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| Paris Gare Du Nord 9:18 am |
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| Brussels Gare Du Midi 11:23 am |
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| Amsterdam Centraal 20:40 |
So this was the big day, I was ready to tackle three countries in one day, now given my tendency to get in to annoying but ultimately funny situations and end up in the wrong place at the wrong time this was potentially a foolhardy mission , one that did have its little hiccoughs but I was ultimately successful and didn't miss any connections which was considering my track record quite remarkable and possibly a miracle?
So mission one was too get to the Gard Du Nord - on time for the 10.01 TGV, I already had my ticket so step one was accomplished, having looked at the transport options and getting some unhelpful assistance from the Hotel staff I decided that the best option would be too walk to the Porte De Clignacourt and take metro directly too Gare du Nord, , I got too Gare du Nord an hour early , which really proves that a little planning goes a long way but there is nothing more exciting than that final ten minutes when your not sure if your going to make it or not.
Anyway got to Gare du Nord, do the usual thing you do when arriving at a transportation point and headed for the loo's,after my arduous fifteen minute walk and 10 minute metro ride I clearly needed to freshen up . Next was time to head to the departures board to find out when which platform the train was leaving from, it wasn't up yet. So I went outside to take the obligatory clock photo to document my three cities in one day mission after having a coffee it was time to head back to the departures board. Now this actually amused me greatly it was very obvious that there were only a handful of platforms that the TGV and the sign stated that the platform would be displayed at least ten minutes prior to departure which of course meant that it wouldn't be displayed until at least 9.49 , so everyone was standing, sitting or in some cases lying around the departures board until the platform was displayed then there was mad dash too platform 11, which in reality was the only platform that the train could be leaving from as it was the only one that was showing any sign of activity at that time. People the world over laugh at the Brits for queueing and waiting but the reality is (well at least from my small experiences) that everyone does it, its just that the the British way is a bit more orderly and organised than other countries.
My dream of seeing some French and Belgian countryside from the window of the train was rudely awakened when I realised that I had an aisle seat and I was irked even more by the fact that my neighbour slept the entire journey, but after the last few days of rushing around I was glad of a sit down and a relax.
Arrived in Brussels promptly and quickly found that my memory of one of my favourite city had left me a little in the preceding five years, so before setting out into the city I had too retreat back into the station to buy a 50 cent map and I was on my way for my precious four hours in the city.
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| Hotel de Ville - Grand Place- Bruxelles |
A sort twenty minute stroll later and I knew exactly where I was opposite, the "Wedding Cake" in the Grand Place in Brussels one of my favourite places in the world. A short walk round the square taking in the scenery and observing that Belgium was a lot colder than France I was next in the Rue de Bouchers, and began my usual ritual when I am there which is to go up and down the street via the Galeries Saint Hubert at least four times before eating in the first restaurant I saw.
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| Marche Aux Hierbes |
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Drug Opera
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I had a nice menu du Jour , much nicer and cheaper actually than the previous day's in Paris actually, then had a quick peek at the Galeries Saint Hubert , I think I was heading to have a quick peek at Mannenquinn Pis but then I forgot , Chocolate must have distracted me but I've also seen him before :
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| Manneken Pis |
Now apart from my love of Brussels and Belgium generally it is also the cheapest place in Northern Europe to buy the old Cancer sticks, surprisingly the Belgians never seem to have cottoned on to this and they can be hard to find in large quantities in Brussels. So before heading for the next leg of my journey it was time to stock up, now on my walk to the Grand Place I had done a quick check in a tobacconist who not only had my brand but also could take a creditcard (for some reason you can pay for most things in Belgium using a card but usually not the old fags ). Sadly the Gentleman only had one box brand of my cigs . Feeling a bit frustrated that I had spent my time relaxingg and enjoying myself rather than attending to the job at hand I visited a few more shops to no avail before gaining success when one shopkeeper told me he could get me as many boxes as I wanted but I needed to return to the Grand Place to get the old cash. Now I hate carrying large quanties of cash about with me , at present I have about £30 in my purse and that really is a lot for me. I prefer to have between £10 and £20 and if the shit ever hit the fan I have my cards and my mobile to call for help. So I felt insecure carrying the money the short walk across the square. I returned to the shop , to be told that the shopkeepers son would be back shortly with my cigarettes. I was happy to wait and thought that the son was obtaining my bounty from an offsite stock room, after a few minutes I saw a young man going in and out of the shops I had already visited. The man resembled the son who I had barely looked at on my initial visit to the shop but I hoped I was wrong. After about thirty minutes the son returned with a pitiful amount of cigarettes the shop keeper said that if I came back at 7 he would have more I replied that I would be in Amsterdam by that point took my cigs and my money back for the missing cartons and left with oil boiling in my blood. That shopkeepers greed had cost me time when I could have been sourcing my fags independently and also now I was running round Brussells with best part of 400 euro in my pocket that had been expensive for me too obtain, that I had no idea how I was going to spend it 24 hours and also I was now behind on my schedule to get too the Gare Du Nord.
