Post by The Fearless Fiend on Nov 7, 2008 12:19:54 GMT -5
Well I would have been afraid of messing up my hair if Mauro hadn't said "My hair. It stays." 
So I shrugged and went with it.
Part 2, huh? Well alright.
Ok so there we were in the hotel room at like noon (yeah we totally slept in until then) without our train tickets to Paris. The train that was leaving at 6 pm that evening. So of course we freak out. A lot. Mainly because all of our friends and family had flown back home by this point. So even if one of them had it, they were long gone by now. But we're optimistic so we check the front desk to see if any of them had left them for us. No such luck.
We know that the tickets (along with all of our other important documents for the Embassy, Consulate and Italian Gov people was in a red plastic folder that my now husband had brought with them to the church. He then handed it off to his father so that he could, you know, get hitched. And that was the last time any of us saw it.
So of course we're freaking out. We check the internet about getting replacement tickets and it turns out that Eurail doesn't do that. So it was either locate the missing tickets or buy new ones at the last minute. Not good. So we're running around town (in the pouring rain by the way. The cheap crap sellers were selling little umbrellas instead) thinking that the folder must still be at the church. In fact, it had to be or we were sunk.
So we run over to the church only to find it closed up and locked. More freaking out. Fortunately though, we had one working cell phone between the two of us and the church listed office numbers on the front door. So my husband calls and it turns out that Pastor Eric was out for the afternoon. More freaking out. Only that he would be back in an hour or so and we should try him then. Ok.
So we tried to de-freak out and had some lunch nearby. An hour passes. We call back. Success! Pastor Eric comes to let us in and by golly, there's the folder in one of the pews. "Remind me to beat my dad up next time I see him" were my husband's words at this point. But it all worked out with time to spare so we went to the Vatican. Cool stuff, man. Didn't get to see the pope but that's ok. It was still neat. We then wandered a bit more, I bought 3 more scarves.... 
and then we headed over to Termini to find our train. And then the real troubles began...
Now I speak, more or less, two languages. English and halfway decent German. That's it. Neither of those languages were spoken on the train. French and Italian. But my husband took French in high school so he understood enough to tell me that there was a problem with our recently found tickets. I'm not entirely sure the exact nature of the problem but it was something along the lines of "Uh...we accidentally overbooked and you won't be where your ticket says." Good times.
So they sent us all the way back to the middle of the train to get on there. Now we booked a sleeper car as the train ride would be 14 hours through the middle of the night to Paris. The car we sat in was a regular 6-person sit and watch the scenery pass car. With just us. That was alright. We were on the train, it was headed in the right direction. Sleep was overrated. Until one of the conductors showed up to check our tickets.
I couldn't understand him and he didn't seem to understand us but he was certain that we weren't supposed to be here and that we had to move. We tried to explain that we'd already been moved but he didn't seem to agree with that. So we moved (with much elbow banging as the train did it's thing) to where he directed us only to find the car full. Ok, so we went back to talk to him again. He only seemed to get even more annoyed so we went back. I wanted in one of the passageways while my husband went to talk to another conductor. Finally after much grief and hassle we found "our" car.
I finally got to sleep around 1 only to wake up at 9 the next morning 20 minutes from Paris.
First impression of Paris: Holy smeep it's cold!
Yeah, it was 80/27 ish in Rome. Nice and warm.
It was 40/5 ish in Paris. Definitely not nice and warm. We expected it to be a good 20 degrees warmer. No such luck.
But oh well. I just layered on all of my new scarves and went for it.
www.hotel-royalphare-paris.com/English/frameset.html Our new hotel, The Royal Phare about a 5 minute walk away from that one big tower thing. Eiffel something or other...
So we came, we saw, we ate lots of croissants and beignets and drank lots and lots of chocolat chaud. (hot chocolate. one of the first things in French that I learned to say )
We saw the Eiffel Tower (which is weird and BLUE now, by the way. Very strange. Oh and it sort of sparkles during the evenings for about 10 minutes on the hour every hour. It's a bit weird), the Louvre, (the Mona Lisa was smaller than expected), the Marmottan Museum, ("quick! you distract the guards while I walk out with that Monet painting!" were my husband's words to me there), The Orsay Museum, the Orangerie Museum, Versailles, the Rodin Museum (the Thinker was big and cool. This museum was my fave), and lots more. It was a great time.
