The Subway Stops When?

Okay, after arriving in France... I must say Paris was very cool!

I met with my potential customer for the day and then went to my hotel... my benounced to me, it was not in the hub of Paris, but on the outskirts, as I would find out later... not where Cabbies like to do business.

My hotel was beautiful inside, and the area was the business district of Paris, so fairly sterile. After cleaning up a bit (I sweated a lot on this trip) I bought a 2 day pass for the subway and headed into Paris for dinner and some walking around the city.

It is currently the World Cup of Rugby, and is being hosted by France... just outside Paris. Ireland was playing France that night... and it was hopping. Guys singing French team songs on the train, and the Irish pubs were flowing out into the streets.
I had a nice little dinner while watching the game... not really sure how Rugby works, I thought the game was over as I finished dinner... ends up that was the end of the game, and France (the underdog supposedly) crushed Ireland.

I made my way to another pub, and met some students from the US studying in Paris, as well as a couple Russians who spoke some English. It was entertaining to chat with them, and before i knew it, it was 3:00 am.

So I decided to head back to my hotel... only to find that the train I was counting on evidently stops at 2:00 am... no worries... there are taxis for just such an occasion.

Hmmmm.... evidently, taxis are hard to come by when you need to venture out of downtown Paris at 3:00 am. I wandered around for a half hour before finally commondeering a cab. A cab had pulled up at the corner I was at, so I tried to negotiate a deal to get me back to my hotel. The cabbie wanted nothing to do with me, but the two New Yorkers in the cab were trying to get cash out of a cash machine to pay him. I offered to pay their 8 Euro fair if he would take me to my destination. He really argued, saying no.... but I sat firmly in the cab and he had already taken my money for their cab ride... I WIN... or so I thought.

He ended up dropping me off at the wrong Sofatel hotel... no worries, it was supposedly close enough (10 minute walk) that I could get to my hotel. It is now 4:00 am. I ask the concierge inside how to get to the other Sofatel... he gives me some really easy sounding instructions. I take off on my trek... only to circle around endlessly for the next hour... before finally conceding and asking for the other Sofatel to call me a cab in defeat.

I finally reach my hotel around 5:15, and I am wiped... the next day to follow.