Paris: A Trip Down Memory Lane

My first visit to Paris was in 1989, when I was starting out as a teacher in SW England.  We had two weeks off for Easter holidays and so I took off to France with the only other member of staff without a significant other. This was pre-internet days, and so there was no planning involved, we just headed south by train to catch a ferry across the Channel.  All went well until we hit bad weather and the ferry was diverted to a little known port in northern France.  We deboarded where there was no town and no railway station. Not knowing what to do, we accepted a ride with a lorry driver to the nearest town. We found a hotel and two nice men invited us out for dinner.  Over the 'escargot', we learned that they were headed south to meet up with their wives for a holiday. At that point we considered it wise not to accept their offer of a lift to Paris, and took the train.

Arriving at Paris' Gare du Nord station was a little intimidating, but we did as all visitors did in those days, headed for the nearest "Tourist Information".  They asked us how much we wanted to spend, phoned a hotel and sent us on our way with a map.

We ended up in an old hotel with a large bedroom with a bidet, and toilet down the hall.
During our stay in Paris we met with three challenges that we were not able to overcome.
1) No one spoke English.  Whether they understood us or not, the Parisians refused to communicate in anything but French.  All signs and directions were in French only.  And although my traveling companion  claimed to speak French, she was reduced to tears and became a nervous wreck.
2) The Metro was utterly confusing.  We could not find out how to pay for tickets.  We did not know where the trains were going, and there didn't seem to be any handy maps.  One stranger took our money and we hoped he was buying us tickets.... we did end up with tickets, but we didn't know where to.
3) There was nowhere to eat.  I know that sounds crazy to anyone who has visited Paris recently, but we walked and walked without finding anything like a take-away or family restaurant. We ended up buying bread, cheese and wine from a bakery, and survived on that during our stay.

 The weather turned nasty, and I had not brought any suitable clothes.  The thought of queuing for 3 hours in the cold rain to go into the Louvre was not appealing, and we decided to head home instead.  Paris had beaten us this time.
Even the trip back to England was memorable. There were no seats on the train, so we traveled  on the floor and passed the wine bottle back and forth.   We tried some sight seeing in northern France while waiting for the ferry, but the cold weather drove us into a cafe where we drank coffee and rubbed our frozen feet.
How different from visiting Paris nearly 30 years later! Now we fly, by far the cheapest way to Paris, and book a hotel on line. We research and plan itineraries before hand and follow other travelers' advice. Paris speaks English now and has embraced its tourists as a necessary evil.  The city's eateries now reflect all the ethnic groups that now reside there.  The Metro is easy to use and there are now three entrances to the Louvre to help with the crowds. Visiting Paris today is certainly more enjoyable, but less of an adventure.