I arrived in Paris yesterday morning with a calm, and ready spirit. Over the years, I’ve learned that keeping calm and taking your time will end up saving time and stress when traveling. I went through customs, retrieved my bag, and was on my merry way.
The obvious next step was to find a way to my Airbnb. I thought about taking the train, but with my suitcase, that seemed a bit Unreasonable. Über was out of the question, because who ever has luck hailing their ride? I know I don’t. So, taxi it is.
We bonded over Israel-he was from there. I remember my time there fondly, and though I did mention that I was essentially a child at the time, he kept asking me which clubs I had visited. None, sir. Not a one.
And then, the unthinkable happened. If you have spent any time in a car or bus in Paris, you can bet your bottom dollar that the traffic is insane at any hour of the day. It makes me feel a tad guilty for complaining about Denver’s traffic...
At one of the infamous roundabouts, a gentleman hit our rear on the right side. And didn’t stop. That’s right, he just kept on going. And so the obvious thing in my cabbies mind was to follow the dude, park him over, and proceed to yell at him for a solid twenty minutes. The damage was minimal, so my cab driver simply wanted to document it so it can be fixed for very little money, and that’s that. But the other driver refused, saying it wasn’t a big deal. Wrong-o, friend. This is a huge deal. People from the street chimed in and took my drivers side, but to No avail. At one point, my driver grabbed the assailant by the collar of his well-pressed sport coat and got all up in there. I then became a topic of conversation... “I have a customer, look how scared she looks...” he says in French. Guys, I wasn‘t scared. Just annoyed.
After the dust settled and photos were taken of the wreck, I got home. I realized that it was only five minutes away by foot, so I could have dodged a lot of trouble had I paid attention. We parked, and he gave me my total. €215. Oh, but he gave me a “discount” for the trouble. So €200 it is.
I LOST MY COOL. I gave him a piece of my mind and just paid the guy anyway. I saw him violently shake and yell at a tiny man for a small accident, and so I wasnt about to push him. But I said what my mother would, which was, “I am disappointed. I was nothing but kind and now you’re taking advantage of me. But I hope you remember me and do better next time.“
Turns out, he broke the law by charging me so much. The law states that no ride from the airport to city center should exceed €65. NEAT.
But on a positive note, the rest of my time in Paris was kind and lovely. Parisians are a nice breed of human, despite the rumors. It’s the tourists that drove me nuts.
I met with a friend of a friend that lives, works, and studies in Paris. She showed me two gardens, Shakespeare & co, Notre Dame, a lesser known cathedral, and gave me a recommendation for dinner. I ended up having Confit de Canard(duck confit) with potatoes, a baguette, and .25L of wine for under $20. The day was redeemed.
And today was also a treat, with a spontaneous meet up. A friend from Denver was not only also in Paris, but in the same Arrondissement. So we ended up meeting each other for coffee, and took a brisk walk to the louvre. I said my goodbyes, and headed back to my place. And now I am sitting at my gate waiting for my plane to arrive that will send me off to Zürich, where my sixth cousins will be meeting me. Needless to say, I have been stress-eating chocolate and crackers wondering how the heck this will go.
