Today it was our mission to find out were we were going
tomorrow. The main options seemed to be Berlin or Paris. Berlin would be a
great stop on our way to Prague and Vienna. On the other hand Paris would be a
good stop on the way south to Spain and Portugal. So we chose Paris. About time
I got some sun. There was some talk of taking a layover in Brussels and doing a
day trip there but with all our bags with us that would be a huge hassle. We
looked into hostels in Paris and found one we liked but thought it proper to
insure we could get there before we made the reservation. To book an
international train trip with EURail passes you have to first reserve a seat.
This is made difficult by the fact the European rail network is cobbled
together from a hodge-podge of national and international services, each with
its own way of doing things. Only three countries let you book your
reservations online. The recommended way seems to be by telephone but in that
regard we are SOL. After a day of figuring out what to do I grabbed some dinner
and we headed to the train station to make our reservation.
The woman at the counter seemed pretty dismayed that we
showed up at 7pm looking for a train out the next morning but with some fiddling
she was able to find us a route to Paris.
Our ticket for the day goes as follows:
Leave Amsterdam Centraal 7:59am, Arrive Roosendaal 9:47am
Leave Roosendaal 10:22am, Arrive Antwerpen Centraal 11:10am
Leave Antwerpen Centraal 11:36am, Arrive Bruxelles-Midi
12:28pm
Leave Bruxelles-Midi 1:13pm, Arrive Paris Nord 2:35pm.
Seventy-five Euros in reservation fees later and the two of
us were set to go. Once we got back to the hostel we booked the hostel we
wanted for Paris. It was a bit expensive, with our 4 nights stay costing us
close to 250 Euros, but Paris is expensive and quite well booked during the
weekends, so we were lucky to get a place without a pile of negative reviews. It’s
called The Loft Hostel Paris.
So it is going to be a busy day traveling tomorrow. Wish us
luck.
I am glad you have decided where to go and how to get there. I am shocked that you had to pay booking fees after all, you did pay for the rail pass. It really is expensive to be in Europe and this is in the off season - i can't imagine how expensive hostels and trips would be in the high summer season. I have heard trains are notorious for robbers and Paris has a pickpocket reputation. Keep you valuables close to you. Most importantly, have a fantastic time in Paris!
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