We left Lucerne 40 years ago today by train. Our train and individual compartments within the train, and the four girls and I chose one. There was a glass door and windows facing the aisle, so all could see in. Mr. Vivian asked us not to close the blinds. I guess he didn't want any hanky panky.
The train went through the mountains and into France. We were heading toward Paris, which would be the next stop in our journey. Somewhere along the way, the train picked up a bunch of Portuguese soldiers. Having had the experience the night before with Swiss soldiers, I wasn't too thrilled about this new group of soldiers. They were supposed to be in third class, but they came onto our car and peered inside our compartment. They saw the girls and wanted to come in. I shook my head no, and they were nodding yes. It got a little dicey, when the conductor saw them and chased them away. We settled down to take naps. Sandra and I couldn't sleep, which was very unusual for her. She slept a lot on our tour buses. In fact, we all used to laugh about her sleeping, as she was missing the sights, but the train was a time for us to just laugh a lot.
When we did "Blithe Spirit" in college, I had to buy a cheap gold wedding band as a prop. I wore it on the tour, while protecting the girls, to look like I was older than I was. It helped, until we were on the train. The soldiers came back to our compartment and were rattling the door. I had it locked, but they were trying to break the lock. I pointed at my ring finger and pointed at Sandra. One of the soldiers pointed at his finger with no ring and pointed at Sandra. Once again, it was getting scary until Mr. Vivian came along and told the conductor to get rid of them. He did. The girls and I then went to the dining car for lunch. At some point during lunch, Sandra broke a tooth while eating. She didn't tell me until we got to Paris.
The train pulled into the station in Paris, and we were taken to our hotel. This one was the nicest on our tour at the Place de l'Opera. My window looked down the street at the Opera House. I was going to enjoy Paris, as I felt I was fluent in French. After we checked in, I walked outside to get my bearings. A large man came up to me on the street, and talked a mile a minute. I did not understand a word he said, even though he was speaking French. My ego deflated, and all I could tell him in French was that I was an American, and I didn't know what he was asking. He patted me on the back and excused himself. I think he was asking for directions, but I wasn't quite sure. And, after that guy in London asked me for directions earlier in the trip, I certainly didn't want to give the wrong directions again.
When I got back to the hotel, I went up to Sandra's room to see if she wanted to go out to eat, and she informed me that she had broken a tooth on the train, and the sharp edge was hurting her mouth. She said she wanted to find a dentist. It was Saturday night, so I asked the concierge about getting some help, and he suggested we call the American Hospital. I did, and told them in French that I needed a dentist, and that is was an emergency. They put me through to a dentist, and I explained the problem. He told me that it was not an emergency. I told him that Sandra was in pain. He said it wasn't an emergency. I really think he didn't want to come out on a Saturday night. He told me to tell her to put some candle wax around the broken tooth and get it fixed, when she got back to the States. That wasn't acceptable but it was all we could do.
The other girls wanted to get something to eat, and there was a little restaurant a block from our hotel. Sandra came along, and we ate there. When the waitress found out we were Americans, she was pretty rude. That old adage about the French not liking the Americans were true in her case, but I must say that most were nice. We ordered ice cream, since that was about all Sandra felt like eating. It was good.
Our hotel, even though is was very nice, sat over the subway, so when the trains would come by, the building shook. It had been a very eventful day, and despite everything, had been very nice. Sleep came very easy. We had a long day tomorrow.
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