After the disaster, that was the previous day, we were hoping and praying that we don’t face anymore hurdles on our way to Paris.
We had spent the night in Milan airport, we couldn’t get to sleep much, since the seats were not comfortable enough for a supine posture and also with the luggage and bags that we had, one couldn’t afford to sleep like a log. We woke up early, since we had to catch the 5.30 am shuttle bus to the Railway station, from where we had to take the 7.10 am train to Paris.
We reached the station and promptly went to the ticket counter. Our hearts sank when the lady at the counter said that the train was full and no reservations were available. It was like an action replay of the previous day. She further said that being some holiday season and the weekend all trains were full. But then she said that we could get into the train, speak to the ticket collector and try our luck. We did not have much choice, and even if the lady had not given this suggestion, this is what we would probably have done.
We got into a compartment, loitered around the door for some time and then spoke to the ticket collector. He asked us to sit on any of the free seats that we could get. We would have to pay for reservations and we could sit as long as the valid reservation holder didn’t come. We managed to find seats for all of us, albeit in different parts of the same compartment. We hadn’t slept well the previous night and were hoping that no one turns up staking a claim for the seat.
Thankfully through out the whole journey we were not troubled. Actually the reservation holders of a couple of our seats did come, but when they saw us sitting, they just went away and sat on another empty seat. In fact one person on whose seat I was sitting was seen standing by the door instead of asking me to vacate. Either he did not understand me, when I said that I would vacate the seat for him, or he is a gentleman of the first order or a total fool.
We reached Paris Gare du Nord station around 3 in the evening. We had a full evening and night ahead of us before our flight the next day morning. But after the ordeal, no one was in the mood to go out into the city again, all that we wanted to get to the airport. We had food at a Turkish restaurant – the spiciest food of the whole trip- and then got into a metro to the airport. I have to mention about the nice American couple we met in the metro. They were a delight to talk to and very very friendly, which perhaps reinforced my belief that Americans are one among the friendliest people around.
We reached the airport, got our tickets confirmed for the next day and proceeded towards the terminal where our flight would be scheduled the next day. We had another night to kill, this time in a different airport. This night also turned out to be as uncomfortable and sleepless as the previous night. We hardly slept for an hour or so and also were getting very tired. Plus we had not had a bath for 2 days now and we had another day before we could reach home and change. Not a pretty feeling I would say.
After 2 days of missed buses /trains and flights, and spending 2 nights in airports, finally on the 25th morning, we boarded our flight for Mumbai. We were hungry / tired/ sleepy / broke and dirty. The aim was to gobble up as much food as possible initially and sleep for the entire trip. But this didn’t happen. We did gobble up food, but the in-flight movies were simply too good to be missed. I watched Ray, Finding Neverland and Meet the fockers , in effect giving up some precious sleep but feeling highly satisfied having watched them.
We touched down at Mumbai around 10 pm. It was the end of a long trip .23 days including the module and the Europe trip. It was a highly satisfying and exciting experience. Something which all of us had never been through before... I consider myself immensely lucky to have visited all those beautiful cities, to have been in a company of such great friends who made the trip even more enjoyable and memorable ….
At the same time towards the end with all those troubles we were desperate to get back home. It was hot, humid and we were sweating at 11 in the night, but it was feeling good.
We had spent the night in Milan airport, we couldn’t get to sleep much, since the seats were not comfortable enough for a supine posture and also with the luggage and bags that we had, one couldn’t afford to sleep like a log. We woke up early, since we had to catch the 5.30 am shuttle bus to the Railway station, from where we had to take the 7.10 am train to Paris.
We reached the station and promptly went to the ticket counter. Our hearts sank when the lady at the counter said that the train was full and no reservations were available. It was like an action replay of the previous day. She further said that being some holiday season and the weekend all trains were full. But then she said that we could get into the train, speak to the ticket collector and try our luck. We did not have much choice, and even if the lady had not given this suggestion, this is what we would probably have done.
We got into a compartment, loitered around the door for some time and then spoke to the ticket collector. He asked us to sit on any of the free seats that we could get. We would have to pay for reservations and we could sit as long as the valid reservation holder didn’t come. We managed to find seats for all of us, albeit in different parts of the same compartment. We hadn’t slept well the previous night and were hoping that no one turns up staking a claim for the seat.
Thankfully through out the whole journey we were not troubled. Actually the reservation holders of a couple of our seats did come, but when they saw us sitting, they just went away and sat on another empty seat. In fact one person on whose seat I was sitting was seen standing by the door instead of asking me to vacate. Either he did not understand me, when I said that I would vacate the seat for him, or he is a gentleman of the first order or a total fool.
We reached Paris Gare du Nord station around 3 in the evening. We had a full evening and night ahead of us before our flight the next day morning. But after the ordeal, no one was in the mood to go out into the city again, all that we wanted to get to the airport. We had food at a Turkish restaurant – the spiciest food of the whole trip- and then got into a metro to the airport. I have to mention about the nice American couple we met in the metro. They were a delight to talk to and very very friendly, which perhaps reinforced my belief that Americans are one among the friendliest people around.
We reached the airport, got our tickets confirmed for the next day and proceeded towards the terminal where our flight would be scheduled the next day. We had another night to kill, this time in a different airport. This night also turned out to be as uncomfortable and sleepless as the previous night. We hardly slept for an hour or so and also were getting very tired. Plus we had not had a bath for 2 days now and we had another day before we could reach home and change. Not a pretty feeling I would say.
After 2 days of missed buses /trains and flights, and spending 2 nights in airports, finally on the 25th morning, we boarded our flight for Mumbai. We were hungry / tired/ sleepy / broke and dirty. The aim was to gobble up as much food as possible initially and sleep for the entire trip. But this didn’t happen. We did gobble up food, but the in-flight movies were simply too good to be missed. I watched Ray, Finding Neverland and Meet the fockers , in effect giving up some precious sleep but feeling highly satisfied having watched them.
We touched down at Mumbai around 10 pm. It was the end of a long trip .23 days including the module and the Europe trip. It was a highly satisfying and exciting experience. Something which all of us had never been through before... I consider myself immensely lucky to have visited all those beautiful cities, to have been in a company of such great friends who made the trip even more enjoyable and memorable ….
At the same time towards the end with all those troubles we were desperate to get back home. It was hot, humid and we were sweating at 11 in the night, but it was feeling good.
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