Oh the things I had to do to get to Paris.
I missed my train from Brussels, because I didn't have the mind to check the weekend bus schedules in Mechelen. The DeLijn bus stops at IJzerenleen Street every 30 minutes instead of every 15 like it does on weekdays, so I missed it by a couple of minutes. There I was at the bus stop, with a handful of geriatrics and patiently waited.
I was pretty comfortable with hopping on the train from Mechelen to Brussels because of my trip to Antwerp and Rotterdam the week before, but I was going to Brussels Zuid station for the first time and I had no idea how big the place was or how overwhelming it's all going to be when I arrived there. Then there was the mixup between Bruxelles Midi and Brussels Zuid train stations. The names are different--one for French and one for Dutch, but it is one and the same so I was fumbling back and forth from one station to the next, without my glasses on, confused and squinting at every screen in the Station to check the schedules while contemplating on my next move. My train for Paris leaves at 9:17 from Brussels Zuid, and I arrived at the station by 9:23. Of course, I decided to buy another ticket, a flexible one this time and shrugged off my day's worth of per diem. That's 57 Euros down the drain for a Thalys one way ticket.
This was typical of Paris, I imagined. She was elusive, but I still couldn't resist her allure. Despite the setbacks, I was determined to arrive at Gare du Nord station. It felt like I was being rejected by Paris even before she got to know me. She was channeling her preemptive supalpal moves on me, I thought, but that came to pass later on.
I missed my train from Brussels, because I didn't have the mind to check the weekend bus schedules in Mechelen. The DeLijn bus stops at IJzerenleen Street every 30 minutes instead of every 15 like it does on weekdays, so I missed it by a couple of minutes. There I was at the bus stop, with a handful of geriatrics and patiently waited.
I was pretty comfortable with hopping on the train from Mechelen to Brussels because of my trip to Antwerp and Rotterdam the week before, but I was going to Brussels Zuid station for the first time and I had no idea how big the place was or how overwhelming it's all going to be when I arrived there. Then there was the mixup between Bruxelles Midi and Brussels Zuid train stations. The names are different--one for French and one for Dutch, but it is one and the same so I was fumbling back and forth from one station to the next, without my glasses on, confused and squinting at every screen in the Station to check the schedules while contemplating on my next move. My train for Paris leaves at 9:17 from Brussels Zuid, and I arrived at the station by 9:23. Of course, I decided to buy another ticket, a flexible one this time and shrugged off my day's worth of per diem. That's 57 Euros down the drain for a Thalys one way ticket.
