FREE DAY.
Okay. Let me just say one thing.. I am claustrophobic.
I had a traumatic experience happen to me today and I felt like I was going to throw up, pass out and then die. (Don't fret dear mother, I am now safe and breathing) The girls and I decided to take a little walking tour of Paris at the worst time of day ever! Rush hour. Which apparently is at 3:30 here. We were heading into the Metro when we saw a crowd of people swarming around the ledge like bees waiting for the Metro. There was no way we were going to get in there without a million people crowding around us. When we got in, it was sweaty body against sweaty body without a way to even lift up your elbow (oh and not to mention the fact that French people really don't wear deodorant) . So I tried to close my eyes, not think about all the smelly bodies around me and breath, UNTIL the metro stopped right in the middle of the tunnel. They had a little problem and we were standing there trapped inside this fish bowl of people without any fresh air and hot, muggy breathing. At that moment I really thought about my surroundings and began to panic as small bursts of freak outs singed through my body. I wanted to get out of there so bad but there was absolutely no where to go and no way to get out! I felt like a Holocaust victim being piled into this disgusting dirty train with a million people waiting for my death. I wanted to scream at the top of my lungs and jump out the tiny crack of a window that was about 5 feet away from me. Once I saw that window I tried to maneuver myself towards it, but there were way too many people to try to get past. So I began to freak out and once again, panic. People started to back away from me as the "crazy American girl" began to announce "I CAN'T BREATH! I CAN'T BREATH! I CAN'T BREATH!!!!! Oh my gosh you guys I'm gonna die, I'm seriously going to die, I can't breath!" I have never had such a freak out in my life, I felt like I couldn't control my body, I just kept jumping randomly thinking I could get more air or something, then all of a sudden I began to tear up! I felt so dramatic but I couldn't help it! I let my claustrophobia get the best of me and I couldn't calm down. Luckily the metro started up again and we finally made it to our stop. I jumped out of that death trap so fast and it felt so good to breath fresh air.
THEN... on the way home it was still just as crowded when we got there 3 hours later. I told myself I wasn't going to let the freak show happen again, but let me just say... French people are crazy when it comes to getting on the Metro! They were like a heard of elephants butting their way in and squeezing themselves in there like a human Tetris. Peoples faces were squished up on the window and bodies were everywhere. There wasn't even enough room to fit us 4 girls in the same Metro so we had to go separately. As each Metro came by it was like survival of the fittest, they wouldn't even wait for people to get out, people would just push and push until they were barely inside. Then the human fish bowl would zoom away, while we would all wait for the next one to come. Finally I made it on with Danielle, I was squished up against the door and as we drove away my face and hands were pressed up against the door as I said goodbye to air for the next 5 minutes. When we got to the next stop, people began to push to get out and literally trampled over me and my leg fell through the gap!! Luckily some nice men hurried to get me up and I was back on the Metro. It was scary, I thought I was going to lose my leg or something. As they say "mind the gap" that didn't happen for me today.
Wow sorry for the novel of my traumatic Metro experience.... here are some pictures:
(I found this picture online... and this one isn't even half as bad as what we were in, there was barely any room to move around.. but here is a little taste of my experience.)
we went to this HUGE music festival that was all over Paris, it was soo much fun!
Okay. Let me just say one thing.. I am claustrophobic.
I had a traumatic experience happen to me today and I felt like I was going to throw up, pass out and then die. (Don't fret dear mother, I am now safe and breathing) The girls and I decided to take a little walking tour of Paris at the worst time of day ever! Rush hour. Which apparently is at 3:30 here. We were heading into the Metro when we saw a crowd of people swarming around the ledge like bees waiting for the Metro. There was no way we were going to get in there without a million people crowding around us. When we got in, it was sweaty body against sweaty body without a way to even lift up your elbow (oh and not to mention the fact that French people really don't wear deodorant) . So I tried to close my eyes, not think about all the smelly bodies around me and breath, UNTIL the metro stopped right in the middle of the tunnel. They had a little problem and we were standing there trapped inside this fish bowl of people without any fresh air and hot, muggy breathing. At that moment I really thought about my surroundings and began to panic as small bursts of freak outs singed through my body. I wanted to get out of there so bad but there was absolutely no where to go and no way to get out! I felt like a Holocaust victim being piled into this disgusting dirty train with a million people waiting for my death. I wanted to scream at the top of my lungs and jump out the tiny crack of a window that was about 5 feet away from me. Once I saw that window I tried to maneuver myself towards it, but there were way too many people to try to get past. So I began to freak out and once again, panic. People started to back away from me as the "crazy American girl" began to announce "I CAN'T BREATH! I CAN'T BREATH! I CAN'T BREATH!!!!! Oh my gosh you guys I'm gonna die, I'm seriously going to die, I can't breath!" I have never had such a freak out in my life, I felt like I couldn't control my body, I just kept jumping randomly thinking I could get more air or something, then all of a sudden I began to tear up! I felt so dramatic but I couldn't help it! I let my claustrophobia get the best of me and I couldn't calm down. Luckily the metro started up again and we finally made it to our stop. I jumped out of that death trap so fast and it felt so good to breath fresh air.
THEN... on the way home it was still just as crowded when we got there 3 hours later. I told myself I wasn't going to let the freak show happen again, but let me just say... French people are crazy when it comes to getting on the Metro! They were like a heard of elephants butting their way in and squeezing themselves in there like a human Tetris. Peoples faces were squished up on the window and bodies were everywhere. There wasn't even enough room to fit us 4 girls in the same Metro so we had to go separately. As each Metro came by it was like survival of the fittest, they wouldn't even wait for people to get out, people would just push and push until they were barely inside. Then the human fish bowl would zoom away, while we would all wait for the next one to come. Finally I made it on with Danielle, I was squished up against the door and as we drove away my face and hands were pressed up against the door as I said goodbye to air for the next 5 minutes. When we got to the next stop, people began to push to get out and literally trampled over me and my leg fell through the gap!! Luckily some nice men hurried to get me up and I was back on the Metro. It was scary, I thought I was going to lose my leg or something. As they say "mind the gap" that didn't happen for me today.
Wow sorry for the novel of my traumatic Metro experience.... here are some pictures:
(I found this picture online... and this one isn't even half as bad as what we were in, there was barely any room to move around.. but here is a little taste of my experience.)
we went to this HUGE music festival that was all over Paris, it was soo much fun!
at Norte Dame
the love lock bridge
it was a great day. :)
despite claustrophobia central.
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