We boarded the train at 6:30pm and found ourselves arriving in Paris around 9:30pm. We still had a few minor “to do’s” we wanted to get done so being the troopers we are, we headed straight to the Louvre (bags and all) to see the Pyramid all lit up. We had heard great things about how the Pyramid and surrounding Louvre looked at night and also had seen some great shots in postcards. As soon as we rounded the corner, we were expecting to be amazed at what we saw but were a bit disappointed. The Pyramid was lit up but nothing like we had seen in the postcards and had heard about. Nonetheless we took a few shots, gazed at the grandeur building around us one last time before heading back to Hotel Printania to hopefully find a room there again for the night.
Our lug back to the hotel was quite the eventful or shall I say strenuous one. Boy, do the French people love their stairs in their underground metro station. It wouldn’t be too bad if there were one or two staircases but to have 10 sets of different staircases in one underground station to get from one metro line to the other is just plain stupid!! Nat and I were ready to push our luggage down the stairs or leave it behind as it was starting to become a bit of a nuisance. Let’s just say Natty had a few choice words for the Paris metro station before she left. We finally made it to our hotel at around 11pm after a very long day and were crossing our fingers that the same room we had last time we stayed here was still available. To our luck, it was free so we booked the room and first order of business was to use the internet and grab some grub as we hadn’t had dinner up to this point.
We made our last walk down to the Bastille area after midnight and brought some food back to the hotel so we could relax in our room and enjoy our last night together. A night which was supposed to be spent drinking, staying up playing cards and talking about our trip all night ended up being a night of errands for poor Natty. She had to fight with her suitcase to try and get everything to fit into it and let’s just say Chris ended up helping her out. At one point, I thought the both of them were going to sit on the dang thing to make it shut. Between some laughs, recollections of what had happened in the last two weeks and packing, Chris and I fell asleep (must be old age) and Natty ended up staying up until 4 am transferring pictures from our computer to her camera for the scrapbook which she promises will be done by the time we get home. I’ll believe it when I see it.
A very quick couple of hours later, we were up at 5 am again to take Nat to the train station and say our goodbyes. As we were walking to the train station, I felt very emotional and sad as it had been a wonderful two weeks. The three of us enjoyed each other’s company, laughed A LOT (I think I have a six pack now thanks to Natty) and took in all that France had to offer. Chris and I have had a wonderful time thus far travelling the world but there is something to be said about sharing such experiences with close friends and family. It was wonderful to have Natty join us on our travels and we couldn’t be happier that she took the time off and made the commitment to meet us as she had promised before we left. It’s a portion of the trip that I will hold dear to my heart and if anyone is wondering if I’m drinking while I’m writing this…I’m NOT!!! Natty is a wonderful person to travel with…she’s funny, outgoing, very easygoing and great to be around – yeah, so she talks a lot sometimes, does do stupid things at times, takes way TOOOOO many photos, and sometimes is just plain Natty, but that’s what makes Natty so “special”. Natty – We both hope you enjoyed your time in France and with us because we couldn’t be happier that you joined us on our world tour. Au revoir mon amie….we look forward to our next trip together…..
Roaming Ravy
No comments:
Post a Comment