Happy Labor Day from Paris, I am a day behind in the blog so
this one is for Sunday. As you recall we
docked in Dover where we had boarded Carnival Legend 12 days ago on a
Tuesday. We decided to “self assist” for
debarkation, which simply meant we had to get our own suitcases off the ship which
we accomplished about 6:50 AM after a quick last breakfast for Charlotte,
Marlene, and me.
Our first order was to find a taxi which was no trouble and
he took us a short distance to a bus station for on 8 pounds including our 8
suitcases. We had to wait at the station
for a connection bus which came about ½ hour before boarding time for the ferry
to Calais. We got lucky we did not have
to take out suitcases off for the security check but just our persons. Once at the ferry we put our cases on a
baggage trolley and just had to walk on to the ferry on an incline for 7
floors. We were fortunate that there
were not many foot passengers but many people had driven their car on.
The ferry ride on the P & O Ferry took 90 minutes. Once off the ferry we reversed the process
and claimed our bags once again. We
thought we had to take a taxi to the train station in Calais but
discovered a shuttle bus for just two euros each (see we
have switched back to euros once again except on the ferry Charlotte and Lyle
bought coffees but got change in crowns….)
Once at the Calais “Ville” station Charlotte and I bought
our ticket but then they said that Marlene and Lyle had to buy on the train as
it was time to board. We could not move
our luggage fast enough and the conductor waived us off as we were about to
descend step to a waiting train….so…….
We had to buy another ticket this one 10 Euros each more a total of 71
Euros, but the next train was two hours later at 1:35 PM. Lyle got a seat in the waiting room and watched
the suitcases while the rest of us took 15 minutes to check out the town.
Finally we figured out which track out train was to come on
and “horsed” the luggage down three flights of steep steps to the platform and
boarded the local train to Lille Flanders.
I was assured by a French train conductor the transfer at Lille would be
easy. The trip to Lille was in a
beautiful new train and was through beautiful rural French countryside. The ride was 90 minutes stopping every 20
minutes and picking up a few passengers seemed to be mostly young people on the
way to school in Paris.
At Lille there were lots of tracks and we only had 12
minutes to find our train and switch. It
was a close call as we first had to figure out which track and the board was
hidden by sunlight but found someone who could read it. Once we found track 8 our car was number 13
and Snows were in number 16. We hustled
down the platform each pulling two suitcases we found a conductor that told us
our car had a green door about two cars ahead.
A nice person helped Charlotte pull her bags aboard and I was right
behind. The doors closed almost immediately
and we began looking for our assigned seats which turned out to be all the way
forward so we were trying to get our bags down the full length aisle of a
moving train. Fortunately there was a
luggage storage area empty right next to our seats.
Turns out we were on a high speed train. Once we were up to speed we would be moving
at least double the speed of cars on a four land highway we could see. I hear they can reach speeds of 300 MPH. A quick one hour later we pulled in the Paris
Nord the main train station. With all
out luggage we found Lyle and Marlene had made the train and actually we ahead
of us walking towards the train station.
The second person who approached offering a cab was selected and we
followed her in a different direction than the posted taxi signs. Giving her a 10 Euro note she found a cab
that had a meter. With an address of 70
Champs-Elysees the cab knew where the Marriott was. The fare was about 14 Euros but with extras
for 8 suitcases it was 25.10 Euros or rounded to 30 making the taxi 40 Euros
nearly $50.00 but we had survived the trip and were at our objective.
Eschewing any more “assistance” Marlene elected to pull her
two bags on the escalators and I followed next was Lyle and last was
Charlotte. A few minutes later at
reception I noticed that Charlotte was not there. Turns out she did a forward fall on the escalator
leaving one suit case behind and caused a number of people to panic that she
may be hurt. She was not but the bellmen
were scolded by an offended French guest for not showing her the elevator.
Well turn outs the rooms were not ready so Marriott bought
us a drink and parked in the lobby for about 30 minutes than gave us one
room. That room is ours and is VERY nice,
but without a view. Is spacious, has
both a bathtub and a shower and a wide screen Flat TV with a couple of nice
chairs. On the desk was a bottle of
champagne and a cake that said Happy Birthday.
The Snows sent a nice thank you to Chad, but alas, it was a mistake as
the hotel switch rooms to get us both on the same floor the gifts were for
another guest. But they let us keep
it. So there was a reward at the end of
a very strenuous day.
After our relaxation time we walked up what I think is the
most beautiful avenue I have ever seen and found a restaurant and had a nice
meal albeit a bit pricey…but then this is Paris…….
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