Didn´t end with a whimper, but with a cough....
15.02.2017
It occurred to me that the journal for this trip wasn´t finished. These are the circumstances that ended the trip... ¨ This might be the first time you heard someone say ´oh no, not another two more days in Paris´. Someone discovered yesterday that the flight to Paris he thought was on the 30th is actually booked for today the 28th. An extra two nights accommodation is now sorted. The thing is that the temperature in Paris this week is a high of 4 degrees and a low of minus 3 degrees. I will just have to shiver in Paris until my flight back starts on Saturday. The joys of travel.¨....(Facebook entry from Utrera)
¨ Well as you know I got stuck in Paris for a couple of extra nights. My flight landed at Beauvais, which is about 80kms north of Paris, and I decided to make Beauvais my base until Wednesday when I am booked into a flat in Paris. Even though it was minus 2 or 3 degrees for most of today I had a lovely 3 hour wander around the town. A cheap and filling Chinese buffet for lunch then a look at the town square and the Cathedral which has been here for about 900 years.¨ (Facebook entry from Beauvais)
Because I had booked accommodation in a hurry (without checking the small print), I ended up in a room close to the airport at Beauvais, where I stayed for 2 nights. However, the small print I forgot to check was that I was unable to use the kitchen where I was staying, and that I had to vacate the house between the hours of 9 and 5 while the owner was at work. This was a difficult situation to be in because the temperatures in Beauvais for those two days wavered between minus 6 and minus 2.,and I didn´t have many warm clothes to wear. I survived by walking all around Beauvais and finding the only warm place there, which was a covered shopping mall where I spent most of the long day. I had very few euros left and managed to find a cheap chinese buffet where I had a good meal one day and the Dominos Pizza outlet where I ate the night I arrived. After a long day waiting at Beauvais station to catch a train to Paris ( my morning train had broken down and the line was blocked until 3pm) it was a relief to get to my booked apartment in Paris where the really kind host shared a bottle of wine and made dinner for me the night I arrived. It was still freezing in Paris and I started to develop a very sore throat and a cough so all I did for my last two days in Europe was rest up while my cough got worse and I started to get feverish and feel really sick. I got to the Charles de Gaulle Airport for the flight back to Auckland and the next 2 days were like a bad dream. I was feverish and constantly coughing on the planes and the 17 hour layover at the hotel in Beijing was a nightmare because I wasn´t able to eat anything and struggled to sleep. Arrived back in Auckland looking and feeling like the walking dead. Spent two days with my daughter Sandi coughing, no appetite and so weak I was unable to spend much time out of bed, then another dreamlike 8 hour coachtrip back to Napier. I haven´t experienced being so sick for many years. After a couple of days at home I went to the doctors hoping to get something to help me recover but was told that it was just a bad cough caused by a virus that would take another week or so before it had run its course. I was told to take disprin for the fever and rest until I felt better. I eventually recovered, but the couple of weeks which ended the trip seemed to sour the whole trip for me. and I was glad to see the end of what had been a really tough 2016.....
Posted by astrix7 17:00 Archived in France Comments (0)