Ahh Paris. Everyone has an idea of what the city is all about, whether it be the stereotypical beret wearing, baguette eating, cigarette smoking monsieur or madam, or just know it for the rich history and beautiful sights it has to offer – the Louvre, Eiffel Tour, Notre Dame… the list goes on and on.
But there’s quite a bit that people don’t talk about when discussing the City of Light, so let’s begin.
But there’s quite a bit that people don’t talk about when discussing the City of Light, so let’s begin.
Did you know that in Paris, dogs poop on the sidewalk and their owners don’t find it necessary to pick it up? Then, when two travelling Minnesotans walk through the streets for the first time, they both step in said poop. It’s everywhere. And you can smell it everywhere. Walking down the Avenue des Champs Elysees for the first time, “one of the most beautiful streets in the world,” you can’t look at the sights because you’re too busy looking at the ground for landmines. Luckily, we only had to clean our shoes once, but still – it’s disgusting.
Did you know that in Paris, when you reserve a hotel room, you should expect hidden fees, so a budget room then becomes extremely expensive? We spent a total of seven days in Paris, and stayed at two different hotels on opposite sides of the city. When we were planning, it turned out to be cheaper to stay in a private hotel room than it would have been to stay in a 12 bunk shared hostel, so we thought we’d be stupid not to go for it. When we first arrived at Hotel Saint Albert in the Batignolles district, we were met by a tiny Indian/Parisian man who clearly was not as enthusiastic as we were about life. “Rude” doesn’t really begin to describe his demeanor. Everything we said disgusted him for some reason, but we brushed it off – we’re in Paris! Nothing can ruin this! As we were paying, Kevin asked for the wireless internet password, only to discover that it’s not free, though it stated it was on the website we booked with. It was only 2 Euro a day, but still, it’s the principle of the matter.
We went to the room – four flights up a small spiral staircase (which was also under construction), and found our “delightfully” small hotel room. Oh well – at least we have free breakfast and wireless internet. Here’s a trick we’ve discovered to make our dollar last longer. When you receive a complimentary breakfast, make a sandwich for the road – BAM! Instant lunch. But we weren’t able to do this at our first hotel because the breakfast was so minimal. Old croissants, raw eggs, and stale cereal. Joy. But it was free, so it was good enough. Fast forward four days when we finally can check out of the hotel. The expectation was to just drop off the key and leave. We thanked the man at the counter, to which he replies, “Du rien, but you still have a bill to settle.” Say whaaaa? We paid for the room, and regrettably paid for internet – what else? You know that awful breakfast I mentioned earlier? Turns out that was TEN EUROS PER PERSON, PER DAY. I was livid, LIVID. This may come as a surprise to some of you, but I am usually not very vocal about my anger, at least when it comes to dealing with strangers. Not this time, shaking my head, the only word I could find was “no” over and over again. I tried to explain how it said on the website we booked with how it said free breakfast and free internet, both of which they’re charging us for?? No way. For those of you who don’t know the conversion, 10 euro is about $13.50. So we paid $13.50 each for a few pieces of stale bread, muddy coffee and a packet of jam, whereas if I were in the States, I could have gotten TWO Grand Slam breakfasts at Denny’s. Apparently there was no arguing with this man, so we decided to pay the bill and get the hell out of there, never to speak of it again.
