And Outside The Rain Fell...

Hurriedly waking up, feeling a little cold. A quick look at my watch. Hazy, it looks like its 5.40 a.m. Maybe it’s it is just 4.40 a.m. yet, I’m not sure. I’ve woken up early. I check my mobile. Damn. Why can’t I open my eyes? Is it 5.40 or 4.40? Is it morning yet? Yawn. I’m so, so tired. 2 more minutes of sleep wouldn’t matter. I change the clock on my phone from Analog to Digital.

Shucks. 5.42 am! Train leaves at 6.18 am. Alone, I need to find the way to the Metro, catch a tube, meet the gang at the station and catch my train to Luxembourg. And I need to pack too. Rubbing my eyes, I get up. Need to brush. Shower. Pack my blanket. Pick up wallet, passport pouch, coins (2.1 Euros), my two phones, camera, back pack. Need to wake up Vipul. And run like hell. Catch the metro. And get to station.

Needless to say, all I managed to do was to pick my stuff up and run. Like crazy. Got into the wrong station too. Ran all the way down. Now up. The tube worked automatically, no drivers. But I was too late to admire it. 6.10. Station. Long corridors to the main station. Lille Flanders. 10 minutes left. Woo-hoo. I’m good. Now only to find my station and the guys (and Bansi). Tard calls. Yay. There they are.

A day that begins like that can’t possibly go wrong. And it didn’t. I slept like a baby, crouched on two seats in a packed train, oblivious to the world. Two hours. Absolute serenity. Changing trains at a station, all of which I almost walked with my eyes closed, I suddenly felt awake as soon as I boarded the train. Luxembourg.

Maps. Lockers. Out of water. Tickets back to Paris. The usual stuff done, we walked along Luxembourg city,looking for food. Covering the entire city in the 4 hours that we had would be easy. A Subway spotted. Yippee.

Outrageously expensive. This Subway was a rip-off. Thoughts of hot parathas and sabzi 7 hours later haunted me. Settling for bread. And ketchup. Well. I can wait for the parathas. And the sabzi.

The city wasn’t too different from any other European city we had seen, except for some fantastic views over a huge arching bridge. Panoramic. We walked along, laughing, talking, pulling each others’ legs. That the best part, in many ways. We are all the time teasing each other about everything on Earth.

The city was heavily fortified, with remnants of ancient walls with long tunnels all over the city. The “Casemats”, as this tunnels were called, were very, very long, damp, cold and claustrophobic. Descending into the eerily lit caves reminded of The Descent. It was amazing, especially the photographs that we took. Everyone looks evil in red, yellow and blue light, even little kids grinning away in black.

Inside the caverns for at least 3 hours, by the time we came out, it was time to leave to Paris. Paris. Yay!
Arriving at the Gare du Nord or Gare l’est station now indeed feels like I have arrived home. The homecoming is always pleasant, where we have access to good (great) food, internet and Paris city itself.

We finally did have parathas for dinner. Along with paneer mattar and some yummy tamarind rice. Sigh. Food. Always so great.