And then we nearly missed our flight back home because it took 3 hours just to check our luggage. Good times.
Ok the airplane story/rant. Because it'll be good to get it out of my system.
We get to the Charles de Gaul airport in Paris with 3 and a half hours to spare before our flight. Because that's the kind of time it takes to get through frakkin' airports in the US now.
Anyway, we get there only to find out that they've one and only one line open for baggage checks for all of the Continental flights leaving shortly. And of course everyone has baggage because this is a long flight. Who flies across the ocean with just carry-ons? ME! NEXT TIME! grr arrgh. Anyway, it took us 3 hours just to check our baggage and we still had to go through security.
It was in the security line that we realized that our tickets weren't seated together. Not even close. Fun! Because clearly I didn't want to sit next to my new husband on the 9 hour flight. Nooooo not at all.
We were the last two people on the full flight. They even called our names over the intercom system while we were still in security. Some nice people going to Dallas let us cut in front of them. Fortunately our gate was almost directly in front of the security exit. But it was still close. They closed the plane doors behind us. And no, no one would move so we could sit together. Tough luck, Merrie.
Whatever, we were off the ground and flying home. I watched Hansmeepand Austin Powers II. *shrug* Then finally after 9 hours we're flying over the US. Only... We. Can't. Land.
That's right. They had high winds out of Newark so they only had one runway open to let planes down more slowly. The rest had to circle. And having just crossed the big wet thing we Didn't. Have. Enough. Gas. To. Circle.
So we had to land at Stewart Airforce Base in the middle of nowhere upstate New York. The pilots assured us that it would take only 20 minutes to refuel and that afterwards we'd be up in the air and in Newark in no time at all. ALL LIES!
We were on the ground for count em' 3 whole hours while we waited for clearance for take off. See the winds weren't stopping. In fact, they were getting worse. So we were stuck in the plane on the runway all ready to go for 3 whole hours. And they wouldn't let us get off because we had to go through customs still and they could get leave to take off any second. Yeah. 3 hours.
We finally get clearance to take off and dear me that was scary. A take off should not feel like a frakkin' roller coaster. I was sure that we were going to go down in a fiery ball of metal and screaming people. Not good times. I closed my eyes and gripped the armrests for dear life. And then I spent the flight dreading the landing and yet just wanting to be on the ground in one piece.
But we made it. It felt like the plane was about to flip over tail to nose there on the final approach but we made it. "You have now arrived in (somewhere) Mexico. Thanks for flying Continent---oh wait. Newark. Right." Were the captain's words to us then. We all laughed and then wanted to strangle him.
So we were in Newark. Only 3 hours later than expected. It was a nice long 12 hour plane ride. So we run because our next flight home leaves at 7:30. We get there with time to spare after going through customs and gathering our luggage. Whew.
Only... Our flight was canceled due to the same high winds. Good times! So I had Starbucks while I waited for my husband to rebook our flight. Turns out that none of the planes they sent to get us (and others, lots of flights were canceled) could land in the high winds. Also, no flights were leaving to Indianapolis (home. or close enough) until Monday. It was Saturday. Yeah, no. But there was a flight going to Cleveland to Fort Wayne, IN (used to be home) the next morning. Great! We'll take it!
So we went to the baggage office and told them to forward our already packed baggage to the next plane. They said they would. ALL LIES!
We then got put up in a Holiday Inn with something like 50 other people. The couple hundred others got sent elsewhere.
But the next day the howling winds had ceased and we were able to leave to Cleveland. And then we flew to Fort Wayne on PROP plane. That was different. We had to actually go out on the tarmac and climb the steps up into the plane. There were only 7 of us.
But we made it home....only to find our luggage never made it. It was still in Newark (they thought) and would be sent to Fort Wayne on a later flight. ALL LIES!
It was finally delivered to our front door in West Lafayette two days later. Good times. The End.
-Mrs Fiend
So I shrugged and went with it. Part 2, huh? Well alright.
