Travel Missteps: What time is it?

Time seems to stand still in Paris. You feel the desire to sit and watch as life unfolds around you.

My first trip abroad was when I turned 16 and was a week in Paris, France in February 2002. It was a family trip, my mother had found insanely low vacation package that included pretty much everything (air, hotel, river cruise, museum passes, metro passes, etc) for around $700 per person. This was a few months after September 11th, 2001 and the world, including the travel industry was still reeling from the effects and that is why the package was so cheap.

But traveling abroad for the first time had some challenges due to our own inexperience. The biggest issue we had was that not a single one of us had a watch or alarm clock. That combine with jetlag meant we were on our own schedule. We’d wake up around 11 am, just barely getting the included breakfast, that is until the staff realized we were sleeping in and on the other days kept our usual “pain au chocolat” with hot chocolate ready for us when we awoke.

We’d get lost and loose track of time while wandering museums and walking the Champs de Elysee. Around 11 pm or midnight we’d eventually try to find dinner, usually in bizarre establishments like being the only customers in an Italian pizzeria (in France) who’s owners only spoke German.

And if I, as the only member of the family who spoke a little French, would ask “What time is it?” to a local, I was rewarded with a rude “You pronounce it ‘Quelle heure est-il?'” and then having the local walk away, without actually answering my question.

So after returning from this tip, I make sure I don’t go anywhere without a watch, and while traveling I now also carry a small alarm clock. Its the little details you need to watch out for.

Travel Missteps