Travel to France

First off I just have to say that I'm writing this from my phone, so if things are misspelled or it doesn't make sense I am sorry. The hotel internet isn't working from my computer so I'm making good on my promise that I would write more! So yesterday I headed from the Netherlands down to Paris to meet up with Kirsten and her mother. I took a train from Rotterdam straight to Paris. It was only a two and a half hour train ride, so it wasn't bad at all. In Europe it is so easy to go from one place to another by train. It's great. But I almost missed my train from Rotterdam because of all the traffic on the highway. We left about 2 hours before the train was scheduled to depart but got there with 15 minutes to spare even though the trip should have only been a little over an hour. I was pretty nervous I must say. My stomach was slowly tieing itself into a knot after every off ramp led to more bumper to bumper traffic. However I made it so I was worrying for nothing. Well then I got to the Paris Nord train station and I get in line to ask the information desk how to get to the hotel we were staying at, and as I'm standing there a girl comes up to me and asks if I want to help the orphanes. So I like helping people so I say sure. She says I just have to sign the paper in her hands and write where I'm from. No big deal. I signed it then she looks at me and says you need to pay. I thought well ok thinking I'll just give her a couple euros. So I reach in my bag and hand her a handful of change. She looks at it then tells me it's a 10 euro minimum. I look at her in surprise thinking well you didn't say there was a minimum. But I told her that is all I'm giving. And she got into an attitude telling me I need to pay. Usually when this happens I cave and give the person what they want but I told her no and looked the other way. Then she asks the lady behind me and tells her it's a 5 euro minimum. So after hearing that I was glad I didnt give her more money. Orphanes! Yeah right. But she tricked me with her official looking paper... Once I figured out where to go I headed down into the creepy, small, cavernous tunnels of the Metro station, walking up and down flights of stairs with a large suitcase, tennis bag, and a backpack (and i think this is why i havent seen any over weight people here, because of the amount of stairs there are in the train stations. No escalators anywhere!)So i got on the train I needed. But here the subway doors close and open so fast they only give you about 10 seconds to get on no matter how busy and crowded. So I manage to pull my luggage into the train when out of the corner of my eye I see a man charging for the train. He manages to run into the tennis bag on my back like Ray Lewis trying to tackle Tom Brady and pushes me forward to a point where I lose my balance and fall over my suitcase in front of me and onto the laps of two women. I look back at him like what the heck dude and he just holds up his hands saying he was sorry. Well I felt more sorry for the women who had 150 pounds just drop on them. I was a bit embarrassed but I tried really hard to keep my laughter in because the look on one of the woman's face was priceless, and the other had a big smirk on her face like me. But that's what happens when you travel on a crowded train with luggage. Something is bound to happen besides everyone violating my person space. But I finally got to the hotel with no further problems. Then Kirsten and I headed out to go hit in some indoor courts that her friend booked us. Little did we know that 'indoor' doesn't nessaarily mean 'indoor'. They were 2 courts in a park with just a roof over it. It had no walls just the open air and views of the surrounding park and buildings. When I think of indoor I think of a roof, four walls, and an entrance and exit. But I didn't mind because a court is a court. It was cold but fun nonetheless. Then after we hit we went to and saw a couple of famous places like Notre Dame, the Arc de Triomphe, and the Effiel Tower in the distance. So overall it was an exciting day, an experience well worth it.