We went to the room – four flights up a small spiral staircase (which was also under construction), and found our “delightfully” small hotel room. Oh well – at least we have free breakfast and wireless internet. Here’s a trick we’ve discovered to make our dollar last longer. When you receive a complimentary breakfast, make a sandwich for the road – BAM! Instant lunch. But we weren’t able to do this at our first hotel because the breakfast was so minimal. Old croissants, raw eggs, and stale cereal. Joy. But it was free, so it was good enough. Fast forward four days when we finally can check out of the hotel. The expectation was to just drop off the key and leave. We thanked the man at the counter, to which he replies, “Du rien, but you still have a bill to settle.” Say whaaaa? We paid for the room, and regrettably paid for internet – what else? You know that awful breakfast I mentioned earlier? Turns out that was TEN EUROS PER PERSON, PER DAY. I was livid, LIVID. This may come as a surprise to some of you, but I am usually not very vocal about my anger, at least when it comes to dealing with strangers. Not this time, shaking my head, the only word I could find was “no” over and over again. I tried to explain how it said on the website we booked with how it said free breakfast and free internet, both of which they’re charging us for?? No way. For those of you who don’t know the conversion, 10 euro is about $13.50. So we paid $13.50 each for a few pieces of stale bread, muddy coffee and a packet of jam, whereas if I were in the States, I could have gotten TWO Grand Slam breakfasts at Denny’s. Apparently there was no arguing with this man, so we decided to pay the bill and get the hell out of there, never to speak of it again.
Enjoying our "free" breakfast
Did you know that when you leave one terrible hotel in Paris, you show up at an even worse hotel next? Our next place was on the East side of the city, closer to the Latin Quarter and Notre Dame. Again, it was pretty cheap considering, but at least it can’t be worse that the first place. Wrong, very very wrong. I’ll spare all the details, but here’s a brief list of the things we experienced at Hotel Saint Sebastian: dead/decomposing pigeon greeting us on the windowsill across from ours, hair all over the pillows and sheets (questionable as to where on the body they were from), mold in the shower, hair on the toilet (not from one’s head), the strong smell of methane throughout the hotel, construction that starts at 7:30AM, Wifi in lobby only, and an obligatory breakfast consisting of ¼ a baguette and one croissant. Not my favorite.
Did you know that in Paris, the stereotype of Parisians being rude is actually true? We came in contact with many locals throughout our week in the city, but only came across two helpful and kind people. Everyone has an attitude, even when you’re trying to buy something from them. “You want to buy a sandwich from moi? And I have to give you change? Ughh how dare you.”
Last, but not least…
Did you know that in France, you have to pay to make a reservation for the train, even though you already spent over $1000 for your Eurail ticket? This has affected us two times now, first by getting a 40 Euro fine on the first train we took to get to Paris, then again as we tried to leave - We came to the station early, waiting in multiple lines for upwards of an hour, only to discover that there were no spots left on the train. We’d have to wait until 6:00PM tomorrow before we could get a seat to Bordeaux, something I was not about to do. Through a bit of finagling, we managed to secure a spot, standing in the bar car for the four hour-long train ride. Thankfully, being in the bar car also means the beer is only a few steps away.
Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed parts of Paris. The sights are beautiful, and the first day in the city is pretty magical. But then the magic wears off and you’re stuck in a dirty, expensive city. We clearly overstayed this time, but hopefully Bordeaux and Libourne will make up for France so far. Kevin will be publishing a much more positive post soon, I pulled the short straw and had to talk about the negatives…
Did you know that in Paris, the stereotype of Parisians being rude is actually true? We came in contact with many locals throughout our week in the city, but only came across two helpful and kind people. Everyone has an attitude, even when you’re trying to buy something from them. “You want to buy a sandwich from moi? And I have to give you change? Ughh how dare you.”
Last, but not least…
Did you know that in France, you have to pay to make a reservation for the train, even though you already spent over $1000 for your Eurail ticket? This has affected us two times now, first by getting a 40 Euro fine on the first train we took to get to Paris, then again as we tried to leave - We came to the station early, waiting in multiple lines for upwards of an hour, only to discover that there were no spots left on the train. We’d have to wait until 6:00PM tomorrow before we could get a seat to Bordeaux, something I was not about to do. Through a bit of finagling, we managed to secure a spot, standing in the bar car for the four hour-long train ride. Thankfully, being in the bar car also means the beer is only a few steps away.
Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed parts of Paris. The sights are beautiful, and the first day in the city is pretty magical. But then the magic wears off and you’re stuck in a dirty, expensive city. We clearly overstayed this time, but hopefully Bordeaux and Libourne will make up for France so far. Kevin will be publishing a much more positive post soon, I pulled the short straw and had to talk about the negatives…
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