Paris... My Final Day

I was lucky enough this morning to leave my suitcase at the hostel because I didn't need to be at the airport until 7pm. I decided that I wanted to go the Museum of Natural History and the Aquarium for fun things of the day. I made it to the museum with no problems but had some issues once I got inside.

Now, to this point I haven't really talked about the people of Paris but I feel I must before continuing my story. When I first arrived at my hostel, like I mentioned a bit on day 1, the staff was not very friendly. I have heard in the past that France french people can be very rude but I didn't believe it at first because I have had such a great experience with strangers in other countries and getting help when needed. Well, this was not the case in Paris. All of the rumours are true. They hate anyone who doesn't speak french... their french. In restaurants I tried to order something and they looked at me as if I was speaking Japanese. COME ON PEOPLE! It's 2009 and English is the universal language, learn it!!! Or, if you don't want to learn it, at least don't look at me with disgust when I try to use the 5 french words that I kinda sorta know in hopes that you will think its good that I am least trying to speak your language. Everyone turned there noises up at me and definitely had that I am better than you look on their faces. I was very unimpressed.

Anyway, continuing on. So I went up and bought my ticket to the museum and headed in. Well as soon as I entered I realized that nothing was written in English. Again, I was a little upset. I am not asking for every bit of info to be in English as I am well aware that I am in a French country, but every museum I have been to in every other country has at least had a title written in English beneath their own language so that us tourists can at least know what we are looking at. You know what I mean? So I asked the lady at the entrance if anything was written in English further in as I was really interested in learning something that morning. Nothing she says. So, the stubbornness in me came out a little and I asked for my money back. ;) Well, they were not impressed with this idea and had to call managers to discuss the thought of actually giving me back my money. lol After about 5-10min of them, what I can only assume was them cursing me in French, I was able to get my money back and I quietly left.

I felt a little uneasy after that but I headed back to the metro and found my way to the Aquarium. This experience was much better as even though there wasn't as much detail, things were labeled with small descriptions in English. I was able to see some cool looking fish, jellyfish, whales and many other cool things. They were also showing Blue Planet movies in one of the theaters which had English subtitles.

Once out of the Aquarium, which happened to be right beside the Eiffel tower ;) I grabbed a crepe for lunch and sat on a bench and just admired the view. Not 10min later however, a young boy ran up behind my bench and yelled something to his mom. I looked behind me and realized that I wasn't eating lunch alone. :{ there was a dead rat lying right behind my bench. EWWWW

After lunch I decided I should start heading back to the hostel to get my bag because I wasn't sure how long it was going to take me to get to the airport bus pick-up point. I ended up making there with only a small hiccup along the way. The metro line that I needed to take was closed for 3 stops so they directed us above ground and we had to take a city bus to our next stop. I figured it out though and made it to the airport bus stop by 5pm. Well, little did I know that they don't let you get on any bus (for some stupid reason). Instead, they make you wait, out in the cold with your bags for your exact bus, meaning the bus that was assigned for the Pisa flight leaving the airport. So, I waited until about 6:15pm before I was finally allowed to board one of the buses.

The ride to the airport was about an hour and 10min so once there I was a little rushed. Security was ridiculous! I have never seen it that bad in any airport ever. We had to go through 3 different check points with our passports and they almost make you strip down to your underwear in order to go through the security checker. They make you take off your jacket and anything else bulky, your belt, your shoes and then if your lucky you are allowed to continue on without the full body search! It was stupid. So by this point, I had kind of a rough day, I'm starving (It was after 8pm) and I had just basically been robbed of any type of dignity going through security. I stopped at the only lunch counter available and bought a microwave pasta dish and a coke for the low price of 13e. I ate it though and didn't complain one bit... It was actually one of the better meals I had while in Paris. Sad huh?

Once back in Pisa I ran to try to catch my bus because although Ryanair (the airline that I have been flying with) prides themselves on being on time, I have yet to be on time for one of my flights through them. sigh... So anyway, I ran to catch the bus because I only had 4min until it was scheduled to leave. Once there, they informed me that they were not leaving for 15 more min because the planes were late. UGH Ain't that the way it goes.

I arrived back in Florence about 12:50am and asked a taxi driver how much it would cost to get to my house (about a 2min drive). He told me 10e. Well by that point I was more than a little tired and grumpy and told him to forget it and I went to the bus stop. The bus that I was going to catch pulled up right on time (it was the last one of the night) and I was off. Then, luck be to me, the bus went in the opposite direction of my place. Last week they changed all of the bus routes and unless your a mind reader when you hop on the bus, you have no clue where you are going. I thought though that this one hadn't changed as it was a slightly different route than the others. So I got off on a random street and started walking home. By this point it was after 1am and because it was Halloween, there were tonnes of creepers dressed up in costumes wandering the streets. I walked/ran basically all the home with my suitcase and was very glad once I got inside my building. Lesson here??? Take the 10e cab next time. :{

So, was my trip a dream come true or a disappointment? To be honest, I have very mixed reviews on it. The Eiffel Tower to me was worth all of the crap that I had happen in the 3 days. Paris is a beautiful city filled with plenty of rich snobby Parisians but none the less, an extremely beautiful city. However, at night and in particular areas, it is very dirty, creepy and smelled really bad at times. Would I go back? YES! Most definitely. Next time however, I would go with someone that I wanted to share the beauty with and laugh at all the creepiness with.