During our first year in France, I arranged a trip to Paris for Ed’s birthday. We decided to travel by train and booked a night compartment for the three of us. We arrived at Carcassonne station, found our compartment on the train and settled in, with Abi on the top bunk and us underneath. Just before the train was due to leave, someone knocked on the door and when we opened it, there was a Frenchman waiting to come in. I said it was booked and he said he too was booked. He showed me his ticket and yes, he was booked into the same compartment. The stranger climbed up on the top bunk and Abi immediately got down from hers. Ed went up and I spent the night wondering if he was going to dispense with us.
After a sleepless night we arrived at Gare de Lyon at 7am and waited until our new friend left the cabin. I tidied up and straightened the beds. As I looked up to his bunk I saw something shining and when I pulled the blanket up, a knife fell to the ground. I picked it up and looked at the big blade. Just at that moment, the guy came back and took the knife – thanked me and left. To this day, I don’t know if he had the knife to protect himself from us or for something more sinister. We checked with the SNCF office and apparently, anyone can share a cabin if there’s a free bunk!!! We made sure we booked the complete compartment on our next trip.
We met up with our friends who live in the Marais, Catherine and Patrick and their two daughters. They live on the top floor of a very elegant building near the Mariage Frères tea company. Mariage Frères was started in 1854 by Henri and Edouard Mariage. They stock incredible teas which are served in many of the top hotels throughout the world.
By about the 5th floor we have to stop and catch our breath. Catherine and Patrick make this climb several times a day so they are used to it. We carry on up and receive a wonderful welcome from our friends. Catherine is a piano tutor and her grand piano was hoisted up the inner courtyard by a special company that specialises in moving large musical instruments around Paris.
We have supper with our friends and then return to our hotel which is the Regina, near the Louvre. The hotel is beautiful and dates from 1900. From our room we can see the Tuileries Gardens and are within walking distance of the Louvre.
We finish the evening with a nightcap in the elegant bar of the Regina and Ed tries a couple of rare whiskies, costing about the same as the train journey, but without the company of the stranger. 😳
Stories from my typewriter 