Ok so there we were in the hotel room at like noon (yeah we totally slept in until then) without our train tickets to Paris. The train that was leaving at 6 pm that evening. So of course we freak out. A lot. Mainly because all of our friends and family had flown back home by this point. So even if one of them had it, they were long gone by now. But we're optimistic so we check the front desk to see if any of them had left them for us. No such luck.
We know that the tickets (along with all of our other important documents for the Embassy, Consulate and Italian Gov people was in a red plastic folder that my now husband had brought with them to the church. He then handed it off to his father so that he could, you know, get hitched. And that was the last time any of us saw it.
So of course we're freaking out. We check the internet about getting replacement tickets and it turns out that Eurail doesn't do that. So it was either locate the missing tickets or buy new ones at the last minute. Not good. So we're running around town (in the pouring rain by the way. The cheap crap sellers were selling little umbrellas instead) thinking that the folder must still be at the church. In fact, it had to be or we were sunk.
So we run over to the church only to find it closed up and locked. More freaking out. Fortunately though, we had one working cell phone between the two of us and the church listed office numbers on the front door. So my husband calls and it turns out that Pastor Eric was out for the afternoon. More freaking out. Only that he would be back in an hour or so and we should try him then. Ok.
So we tried to de-freak out and had some lunch nearby. An hour passes. We call back. Success! Pastor Eric comes to let us in and by golly, there's the folder in one of the pews. "Remind me to beat my dad up next time I see him" were my husband's words at this point.
But it all worked out with time to spare so we went to the Vatican. Cool stuff, man. Didn't get to see the pope but that's ok. It was still neat. We then wandered a bit more, I bought 3 more scarves.... and then we headed over to Termini to find our train. And then the real troubles began...Now I speak, more or less, two languages. English and halfway decent German. That's it. Neither of those languages were spoken on the train. French and Italian. But my husband took French in high school so he understood enough to tell me that there was a problem with our recently found tickets. I'm not entirely sure the exact nature of the problem but it was something along the lines of "Uh...we accidentally overbooked and you won't be where your ticket says." Good times.
So they sent us all the way back to the middle of the train to get on there. Now we booked a sleeper car as the train ride would be 14 hours through the middle of the night to Paris. The car we sat in was a regular 6-person sit and watch the scenery pass car. With just us. That was alright. We were on the train, it was headed in the right direction. Sleep was overrated. Until one of the conductors showed up to check our tickets.
I couldn't understand him and he didn't seem to understand us but he was certain that we weren't supposed to be here and that we had to move. We tried to explain that we'd already been moved but he didn't seem to agree with that. So we moved (with much elbow banging as the train did it's thing) to where he directed us only to find the car full. Ok, so we went back to talk to him again. He only seemed to get even more annoyed so we went back. I wanted in one of the passageways while my husband went to talk to another conductor. Finally after much grief and hassle we found "our" car.
I finally got to sleep around 1 only to wake up at 9 the next morning 20 minutes from Paris.
First impression of Paris: Holy smeep it's cold!
Yeah, it was 80/27 ish in Rome. Nice and warm.
It was 40/5 ish in Paris. Definitely not nice and warm. We expected it to be a good 20 degrees warmer. No such luck.
But oh well. I just layered on all of my new scarves and went for it.
www.hotel-royalphare-paris.com/English/frameset.html Our new hotel, The Royal Phare about a 5 minute walk away from that one big tower thing. Eiffel something or other...
So we came, we saw, we ate lots of croissants and beignets and drank lots and lots of chocolat chaud. (hot chocolate. one of the first things in French that I learned to say
) We saw the Eiffel Tower (which is weird and BLUE now, by the way. Very strange. Oh and it sort of sparkles during the evenings for about 10 minutes on the hour every hour. It's a bit weird), the Louvre, (the Mona Lisa was smaller than expected), the Marmottan Museum, ("quick! you distract the guards while I walk out with that Monet painting!" were my husband's words to me there), The Orsay Museum, the Orangerie Museum, Versailles, the Rodin Museum (the Thinker was big and cool. This museum was my fave), and lots more. It was a great time.
