Paris, the City of Love….or so they say! A couple of years ago, on my first trip to the Netherlands we spent a weekend in Paris. Driving to Paris from Amsterdam is about as far as driving from Johannesburg to Durban and takes +- 6 hours. We traveled with a tour group by bus, not my first choice of travel but the trip was a gift.
Day 1
Our first stop when we arrived in Paris was the Arc de Triomphe and this is where things started going a bit awry. Don’t get my wrong, the Arc de Triomphe was amazing to see. The clouds that opened up was not so great. We got soaked and with our dry clothes still on the bus we walked around Champs-Élysées wet! I sucked it up and really enjoyed all the high end stores we popped into. We arrived at our hotel after it got dark and went straight to bed.
Day 2
That morning I woke up with a sore throat, probably from getting rained on the day before. Upon opening the curtains I got a nice view of a cemetery, not what I expected to see but we rolled with it. The bus tour started with a drive through Paris and our first stop was at the Notre-Dame de Paris. This being a medieval Catholic cathedral it was impressive and a little bit creepy!
Next stop was the Eiffel Tower. I was super disappointed that we didn’t get to go up the tower. The tour guide informed us that there was simply just no time. After the Eiffel Tower some of the people paid for a show so we were left to explore Paris a bit by ourselves. By now my sore throat was trying to kill me so I wasn’t really in the mood to walk around. After finding some strepsils we spotted a Star Bucks. We sat here for hours just talking. We met up with the tour group for dinner. This is where this trip completely went down the drain. Being broke newly weds we couldn’t afford the “Paris by Night” tour.The group just left us there in the middle of Paris, we had to find our own way back to the hotel.
We aimlessly tried to found the ticket station for the subway, no luck. After I broke down crying somewhere a long the line about being lost in Paris hubby managed to flag down a taxi. After much difficulty speaking English we managed to get ourselves to the hotel.
Day 3
On the 3rd day I woke up with a full blow head cold, I felt horrible. Thinking a shower might make me feel a bit better I got out of bed and into the shower. Now the next part isn’t for sensitive readers. As I stepped out of the shower I slipped and fell flat on my bum. My back was against the shower and my foot against the toilet. This will forever be remembered as the day I broke my butt. And possibly my toe. But mostly my butt.
Sitting in the bus with a broken coccyx felt like torture but we still had to finish our tour and get home. I put on my brave face and got on the bus. We did our last bit of driving around and ended the day walking through a market. The 6 hours bus ride back I was in so much pain but I have to admit, even though Paris didn’t show me so much love I have good memories about the trip!
I can look back and laugh at everything that went wrong on that trip today, but in the moment it wasn’t that funny. I would love to re-visit Paris with my husband. We are planning to go again when I live in the Netherlands and then we will plan out our own tour and go by train.
Have you ever had a trip go wrong? Let me know in by leaving me a comment below.
9 Responses
That’s too bad you had some bad luck on your trip, Paris is a beautiful city though. I went last year and really loved it!
I totally agree, despite it all it is really beautiful, would love to see it under snow 🙂
Sorry to hear that you didn’t have a good time. My first time in Paris I hated it actually, but the five times I went after that I fell so in love it, so there is still a chance for you and Paris. 🙂
Will deffs go back and pre-plan our own tour and mark all the places where you can catch public transport!
Goodness, this is exactly why I’m terrified of taking an overseas trip! I’d be devastated if I didn’t have a good experience. You’re certainly a better sport than I am for handling it this well!
I always try and see the good in each experience because life always puts a spin on things for me! Luckily my trip to the Netherlands was a total of 3 months so we did a bunch of other things that were a lot of fun.
I can’t even imagine how eina that must have been!!! Oh my soul…
Pretty pictures though <3 I hope your next trip there will be less eventful…lol.
haha it still hurts if I sit for a long time. I took so many pictures, but most through the rainy window of a bus!
Aw it totally sucks that you were disappointed! I would love to want to go to Paris some day
Beauty Candy Loves