Flying to Paris from Berlin took less time then driving from my home in Temple to my grandparent’s in San Antonio. With the additional time taken in transit from Paris’ Orly airport to the hotel at Gare du Nord made the trip last only a bit longer then heavy traffic on a Christmas visit. Getting train tickets for the weekend at the bus stop on the way to the hotel was the first test of my French; after discovering the attendant spoke neither German nor English, I procured two three day tickets for zones 1-3. I later learned we only needed zones 1 and 2, but the overpayment is somewhat of a karmic payback for riding on the bus from the airport without tickets (the ticket machine was not working). (more…)
