We decided to eat in a recommended Lebanese restaurant in a street very close to the Champs-Élysées. It was late in the evening and we were hungry. It was a miracle that I finally managed to find my car. How were we going to find the car? It took us nearly over two hours walking through many streets that all looked the same. I finally realised my mistake and understood that the ‘Métropolitain’ sign was the symbol for all metro stations in Paris, not the name of one station! This was just the beginning of our nightmare.
I repeated, “but this is not the same.” She laughed, “Tous sont métros de Paris, ils sont tous le Métropolitain.” She continued in broken English, “All … Métropolitain.”
The guy said, ‘why don’t you go inside the station and find out?’ I approached the woman behind the counter and asked her the same question. I asked an American couple who were tourists. I told a French man in English that we were looking for ‘Métropolitain’ station. I located what looked like exactly the same ‘Métropolitain’ sign that I had noted in my head, but it was not the right street. We visited the Opera house and walked towards Place de la Concorde. I did not make note of the road name, as I thought that the name of the station would be sufficient for finding my car again. When we reached the main road, there was an underground station with a big, lit-up sign displaying the word ‘Métropolitain’. I parked my car in a small one way street nearby. I was fascinated seeing The Palais Garnier, which is the Paris Opera House. The streets were very busy, full of shoppers marching from one shop to another. It was dark in the evening, Christmas lights illuminating the whole city. I will never forget when I first drove through, passing the canals and seeing the monuments. It was a great feeling to arrive in Paris and see the city of light – a modern city with a very deep sense of history. We intended to stay until the New Year in a hotel located in a suburb of Paris and visit the city every day. I booked the Dover-Calais ferry and drove with my wife from London in the cold Christmas weather. My first visit to Paris was a remarkable experience, which I will never forget.
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