Paris and the Night Buses from Hell

This past weekend, we went back to Paris once again, because we found pretty cheap bus tickets there and back, and it was Rachel's birthday on Friday.

So, besides just showing a few pictures and naming a few highlights of the trip, I will really only be telling the wonderful story of the NIGHT BUS.

Only when it's on the night bus. From Hell.

So we headed out on Friday night, and the bus was to arrive in Paris Saturday morning really early. The bus ride was about seven hours long. We made it to the bus station in Stuttgart alright and with plenty of time to spare (we took extra precautions, as I did not want to go through what we went through last time again!), and we waited for the bus to come. When it did come, we gave the guy our tickets and headed onto the bus. Once on the bus, we soon realized that all of the seats had bags and such on them. It really looked like there were no places. After much confusion, Hannah and I managed to get a set of two seats two rows behind the driver. Great right? Here I am thinking, "Oh how wonderful! Now I won't get carsick! I'll be able to sleep! This is going to be an easy ride!"... I hope you know where this is going.

So our bus driver starts off and we drive for about an hour, stopping maybe about three times so that he can stop for a smoke each time (even when there was no other purpose for stopping). On the last stop that we made with the driver, we picked up two people: an older guy and who was presumably his daughter. The guy, we found out, was the replacement for our bus driver.

So the new guy is out there smoking with the old bus driver... and they smoke... and they smoke... and apparently smoking outside wasn't fun enough, because he decides that he's going to smoke inside the bus, while driving, with all of us inside! 

This may be just about the equivalent of the look that I gave. Maybe more daggers shooting out of the eyes.

I also forgot my inhaler on this trip. So I was freaking out that I would die on a night bus, because some guy couldn't wait a few hours to light up.

Anyway... not only did this guy smoke on the bus, but he was probably the world's worst driver EVER! The first bus driver stayed on the bus a little while (I believe the give the new guy directions. Promising, right?), and the new bus driver would turn his head to talk to him and to his daughter. That wouldn't have been too much of a problem, except that he would forget to look at the road for a while, and then turn his head back to the road after a minute or two to find himself in the next lane... only then would he swerve back into the lane we were originally in. 

This was a process that went on most of the night. He was a terrible driver. I was so tired, and so was Hannah. We both agreed, though, that we were afraid to close our eyes to go to sleep, for fear of dying.

Well, eventually we did fall asleep, for a little while. I do remember, though, that at 4:45am, I was awoken by the inability to breathe. The bus driver had taken up to smoking a whole new cigarette inside the bus while driving, with only the window cracked enough so that he could flick his ashes out there. 

Come on.. seriously?

It was all very frustrating. 

Eventually we got in, and had a wonderful time in Paris.

Here are some of my pictures:

Disney celebrated 20 years while we were there.

The Arc de Triomph.

The Eternal Flame and the Grave of the Unknown Soldier (or the French equivalent).

We walked so much while we were there. When I got home today, my feet were SO swollen, and my knees are killing me. I finally feel like a member of my family, as now I have aching knees.

We went to the Musee d'Orsay! There, they had pieces of art by many of the greats, such as Monet, Van Gogh, and Degas! I liked this museum way better than the Louvre. This one was so much more do-able. Also, we got to see almost all of it, after spending a good three to four hours in there!

They had these clocks inside the museum. I want to say that the museum was a converted train station... that or a palace.

Montmartre on the hill in the distance! I didn't really take that many pictures besides these few. Sorry!

 We gave ourselves enough time to get to the bus depot on the way back (once again, unlike last time). We checked in after waiting a while, and then found our bus. To our unlucky surprise, guess who our bus driver turned out to be.... 

That's right, Mr. I Smoke on the Bus and Have a Death Wish Bus Driver.

I was less than pleased.

This time, we got seats far enough away from the front that hopefully we wouldn't die of secondhand smoke, but also far enough forward that I wouldn't get sick from the motion. The bus smelled like smoke, and B.O.; then later it smelled like smoke, B.O., and pee. I'm not sure I want to know why that extra smell was added into that already colorful array of smells, but that's how it was.

Everything was mostly fine on the way back, (he did smoke on the bus again, and it did wake me up, but it wasn't as bad, because I was further back) except for one incident at a rest stop.We stopped at this little convenience store/gas station in the middle nowhere somewhere still in France on the way back. The driver said on the intercom (in German) "15 minute break". Hannah got up, and went to go take her contacts out in the bathroom. Rachel went into the bathroom. I decided that I should go too. Helina, however, waited on the bus to watch our stuff. We all got back to the bus at the same time, and also at the same time that our bus driver was getting back to the bus. When we got back on, Helina said that she was going to go to the bathroom. I thought she was just going to go really fast, as time was practically up. As we sat there, all of a sudden, our bus driver starts the engine and goes to close the doors. Hannah urged Rachel to go tell him that Helina wasn't there yet, so that she wouldn't be left behind. She went up and tried to explain that her friend was in the bathroom. He just said, "Fifteen minutes means fifteen minutes". Rachel tells him that she's going to run in to get Helina. He just scoffs and looks anxious to leave. Then another girl runs up and says that they can't leave yet because her friend is still inside too. So she runs to go get her friend. Well, the other girl comes back with her friend, and when they sit down, the bus driver starts to close the doors and begins to drive away. Hannah, panicked, tells me to go tell him that they're still inside. I was quite impressed that, even though I was tired and under stress, I still managed to pull off a comprehensible sentence in German. I yelled that there were two people that were still not back yet. He just kept saying in response that fifteen minutes meant fifteen minutes. At this point, I'm freaking out. I can't see them. They weren't coming. All of their bags were on the bus still. If he did leave, then they would be completely stranded... with no way of getting back.

I was playing it in my head, that if he was determined to leave him behind, then I was going to grab their bags, and my own and hop off the bus to wait for them. At least then they would have a chance of getting back. 

As they still were not coming out, the bus driver then closed the doors, and started to drive away. Then Rachel and Helina walk out of the door. (I love you guys, but I have to say it how it is). They walked (walked being the key word) up to the bus, up the steps, and to their seats! I'm having a heart attack over here, and they only walked as the bus was pulling away!!!! GAHH guys! I swear, I don't think I have been that freaked out in a long long time. Helina said that she thought he said thirty minutes, instead of fifteen.

Not something I enjoyed. 

After that incident, they pretty much stayed on the bus during breaks. We got back late, as we hit traffic. After a while, though, I made it back to my room and faced a long day of warm weather (a little too warm if you ask me), swollen feet, and classes.