What a morning I had! I was totally LOST in Paris. Okay...let's start from the very beginning (a very good place to start...). There is a public transportation strike here in Paris. No metros (subways), buses, taxis, etc. On a normal day, I take the metro for about 30 minutes, and then I walk another 15 minutes to work. Because of the strike, a very nice guy here at work (who has a car) offered to pick me up. Well, on Thursday, he came to get me and because of all the people in cars, on bikes, on mopeds, on foot, etc. combined with the CRAZY streets of Paris (very small, one way, no rhyme or reason) it took us forever and a day just to get outside of Paris on our way to work at Creteil - a suburb of Paris. So, being the kind-hearted person that you all know that I am, I offered to walk a short distance this morning (Fri) and meet him closer to where he lives...to avoid all that traffic and get us to work much quicker. Makes sense, right!?Well...it didn't quite work out that way. I am usually pretty good at mastering the streets of any new city, but no so much this morning. I very easily found the street I was supposed to meet him on - Rue de Charenton. But, I totally went the wrong direction on that street! Oops! The bad thing is, I knew I was going the wrong way, but I didn't trust my instinct. Then, I realized I was at the Opera de Bastille - which I knew was WAY out of the way. PANIC!! I was supposed to meet him in 5 minutes!
So...there I am asking people in my crappy French "Bonjour, parle vous Anglais?" "No?" "Je sheersh Rue Rueilly et Rue Charenton." (Hello, do you speak English. No? I'm looking for Rueilly & Charenton Street.) This is when all of Paris forgets about the strike and gathers in jubilee as the dumb American stumbles through asking for directions while I'm in the totally wrong place. Then children begin laughing and dancing in the streets with glee. 
Even they are like "Hey idiot, it's THAT way!" CRAP! So, I start to hoof it back to where I'm supposed to be. It's a pretty cold morning and everyone is bundled up. Me - I couldn't get my coat and gloves off fast enough. I'm burning up - sweating like crazy!! Great! So, finally I'm in the right place and I see my friends car...Hallelujah Chorus playing in my mind! I bet you think this is the end of the story, don't you!? Not so fast. I get into the car, and I'm ready to sit down (after running around Paris for an hour) and relax on the drive to work. But, what's that...THE CAR WOULDN'T START!!!!! At this point, I'm not so warm anymore from all the running around, and because I was sweating, I'm now freezing! Finally, FINALLY, he gets the car to start, and we made it to work.
Even they are like "Hey idiot, it's THAT way!" CRAP! So, I start to hoof it back to where I'm supposed to be. It's a pretty cold morning and everyone is bundled up. Me - I couldn't get my coat and gloves off fast enough. I'm burning up - sweating like crazy!! Great! So, finally I'm in the right place and I see my friends car...Hallelujah Chorus playing in my mind! I bet you think this is the end of the story, don't you!? Not so fast. I get into the car, and I'm ready to sit down (after running around Paris for an hour) and relax on the drive to work. But, what's that...THE CAR WOULDN'T START!!!!! At this point, I'm not so warm anymore from all the running around, and because I was sweating, I'm now freezing! Finally, FINALLY, he gets the car to start, and we made it to work. Seriously, it's not funny - stop laughing.
1 comment:
mmmm...Matthew Fox. I'm sorry, were you telling me a story? I was distracted by Jack!
Post a Comment