrounding us, were the forefathers of the cast of the Jersey Shore. A whole family of Italians decided to phagocytosize (sp?) our little party and they were talking very loudly and being very tan all around us. We planned our trip while we sat on the bus listening to Italian and trying not to think about how much we needed to shower and sleep.
We finally got to the metro station in Paris city center, which was inside a mall, and after buying some breakfast, we hopped on to Clichy where our hotel was!
At this point, it was raining, I was carrying a big backpackers bag with plastic bags full of fruit tied to it, Micky was carrying lots of bags, and we were both very sleep deprived. Cuteness factor was zero.
What happened then was that we were sitting on the metro, it stopped, and then all the lights went off. We started to laugh really hard because we didn't know what else to do.
Finally a woman came into our car and in French she said "Get out." in English we said "What?"
With lots of hand gestures, we figured out that this metro line was BROKEN and we needed to find our way to the hotel we had no idea how to get to...ON FOOT.
Pissed, we left the metro station and walked into the first shop we saw. We thought it was a cafe but actually it was a shop that looked like a cafe but really sold kitchens. Really. I don't know.
So we asked them how to get to The Grand Hotel and the man tried to explain it to us. But his woman counterpart glared at us alot and was holding a mop to mop up our puddly footprints. So we decided to leave pretty quick.
We decide to call a taxi and when we get in the taxi we have a conversation that goes like this:
R: Hi!
Taxi Driver:...
R: Do you speak English?
Taxi Driver: (In English) In France we speak in French!
So we end up just shoving him our hotel booking receipt and hoping he knows where this shit is.
We finally get to the hotel at 1 pm but we can't check in until 3! So we take off our bags, spread out in the lobby and start to read. This hotel is a one star hotel so we are very surprised when it actually looks like a nice place! I decide to go to the bathroom to check it out.
On the bus Micky reads the Tenant of Wildfell Hall like the good Victorian student she is. I email Saagar and look at people on the bus.
We get off the bus and stand under a slightly leaking bus stop box for half an hour before we realize that the bus isn't coming and split a taxi with a nice Polish woman to the airport. Neither of us packed any pants. This was the first sign that things might not go as planned on our trip.
So we get to the airport at 2:00 am and camp out in the Costa Coffee...a surprising amount of other people are hobo-ing it up as well. After about two hours of freezing to death, Micky and I put on a second pair of leggings because we got it like that.
I fall asleep for two hours, Micky does not. She is still engrossed in the Tenant of Wildfell Hall....no judgement.
So at 4 am we check in. (The guy who checked us in was the same guy who checked us in for Brussels! He didn't recognize us. Oh well.)
Finally, we are inside the airport, and we board the plane to go to Paris!
--
Day 1 of Eurotrip
Now begins actual day 1. Paris Beauvais airport is this tiny airport that specifically caters to Ryanair, the budget cheap-o airline that Micky and I planned our Europe trip around. This means it was one hour away from Paris city center and we had to take an hour and a half long bus ride to the city center.
Micky and I sat next to each other. But in front of, in back of, and generally surrounding us, were the forefathers of the cast of the Jersey Shore. A whole family of Italians decided to phagocytosize (sp?) our little party and they were talking very loudly and being very tan all around us. We planned our trip while we sat on the bus listening to Italian and trying not to think about how much we needed to shower and sleep.
We finally got to the metro station in Paris city center, which was inside a mall, and after buying some breakfast, we hopped on to Clichy where our hotel was!
At this point, it was raining, I was carrying a big backpackers bag with plastic bags full of fruit tied to it, Micky was carrying lots of bags, and we were both very sleep deprived. Cuteness factor was zero.
What happened then was that we were sitting on the metro, it stopped, and then all the lights went off. We started to laugh really hard because we didn't know what else to do.
Finally a woman came into our car and in French she said "Get out." in English we said "What?"
With lots of hand gestures, we figured out that this metro line was BROKEN and we needed to find our way to the hotel we had no idea how to get to...ON FOOT.
Pissed, we left the metro station and walked into the first shop we saw. We thought it was a cafe but actually it was a shop that looked like a cafe but really sold kitchens. Really. I don't know.
So we asked them how to get to The Grand Hotel and the man tried to explain it to us. But his woman counterpart glared at us alot and was holding a mop to mop up our puddly footprints. So we decided to leave pretty quick.
We decide to call a taxi and when we get in the taxi we have a conversation that goes like this:
R: Hi!
Taxi Driver:...
R: Do you speak English?
Taxi Driver: (In English) In France we speak in French!
So we end up just shoving him our hotel booking receipt and hoping he knows where this shit is.
We finally get to the hotel at 1 pm but we can't check in until 3! So we take off our bags, spread out in the lobby and start to read. This hotel is a one star hotel so we are very surprised when it actually looks like a nice place! I decide to go to the bathroom to check it out.
Doesn't look that bad, eh? just wait.
I come back and Micky is cringing, an old man sitting at the table eating steak is yelling, and a dog is skittering around the lobby floor. WHAT.
A woman comes and starts yelling at the dog in French, chases it behind the reception desk, and tells it to be quiet. It won't be quiet.
Another lady asks us if we have our room yet and we say no, thank god she asks us if we can check in so we can leave this little hotel shitshow.
At this point Micky and I are feeling pretty freaking swampy and really want to shower. Unfortunately, we find out that not only do we have to share the bathrooms here, our room is little more than a box with a window, and towels seem to be hoarded jealously.
We tried to console ourselves by saying things like:
"Ernest Hemingway probably slept in places like this"
"If you put this towel over all these stains, it looks a lot cleaner!"
"That's not barbed wire around our hotel, that's just a spiky gate."
"Oh look one big bed...more cuddle time!"
But in our hearts, we were scared.
And I guess we had right to be because after passing out for 4 hours and getting a very authentic French dinner of Chef's crispy chicken and beef with peppers at Jardin de Chinois, we came back to our room to plan our next day.
Side note: Micky and I recently have become obsessed with this man:
Jon K
So we decided to take a little break and watch some youtube videos on him. Suddenly we hear loud knocking. We are a little frightened because it is one o'clock.
Us: Hello?
Mysterious Person: You have to be quiet.
Us: Who is this?
M. P.: Reception
Us: K, sorry
MP: Make sure to be quiet
Us: K SORRY.
Okay, so that was a little weird.
but then, at 2:30, we heard knocking again, at this point we are basically asleep.
MP: Im coming in *keys jingle*
Us: WAIT WHAT WHO ARE YOU WHAT IS THIS
MP: Reception
Us: DONT COME IN WHY DO YOU HAVE TO COME IN
MP: because.
Us: Wait why!! Don't come in!!
*keys jingle some more*
Us: DONT COME IN
MP; You guys have to be quiet
Us: Yes , yes! We'll be quiet, we're going to sleep right now.
footsteps walk away.
Needless to say, we were VERY freaked out. We stayed up booking another hotel and packing our things.
There was nothing else to do except put a chair in front of the door, put some heavy things that could be used as weapons next to our beds, think really strong thoughts, and go to bed.
I don't think Micky slept very much, but I fell asleep because for some reason I can fall asleep under all circumstances.
To be cont. on Day 2
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