The Great European Adventure: Christmas of Ought Nine and New Year's 2010 (Part 3)
On the 30th, Rachel and I took complicated, multi-change train ride to Paris. We couldn't get a direct train, so we had to go from Zurich to Basel, Switzerland and from Basel to Mulhouse, France. We went from Mulhouse to Belfort and then changed trains for the last time in Belfort to get to Paris. We ended up either on trains or in train stations all day. I do like riding trains a lot, but the lugging of luggage and the cold were a little unpleasant. And we rolled through northern France after sunset, which caused us to miss out on what the countryside looked like. I was curious, since I had considered studying abroad this year in Strasbourg instead of Bordeaux. That would have been a different experience entirely, I'm sure. Arrival in Paris was a trial. We took the metro from Gare de l'Est to the southwest part of town, where we were staying at the Aloha Hostel for one night. The hostel was cramped ad ecclectic...all decorated in bright colors and with lots of cheery New...