Appooppanthaadi -4

15.01.2011 : Certain things in this world, no one can stop them from happening. Even the Deutsche Bahn (The German Railways) or the HDFC bank can stop. It is destiny. Whatever has been already scripted by the destiny shall be enacted. And of course if it is for a noble purpose, everything is ought to fall in its place.

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After blowing hot and cold over the idea of a rendezvous in Paris, late in the night, we decided in the negative. Largely disappointed, I sat further romancing with my friend in my lap. By around 0200 hours I slipped into sleep. In the morning, exactly at 0530 hours, I got a call on my phone. It was from my friend Ananthakrishnan. He wants me there in Paris right now - as if I am staying in Olavaipe and he is at his home in the neighbouring Thuravoor!

Still, I never wanted to let the opportunity slip away from my hands. There is a train to Paris from Frankfurt at 0640 hours. I suddenly wriggled out of the bed, got ready and packed my bags, all within just thirty minutes. Walked down to the railway station. The ticket counters were yet not opened, but the information counters were. I asked them if I could buy ticket on train. I had only around 50 euro with me at that time and the pre loaded cash card. The information counter promised I could buy ticket using the card. The train came at 0650 on the platform. German Trains always run late. There are a number of stories about it. I shall use another occasion to write about them.

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As I boarded the second class coach and sat comfortably in a seat, the Ticket collector appeared with a smile. I flaunted my Euro card and she started the process of issuing ticket. The smile suddenly disappeared from her face. She dropped a bombshell. “I am sorry, this card cannot be accepted as this is not a credit card” the slim beauty proclaimed in good English with a grim face. My heart gave a slip to a beat at that moment. I stood frozen in the seat. The ticket cost is 108 euros and I had only 50 with me. The TTE advised me to take ticket till the second stop of the train, get down there and withdraw cash there. The next train was after three hours. This means, I will certainly miss the opportunity to go around in Paris with my friend.

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My mind was totally blank. She issued ticket for 34 euros and left. A frozen me sat like a buffoon. What next? Just thought of many ways. At last I found a way. Try my HDFFC credit card. My Indian Credit card issued by HDFC bank has been inactive for long, thanks to a goof up by the bank. Still I tried my luck. When the TTE appeared again, I offered to take ticket up to Paris using the Credit card and it worked! At 0945 I was at Gare De l’Est railway station in Paris

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After getting down at the station, I walked to the metro station, searched the location in the route map where Anathu stays and travelled by Metro to reach Anatoly France. It was one of the happiest moments in our lives. If I had missed the train, the memories of a missed opportunity to walk down the streets of Paris like we did in our Engineering college campus would have badly missed. It would have remained like an ache somewhere deep in the corner of our hearts for the rest of our lives.

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Our first destination was the museum - Musée du Louvre , the most prominent tourist destination after the Eiffel Tower in Paris. Again by the metro rail we reached the Museum. The Museum houses the most famous painting of the world-Monalisa (Monolisa for many!). We stood in front of Monalisa and took photos. This original painting by Da Vinci is kept in one of the rooms separated from all other paintings. People are not allowed to go near it. Still, the only painting in the Museum, where there is a crowd, it is in front of this small painting. There are so many big paintings all over, but they do not attract the attention of the public. This museum is very big. Going around will take a full day. The entrance fee is 10 euro per person. We walked a lot. So many paintings. So many remnants of history. Nepolean’s and Louis XIV pictures and articles from their Palaces are on display in the museum. Sadly, all the descriptions and boards in front of every piece of exhibition is only in French. No English translations could be found anywhere. French people expect whoever visits their country to know speak, read and write French.

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From there, we walked upto the Opera House. Wide roads and nicely constructed buildings were the attractions at the Opera House. We just walked around there for a few minutes and then headed for the Eiffel tower by a taxi

It was an exciting experience. We took a lot of photos in front of the Tower. After a brief photo session at the Tower and the Seine river that flows by the side of it, we headed towards the road – Rue Du Faubourg Saint Denis. From Eiffel tower, the metro station is a few meters away. We took a metro train from there.The road RUE DU Faubourg is located very close to Gare De l’Est railway station. There we went straight over to Hotel Saravanabhavan. I had a plate Idly vada sambar and another plate of paratta. Anathu had a plate of idly sambar vada and then a south Indian meal. The stomach and heart were filled and over flowing by that time. Still we went to the Chennai café and bought daal vada for two euros. For 2 euro, we got 8 vadas. We took them to our room. We saw so many other Indian and Srilankan Tamil shops on this road.

By the time we reached back in the room, my friend Anatuhu looked the happiest man in the world-I too. A small gesture from me to travel from one country to another made a big difference here. I swear, I did only a small thing. It surely made a big difference in our friendship.