TRAIN # 5 – 20:26 Amsterdam to Paris (Cont.)
The frontier procedures came at Aulnoye in France where we stopped for about fifty minutes between 03:20 and 04:10. Both sets of border officials boarded the carriages and inspected first the documents and then the luggage of each passenger.
Given that the frontiers between Belgium and the Netherlands came under the Benelux agreement and had been seamless, this was my first ever experience of crossing a patrolled land border. It was all friendly enough, but it was not exactly conducive to getting a good night’s rest. We arrived in Paris Gare Du Nord on time at 06:25.
PARIS
I cashed another £10 traveller’s cheque at Gare Du Nord and we spent the first francs on a carnet of metro and bus tickets.
Our first metro trip was to the Gare D’ Austerlitz from where we would depart for Lisbon the next day. I got a nice surprise at the ticket office when they told me that our chosen train to Irun, 24 hours later, did not require a supplement. We decided not to bother reserving seats either.
We left our bags at Austerlitz and walked to the Place de la Republique via the Bastille and thence to the Youth Hostel. They had no beds left but gave us the phone numbers of a couple of cheap alternatives to try. We phoned but there was nothing at either place. We decided to implement “Plan B” and find a suitable overnight train to sleep on instead.
We went off by metro to Montparnasse and then after taking in the Montparnasse Tower, caught a bus to the Arc de Triomphe. Lunch was bread and pâté in a little park nearby and we spent the early afternoon walking up to and around Montmartre. We waited for ages for a bus at Pigalle to Notre Dame.
We toured the cathedral and then walked along the Seine before jumping on the RER to the Eiffel Tower. Knowing we had saved on the supplement and accommodation, we decided to get the full 26 franc ticket and go all the way to the top. I had visited Paris in 1976 with my parents but never made it beyond the second stage. The view from the top was, naturally, incredible.
We walked up the Champs Elysees and tried but failed to change another traveller’s cheque for Portuguese escudos. In the end, we settled for more French francs at an Arab Bank that seemed to have a decent rate. We jumped on another bus and headed back in the direction of Gare D’Austerlitz to collect the rucksacks.
Dinner was another hamburger meal, this time at a branch of the French chain ‘Free Time’ near Gare de L’Est which both of us decided was better than McDonald’s. On the way to the station, we got some cheap bread for the journey and then got ripped off, paying over the odds for cans of Fanta. We sat on a bench writing postcards but had to move after being bothered constantly by drunks.
TRAIN #6 – 19:50 Paris Est to Strasbourg
We boarded the 19:50 express to Strasbourg. I had improvised a plan to try to get us some sleep. The 19:50 was scheduled to take just under four hours to complete the 500km or so to its destination. Arriving at Strasbourg just before midnight we would simply turn around and then spend the next six hours, hopefully asleep, returning to Paris on another train.
The 19:50, formed again of modern Corail stock, was very comfortable. We made good progress and I never really worried that we might not make our ten minute connection at Strasbourg.
TRAIN # 7 – 23:50 Strasbourg to Paris Est
Sure enough, we arrived on time. Just to be certain, we ran through the station subway and made it on to the return Strasbourg to Paris overnight express with quite a few minutes to spare. We were then extra lucky to find an empty compartment.
We occupied the two window seats and the two middle seats and then reclining them so that they almost touched, we used the sleeping bags to create two passable beds. Once the ticket collector had checked the tickets, I fell asleep.
Forty Years Later….
- The border checks between Belgian and France disappeared in March 1995 as a result of the Schengen Agreement.
- Euro banknotes and coins replaced the Franc on January 1, 2002.
- The Carnet Metro ticket was finally phased out in 2023.
- Free Time was purchased by Quick and finally disappeared in 1992.
- Since the full opening of the LGV Est line in 2016, the fastest TGV from Paris to Strasbourg takes just 1 hour and 45 minutes.
- There are no longer any overnight trains between Paris and Strasbourg.
- I have been back to Paris many times on business and for pleasure since. So far, I have never returned to the top of the Eiffel Tower.
