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Story - A rude Awakening, Part II
The other thing that they don't have in Europe is screen in the windows. I
was so hot in France that we opened the windows and got eaten alive from the bugs all night long. Roxan "Kathy N-V" wrote in message .com... One Summer, I was assigned to work in Europe for six weeks. Considering this the opportunity of a lifetime, I brought DD with me. When I wasn't actually in the office working, we drove all over the place, spent a week in Paris, and another week in Britain. Most of the time, though, we were in various parts of Germany or Austria, and DD stayed with family. We stayed with family or friends everywhere except Paris, where I know no one. Because I am a tightwad, I made arrangements with a German travel agent to get an inexpensive hotel room for DD and me. My only requirements were clean, safe and quiet. It's a pity that we didn't get quiet, and that I forgot to mention air conditioning. It's also a pity that the travel agent didn't tell me that there is no such thing as a cheap hotel room in Paris. DD and I had a hairy, scary drive through Paris at rush hour before finding the hotel. (Did you know that Parisian taxis will pass you on the right, and even on the sidewalk, if you are foolish enough to stop at a red light? Guess how I found out?) The hotel was in the 147th Arondissement, meaning it was only slightly closer to the Eiffel Tower than it was to our home in Boston. After taking a death ride in the scariest elevator I've ever seen, we found our room. By standing in the center of the bed and reaching out, I could touch all four walls with my fingertips. The bathroom was another shock to the system. It looked like a conventional half bath, with a toilet and sink - except there was a shower head sticking out of the wall opposite the toilet. Yep, you've got it: they built the bathroom in a shower stall. Towels weren't included in the rate, so our first trip was to a department store to buy some. (Note to self: budget hotels all over Europe do not provide towels and especially, facecloths. Bring your own or be prepared to pay) On top of everything, Paris was going through an unprecidented heat wave. My calculations after looking at local thermometers led me to believe that it was around 104 degrees F. Hot, hot, hot. Paris is not even a remotely quiet city, even in our far flung location. So we had a choice: die of heat, or open the windows and listen to Paris at night. We opened the windows. One of us, being smaller and more able to tune out the sounds of drunken revels in the street below, konked right out. The other of us, sweating, wheezing and grumbling that I could stay at the Taj Mahal for the rates on this sauna, finally reached a restless slumber as the sky was turning from grey to orange. At some time thereafter, I woke up, realizing that I had become a sweaty little dent in the bed. Breathing was difficult, and I couldn't see anything but a 1970's style print bedspread. Huh? Then I felt a knee in the middle of my back. At some point after I finally fell asleep, DD felt lonely. Being a half inch from me in bed wasn't enough to cure this loneliness, however, so she climbed onto my back and went right back to sleep. Apparently, she was more than willing to ignore the heat if she could be "safe and close" to Mama. I figure I'll sleep soundly when she's about 30. Maybe a little later. Kathy N-V |
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