Given my afore mentioned total lack of sense of direction I had given myself an hour to walk the 15-20 minute walk to Gare Du Nord, now I feel that I know Brussels almost as well as my home city of Edinburgh so I was fairly confident that I could find the Gare du Nord reasonably quickly. It should also be noted that the first year after I returned to Edinburgh after 3 years of working abroad I had to phone my Dad on several occasions tell him where I was and ask how to get too where I wanted to go. So it should be surprise especially given my annoyance at the greedy man that I would soon find myself a wee bit lost. Knowing that a wee bit lost and a wee bit panic at being a wee bit lost can soon turn to being a big bit lost and a big bit panic that you will miss your connection I decided to do the sensible thing and ask someone for directions. I saw a youngish man, who looked a little bit french , a little bit dutch he was also smartly dressed so I hoped he was a young office worker on his lunch time stroll. I asked him in French Ou est Le Gare du Nord, in an American accent he replied in English I really don't know I'm a stranger here too, goddammit for the perhaps the first time in my life I acknowledge my failings, hide my pride and ask for directions and pick the wrong guy ugghh! Anyway I took a few deep breaths and had another look at my map hoping that someone would come to my assistance, no-one did but I was 99% certain the way I had been headed was the wrong way and I headed the right way. I went past many sights on my way and in between panicking I was quite surprised that I had missed quite a lot of Brussels on my previous visits, such as the Royal Palace, turns out I have photos of this palace though so I must have seen it before.
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Picture of Royal Palace Taken in 2004
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finally found the Gare Du Nord, and the Eurolines bus station shortly before my deadline of checking in for the bus ten minutes before the final check in time of half an hour before my journey. I checked in and was told to wait until they called my bus so after a quick trip to the loo and stocking up on a few refreshments I started to wait. Given that I had spent the last hour dashing to get too the station I was now not in the mood to sit and wait but I did. Until about 15:55 when I started to get my stuff together to get on the bus, mildly concerned that I could see no buses, I waited and waited and about 16:10 a bus pulled in and people got off and the driver went into the office. safe in the knowledge that driver was not with bus I revisited the loo, after the revisit, I started to gather myself together again. Then they called for the people to board the bus ..... for Paris,so I waited some more. Starting to get a bit more edgy now I joined the variety of nationalities now gathered outside where the word on the street was we had to wait , so we waited and waited, until around 1630 the bus arrived. Shortly after we were on our way. Part of my idea when deciding to travel three cities in one day was that as I had visited all three countries before so I thought it would be fun to see a bit more of the countryside , given that my view of France and Belgium had been obscured by sleeping beauty on the way to Brussels, I promptly fell asleep about five minutes after I got on the bus and when I woke up again it was dark. I did see a lot of car lights on the motorway though. However again after bombing around Paris for two days and my rush around Brussels it was nice to chillax for a while and the Spanish kids singing songs behind me the whole way was fairly entertaining. The journey did start to get tedious approaching three hours on the road I had been getting hopeful that despite being late leaving we would arrive in Amsterdam on time and was pleased to see an approaching bus station. On arrival the driver said "ten minutes" in Dutch , we were at The Hague quite annoying. After the false stop we were on our way and finally arrived in Amsterdam around eight, but hold on this wasn't Centraal this was Amstel, where the F was Amstel? I was tired and hungry I was conscious that this combination had led to disaster my first night in Paris but on entering the train station I quickly found a ticket machine to buy a 24 hour OK cart and there was an approaching train so I decided to forgoe food and dash to the train. After a reasonable quick train ride I was at my destination:
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| Centraal Station 2040 |
I had done it !!! Fairly successfully 3 Cities in One day ! Yeah ! Although I did still have to find my hotel. Tired and hungry I decided to be sensible for once and call the hotel and ask for directions I was met with friendly and clear directions to the tram and what stop to get off . The Overtoom stop be sure and ask the driver for Overtoom stop, the tram was very busy so of course I didn't want to bother the driver so I didn't ask where the Overtoom stop was and overshot it by about a mile, so had to walk the length of the Overtoom. Back to the hotel, to be fair I could have jumped back on the tram but I was suffering from just a few more blocks syndrome. Eventually got to the hotel and checked in and over talked the half stoned receptionist to death. Got settled in and decided to go to the Leidersplein to grab a bite to eat , when I left the hotel I waited at the tram stop a few minutes before noticing a turkish snackshop across the road, thinking I haven't had shawarma for a while it was the perfect place and meal for that time of night. After eating my dinner I returned across the road and after a quick shower was time to immerse myself in wine and reading tourist material whilst the atmosphere around me turned slowly brown through smoke. I don't indulge myself but the laissez-faire attitude of Amsterdam had immersed into me and the every heavy air of the hotel and the increasing sweet smell did not bother me one iota!
