La route à Paris

I had two more days to go before I had to go home. I was planning on arriving in Paris on the eve of my 25^th day in Europe, spend a day in Versailles, another day in Paris and finally fly home on my 28^th day. But it didn’t exactly go as planned. Everything that could go wrong went wrong.

My (long) route to Paris

Day 25

It all started in Bruges… the buses were on strike. I was waiting at the bus station with some Argentineans who were also from my hostel and were going to the train station. After waiting for a while, we learned that the buses were on strike. So, we decided to take a cab. We learned that in Bruges, you can’t just hail a cab. You need to call for one, which would then arrive in about 20 minutes. Since it was still faster than walking all the way to the train station with our bags, we shared a cab together and I managed to get on a train to Brussels right away. There’s a Thalys train that goes straight to Paris from Brussels but since the train costs about 100€, I was willing to take a longer route to Paris.  My route included taking the intercity train from Brussels to Luxembourg. Then take the TGV from Luxembourg to Paris.  Ozi, a friend I’ve met a few weeks earlier warned me that going to Paris from Luxembourg might be tricky. I should’ve listened to him.

Gare du Midi, Bruxelles

From Brussels, the intercity train to Luxembourg was 15 minutes late. It was also confusing because the platforms kept on changing and all the announcements were in French. But I did get on the right train. There was, however, a problem with the train. The train was running very slow and it kept on stopping in the middle of the track. Eventually, everyone on board was asked to leave the train in one of the stations and get onboard another train. By the time I arrived in Luxembourg, it was two hours later than the estimated time of arrival. There were no more trains to Paris and the ticket office was already closed.

Fortunately, I did listen a bit to Ozi. I had earlier told him about my concern of not being able to catch a train to Paris from Luxembourg. He connected me to his best friend who lives in Luxembourg, Gafur. Gafur and Sky were already waiting (for a long time—sorry!) at the station when I arrived.

Day 26

Palais Municipal in Place d'Armes, Luxembourg

The next day, Sky dropped me off at Gare de Luxembourg.  But when I tried to reserve a seat for the TGV to Paris, there were no more seats available. I had two options: I could pay a 96€ non-Eurail ticket or take a series of regional trains. Of course, I wanted to take the regional trains (€0), which would include changing trains in Metz and Bar le Duc. But I was quite reluctant because the regional train was leaving 17:30. Having experienced such delay yesterday, I knew that if there was another delay, there were no more following trains. Determined to find other options, I went to the tourist information at the city centre to check if there were buses to Paris…. Nope! No buses. Worse, there was nothing I could do in Luxembourg while waiting for my 17:30 train out of Luxembourg. Don’t get me wrong, Luxembourg is a beautiful and green city. It looks like a nice place to live in but as a tourist, there wasn’t much to see other than banks.  

So, I went back to the gare and stared at the electronic board for a long time. Although the ticket office said that the train to Metz was 17:30, I found an earlier regional train and decided to just hop on that train. And I was just right to do so because when I arrived in Metz, I found Gare de Metz a bit confusing (it was big). I may not have been able to get onto the next train on time if I took the 17:30 train, which would only give me a few minutes to hop on and off the next train. A lot of trains were running late, too, including my train from Metz to Bar le Duc. In Bar Le Duc, I only had 5 minutes to jump onto the train heading towards Paris Est. But luck was finally on my side and I found myself on the way to Paris. Sitting on what was my last Eurail ride, I couldn’t help but laugh at the close encounter I had. Yes, I could’ve spent that day in Versailles. But experiences like these are one of those that are fun to tell.

My last train ride ended at Gare de l'Est, Paris

It was almost 10:00 when I finally arrived at Gare de l’Est, Paris.  It was already late when I checked in at the same hostel I stayed on my first day (AIJ – Paris). But I wasn’t ready to hit the sack just yet. I was determined to find some food (there was hardly any restaurant open at that time) when I met a local, Florent, near the hostel. I ended my day devouring a McBaguette (I know I shouldn’t be eating McDonald’s but it was the only place that was still open!) and drinking beer by the river Seine.

36 trains in one month… my trip around Europe was also railing experience. My well-planned first two weeks in Europe was fruitful and I was able to make the most out of my time. My spontaneous last two weeks was a tremendous Eurail experience, and getting lost or getting stuck along the way completed my unforgettable journey around Europe.

Tomorrow, my last day awaits me.  Bonne nuit, Paris!