The first day I arrived in Paris it was raining and would do so on and off for the next four days. I got to my hostel around 1 and check in wasn’t until 4, so I thought I would try to get in one thing right away. I overheard the desk clerk tell someone else that a walk along the Seine in the evening would be pretty nice. So I grabbed my bag and headed out. I took the train to Notre Dame and then got out. I thought that I would walk along the river towards the Eiffel Tower and the Arc De Triumph and then hop a train back to the hostel. It would be a nice little round trip.
I went the wrong way. As in, I went east instead of west and didn’t stop until I was about 8 kilometers beyond where I started. In the meantime it had started to pour, I was drenched, and didn’t really know where I was. I thought I would have to backtrack the whole way just to find a train station. Luckily some other hapless fellow came along and asked me, in French, where the Metro was. All I could say was, “I, Metro, Yes.” He probably thought I was crazy, but I followed him as he asked other people, which probably made him think I was even crazier. I tailed him for a kilometer or two and finally I got to a train station. I was wet and angry. The only thing I saw that day was the National Library, pictured, whose four building house millions of books and are designed to look like four open books.
Always consult your map, always ask for directions even if you think you know where you are going!
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