Paris - Day 4, bonus day

Completing the Paris notes collection, here are some images from Gare de Nord after we missed our flight back home:

On the third day in Paris I was struck with a severe bout of hayfever that felt like a mild flu. It's quite common and it even struck a few weeks ago so I knew exactly what to expect. Symptoms included excessive sneezing, a feeling of lethargy, itchy eyes, and worst of all a headache which clearly caused some seriously fuzzy headed thinking. I knocked back a paracetamol and a second hayfever tablet but to no effect. Applying a cold McDonalds orange juice to the forehead helped a little but clearly it wasn't enough, for after I made sure that we had checked in on-line I just kind of laid back and let events take their course.

Due to what can only be described as a strange mental lapse, we found ourselves racing to the check-in desk with zero minutes to spare and we were at the wrong end of the airport! A mad sprint to the correct check-in desk proved futile and although we were just five minutes late, nothing could be done. It was 'game over'. Without the fuzzy headedness, I'm sure I would have been on the ball but that's hindsight ... ah, yes, good old hindsight, the psychological salt that rubs itself deeply into one's wounds of regret.

Anyway, there we were, stranded. We ended up taking the train back to Gare de Nord (Eurostar station) and camping there until the early hours, when a security sweep of the station landed us in the streets. Fortunately, the cafe's across the road were all open and the La Maison Blanche cafe/restaurant provided refuge for the price for a hot chocolate. It wasn't cheap at 5 euros, but they kindly let us nurse our cups for three hours until the station re-opened.

Despite the relative disaster, we had much in our favour: Gare de Nord station opened nice and early the next day, the cafe was provided a pleasant and safe refuge in the interim hours, the weather was perfect, and we had the option of catching the Eurostar back home. I also had a couple of interesting conversations that I wouldn't otherwise have had. The first was a conversation in broken english which a Chinese man from London (pictured above sleeping on a bench at the airport). Mr Willis (not his real name) told of his life, children, divorce, etc, and how he was venturing around Paris for a few days. How much of it was true I don't know, but at least he provided a bit of colour on a long, long night - I'm pretty sure it was the first night where I've gone without a minute of sleep. Then, for breakfast, I went to a pastry shop where the French-Vietnamese girl who ran the shop and spoke good english was happy to engage in conversation for half an hour or so while I ate my croissant and coffee.

It's easy to put a negative spin on such events but things could have turned out so much worse, and if there is one thing my short trading career has taught me it is how to handle stressful situations with a calm, measured approach and how take a loss like a man: you take it on the chin, learn what you can from it, and move on. It's okay to fret and beat yourself up for a short while, after all emotion is a big part of being human, but the sooner you can move into a positive mindset the better. The biggest lesson I have to take away from the experience is to always act according to the stakes and not to be deceived by the mundanity of the procedures which can lull you in to a false sense of security. It is not about always paying attention to the small details but paying great attention when it matters most. This is a bit more difficult when you aren't thinking straight to begin with, although I should have at least had the self-awareness to recognise this in the first place!

As it turns out, when I took the Eurostar back to London I had an excellent day out and got to view the city from a fresh perspective by wondering about on foot. This was particularly valuable as I'm not sure I would have attempted it had I not missed my flight back. However, because I had little money and much time it was the perfect opportunity to see how far I could get on food before tiring and taking the tube.

As it turns out, London is a lot smaller than I thought and within half a day my trek had taking me from King's Cross to:

- The British Library
- The Wellcome Trust Exhibition Center
- Regent's Park
- Marble Arch, Hyde Park and Edgeware Road
- Leicester Square, Chinatown

As the photos in the next post will attest, I wasn't at all rushed and I'm pretty sure I could have walked back to King Cross had a businessman not put the fear in me by saying it was many miles away. Just as in Paris, I found that the good weather to be conducive to much good spirit and people were more than happy to provide directions etc. Photos coming up in the next post.