First off, the bus rides from Zurich to Paris were not pleasant. We ended up catching the bus out of Zurich around 4:30PM, then headed to Freiburg, Germany. This ride was ok, but definitely not the best. We almost missed the bus since it wasn't labelled as a "Flixbus" and only had the number on a small piece of paper in the front window. Luckily Tim found it in time and we boarded. It was a nice ride through the German countryside. Then we got to Freiburg... We both had to use the rest room, but for some strange reason, all "Water Closets" in bus stops in Europe require you to pay 50 Euro cents to enter. This is just strange to us. So, we waited until the bus came and would just use the one on board for free. Unfortunately, the WC in this new bus was covered in poop and very unsanitary. We finally arrived in Mannheim around 11:30PM and had to wait until 12:35AM to catch our final bus to Paris, which was completely full. Aftyn was able to secure 2 seats in the rear of the bus between some guys, and then we were off. Not much sleep last night...
Once we arrived in Paris, we decided to make the most of our time and sanity. We found a cute little fresh bakery near our bus stop and got some coffee. Then we hopped on the Metro and rode through the city and got off on our next stop, the Eiffel Tower! Here we rested in a park and took in the sights. We still had our bags with us and it was very hot out (around 85F). After gathering ourselves and re-hydrating, we decided to head to our AirBnB.
Again, we hopped on the Metro and rode the train to the end of the line. Our AirBnB wasn't quite in Paris, but instead was in a city just outside of Paris called Drancy. The place was a 15 minute walk from the metro through a city neighborhood where almost all of the houses looked the same. Because of some slight miscommunication (and a language barrier) we had arrived a bit early to our AirBnB and she wasn't quite ready. It was a quaint little house with her and her family living there. We had an upstairs bedroom that was cozy and met all of our requirements (bed and power outlet, lol). After settling in for a bit and after a shower, we went out for some pizza, then came back and crashed. Our host was very friendly and we wish we knew more French because we would've loved to have stayed up all night with them chatting.
Saturday June 30, 2018
Waking up feeling refreshed, we left the house around 7AM ready for our adventurous day in Paris! We hopped on the Metro and rode to a train station that was nearby our bus station so that we could leave our luggage there and then go explore the city. After asking several people, we were completely lost in the train station. People would say "around the corner" and we would always follow. This led us outside again. While we were searching for the lockers, we ran into 2 men outside and they seemed very iffy. Tim asked if they knew where the lockers were and they said "around the corner". It was at this time that one of them decided to dance with Tim and it was all so strange. Around the corner was nothing so we went back to ask them where again, but they were gone. Tim made a comment like "that was weird, I wonder why he wanted to dance?". "Perhaps he was trying to steal something from us", Aftyn asked. That was in fact true. Tim's wallet ($100 US Dollars, Visa Debit Card, Health Insurance Card, and Drivers License) and Passport were no longer in his pocket and the guys were long gone...
So, now we were shocked, upset, exhausted, and just plain done with Paris. The Police at the station were very helpful and we filed a report. They gave Tim a travel document so that we could finish our travels through Europe and also be able to make it back home to USA. Luckily, Aftyn had decided to make copies of all of our documents for this very reason (THANKS AFTYN <3), so we still have that if anyone questions us. The police showed us where the lockers were, but we couldn't get it because we were out of Euro. So at this point we had to exchange currency. For some reason, there was no place in the Train Station (weird) and we had to go to a place about a block away from the station. After some lunch, we just decided to nix our plans for Paris because we just weren't feeling it. It reminds us a lot of New York, just with an Eiffel Tower and lots of people speaking French. Both of these cities are often romanticized in films, but are nothing like what you see in those films once you get there. Instead, we opted to go to the park near our bus station for awhile and relax. It was really hot again today, so we then packed up and hung out at a Starbucks (comfy chairs, AC, and free wifi!) until it was time to catch our bus.
Not much love from Paris</3
Checkout all of our photos in our European Adventure 2018 album:
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