And then we nearly missed our flight back home because it took 3 hours just to check our luggage. Good times.
Ok the airplane story/rant. Because it'll be good to get it out of my system.
We get to the Charles de Gaul airport in Paris with 3 and a half hours to spare before our flight. Because that's the kind of time it takes to get through frakkin' airports in the US now.
Anyway, we get there only to find out that they've one and only one line open for baggage checks for all of the Continental flights leaving shortly. And of course everyone has baggage because this is a long flight. Who flies across the ocean with just carry-ons? ME! NEXT TIME! grr arrgh. Anyway, it took us 3 hours just to check our baggage and we still had to go through security.
It was in the security line that we realized that our tickets weren't seated together. Not even close. Fun! Because clearly I didn't want to sit next to my new husband on the 9 hour flight. Nooooo not at all.
We were the last two people on the full flight. They even called our names over the intercom system while we were still in security. Some nice people going to Dallas let us cut in front of them. Fortunately our gate was almost directly in front of the security exit. But it was still close. They closed the plane doors behind us. And no, no one would move so we could sit together. Tough luck, Merrie.
Whatever, we were off the ground and flying home. I watched Hansmeepand Austin Powers II. *shrug* Then finally after 9 hours we're flying over the US. Only... We. Can't. Land.
That's right. They had high winds out of Newark so they only had one runway open to let planes down more slowly. The rest had to circle. And having just crossed the big wet thing we Didn't. Have. Enough. Gas. To. Circle.
So we had to land at Stewart Airforce Base in the middle of nowhere upstate New York. The pilots assured us that it would take only 20 minutes to refuel and that afterwards we'd be up in the air and in Newark in no time at all. ALL LIES!
We were on the ground for count em' 3 whole hours while we waited for clearance for take off. See the winds weren't stopping. In fact, they were getting worse. So we were stuck in the plane on the runway all ready to go for 3 whole hours. And they wouldn't let us get off because we had to go through customs still and they could get leave to take off any second. Yeah. 3 hours.
We finally get clearance to take off and dear me that was scary. A take off should not feel like a frakkin' roller coaster. I was sure that we were going to go down in a fiery ball of metal and screaming people. Not good times. I closed my eyes and gripped the armrests for dear life. And then I spent the flight dreading the landing and yet just wanting to be on the ground in one piece.
But we made it. It felt like the plane was about to flip over tail to nose there on the final approach but we made it. "You have now arrived in (somewhere) Mexico. Thanks for flying Continent---oh wait. Newark. Right." Were the captain's words to us then. We all laughed and then wanted to strangle him.
So we were in Newark. Only 3 hours later than expected. It was a nice long 12 hour plane ride. So we run because our next flight home leaves at 7:30. We get there with time to spare after going through customs and gathering our luggage. Whew.
Only... Our flight was canceled due to the same high winds. Good times! So I had Starbucks while I waited for my husband to rebook our flight. Turns out that none of the planes they sent to get us (and others, lots of flights were canceled) could land in the high winds. Also, no flights were leaving to Indianapolis (home. or close enough) until Monday. It was Saturday. Yeah, no. But there was a flight going to Cleveland to Fort Wayne, IN (used to be home) the next morning. Great! We'll take it!
So we went to the baggage office and told them to forward our already packed baggage to the next plane. They said they would. ALL LIES!
We then got put up in a Holiday Inn with something like 50 other people. The couple hundred others got sent elsewhere.
But the next day the howling winds had ceased and we were able to leave to Cleveland. And then we flew to Fort Wayne on PROP plane. That was different. We had to actually go out on the tarmac and climb the steps up into the plane. There were only 7 of us.
But we made it home....only to find our luggage never made it. It was still in Newark (they thought) and would be sent to Fort Wayne on a later flight. ALL LIES!
It was finally delivered to our front door in West Lafayette two days later. Good times. The End.
-Mrs Fiend
I do have a few non-official wedding pics that my mom took and she's coming to visit tomorrow so hopefully I should have some to post for you all. *crosses fingers*
. Glad you and your luggage made it home safe eventually! I loved the Rodin museum too...and wow, what a view from your Parisian hotel 
