Pulling the trigger.

And I’m not talking about the election today,  although I’m sure that will be the topic of conversation here and there.  I’ll probably check later on to see if there were any hanging chads.  Let’s hope there are none,  since finding out the actual results might not happen for a couple months if there’s any more of that nonsense.

No, I’m referring to something else entirely. 

Even before we went off to Salzburg a couple weeks ago,  there had been some  talk of taking yet another trip to Paris.  When we lived in the Netherlands,  we made three trips by car,  since that was doable.  It’s about a six hour drive,  usually with a stopover in Brugge, Belgium for lunch.    And yes,  if you check that out on the map,  you’ll see that it appears to be a bit out of the way,  but it’s worthwhile stopping in Brugge,  trust me.   Can you say chocolate?

Well see,  from here to Paris is a slightly different story.   It’s more like 12 hours by car.  I’m not overly keen.  And I have no problems driving a car in Paris.  Been there,  done that.  It’s just getting the thing there that’s slightly onerous.  It would mean staying over night somewhere on the way there,  and then quite likely on the way back.  Unless of course I did some sort of 12 hour marathon driving for the return trip.  I ain’t no spring chicken in the driving department these days,  and would prefer to keep the trips down to something more like four or five hours,  and preferably in daylight.  Me eyes ain’t what they used to be when it comes to driving at night.   Besides,  we’re going at the end of November, so there could even be weather issues to consider.

So we’ll take the train!

It turns out there’s a train that leaves the Westbahnhof (West train station)  just down the street here at about quarter past four in the afternoon on Wednesday, November 28th,  getting into Munich later that night.   From there,  there’s a “night train”  that goes on to Paris.   I had been checking out times and fares on the weekend and was getting a little discouraged at some of the prices,  and travelling by air was starting to look slightly more attractive,  since the two of us could get there and back for around €400.  But, it was by air,  and the return trip left Charles DeGaule airport at something like 7:00 a.m.  Gah!    I’ll only get on a plane that early if I’m heading for the sunny south,  or going home for Christmas.  Other than that,  forget it.

Anyhoodle,  it turns out that going in person to the train station is a better plan than trying to order on line in this case,  since the Dude at the counter was able to get us at least a fair chunk of the trip at some sort of discounted rate.  Alrighty then!   You’ll notice that the portion of the trip to Munich is only €49?   Such a dealski!  There were other discounted bits on the return trip as well.

 

 

The whole trip there and back came in at around €690,  which is certainly a far cry from some sort of discount airline price,  but on the night train from Munich to Paris,  we have our own sleeping quarters.   There’s something to be said for arriving at your destination well rested. 

So we’ll get into the Paris East train station on Thursday morning around 9:30 a.m.,  and then we head back again Saturday night.   I think it should be fun.

Now I just have to do a little research on fabric shops around the area of Montmartre.    Oh,  and if you happen to chose to click on that “fabric shops” link and go down to street level,  you’ll see what I’m talking about.   Go up the street and turn right on Place Saint-Pierre.   There are all kinds of places.  We may need two suitcases.

Oh and,  how the heck did Google get a car down there for that “street view”?  Did they go by bike?   It doesn’t look like it’s open to traffic. 

 

Other than having the sun come out for about a half hour earlier today (it’s gone again),  that’s pretty much it for excitement around here. 

 

Keep those sticks on the ice.

 

Thanks for stopping by.

 

 

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