Before we came to Paris we purchased what is called a Paris Pass. This pass gave us entrance into several museums and points of interest. It also included the price of our boat ride, the bus tour and unlimited access to the metro and RER systems. But there was a time limit for use of 4 days from the time we started using it. We planned our trip for that number of days. It has been very nice to not have to worry about having to buy tickets all the time.
It didn’t take long to learn how to use the ticket for the metro. Or, how to use the metro itself even this it is a very large system with multiple trains and lines. There is a metro entrance right outside our hotel, which is very nice. To get there you much go down a flight of stairs, having your entrance ticket ready to go nearly immediately through the turnstile. Once through then you have to determine which subway line you need to get to the location you want. Thankfully we have a basic metro map in our Paris Pass book, in addition to one Sam had on his iPod. Usually, we planned which train we would need and what transfers before going out for the day. In some areas we had to transfer a couple of times to get to where we wanted to go. But, transferring also involved walking from one line to another underground. Sometimes, up stairs, down hallways, around corners, back up more stairs, then down a set of stairs to another hallway before reaching the next train. Occasionally one would see someone sitting in a corner, begging. Or in front of the wares they had for sell. Many times you would come upon a musician or two playing instruments or singing with a bowl or hat out for donations. Over the weekend it was easy to get on and off the train cars and find a place to sit without difficulty. There didn’t seem to be a great number of people on the trains. But on Monday that changed! The metro tunnels were packed with people……all in a hurry. There were so many people on the subway cars we joked about “how many people can you put into a subway car? One more!” It reminded us of the buses in Kenya. Especially around 6-7 p.m. when people were going home from work. And, most either had smart phones in their hands or some type of ear phones on. Just cram in the car as tightly as possible and don’t look at anybody else. Keep your head down, looking at your phone or stare off into the air. When the train stopped everybody politely moved around to allow people to get on or off. We found it equally as busy in the mornings when it was time to go to work. But, during the middle of the day it wasn’t as busy.
Paris is famous for its pickpockets. In fact, everywhere we went there were signs to beware of pickpockets. We had prepared and planned for that before coming here. Standing in line at the Eiffel Tower on the first day Scott and Amy believed there were a group of people behind them getting a bit too close and touchy. We rearranged how we were standing to avoid that. We really haven’t seen or heard anything else until today. First, I had read that around Sacre-Coure there are people who will come up to a person and try to tie braided pieces of string on your wrist. Scott experienced that as we were leaving the site as one person grabbed him by the wrist. He pushed them away. Then again on the subway on our way back to the hotel we had what could have been a very bad experience. We had just finished our last sight-seeing tour of the day – at Sacre-Coure. We had passed through the entrance gate into the metro station. We were to take three different trains back to the hotel. The first train arrived. It was very crowded. As the car door opened just a couple of people got off. I was the nearest to the door and made my way into the car. Scott got in right after me. There wasn’t much room and Sam yelled out “there isn’t enough room….Amy & I will catch the next train and meet you there”. Quickly people pushed back closer in the car making room for both of them inside the car and they were able to get on. I didn’t think anything of it because we had ridden other trains within the last two days that were very crowded…..but that should have been our first clue not to get on that particular train. It was way too crowded. Just after the train started up and running I felt a sudden jerk as people seemed to lose their balance. There was a young lady next to me who asked me what time it was. I told her I didn’t know. She kept asking…almost in a pleading manner. Her attempts at English were very poor. Finally I lifted my left arm and quickly saw that it was just after 5 p.m. and told her so. She then tried to ask me something about where we were or where we were going or something like that. She kept pointing up to above the doorway where the train map was posted. I just shrugged my shoulders and said “I don’t know”. Thankfully, we were just on that train until the next stop. As the doors opened Scott jumped off very quickly and seemed quite angry. The rest of us followed him off. Then I found out why he was so angry. As soon as he had gotten on the train at the first stop and stood in that crowd of people someone had tried…successfully to pickpocket him!! What happened then could only be God-directed as we all acted instinctively and not as planned actions. After we had gone through the turnstile to get into the metro station Scott had placed his Paris Pass into his left front pants pocket. His money and passport were in a secure pocket pouch belt he wore under his shirt and around his chest. He had on a fleece jacket that went down over and covered the opening to his front pants pocket. But, this little pro-pickpocketer was able to reach into that pants pocket and remove his Paris Pass! He felt it happening, looked down and saw the Pass in her hand. He grabbed it out of her hand and pushed her. That little jerk I felt just after the train starting was because he had pushed this girl who fell into a couple of others who were trying to pickpocket Amy and Sam. They were facing each other and could feel a hand try to slide between them at the abdomen level. Sam was eating the hotdog he had purchased just before getting on the train. When he felt the hand touch him he shifted slightly and offered Amy a bite, causing her to move slightly away. Amy’s money was in a pouch that went around her neck and under her clothes. Her hair hid the strap. So when they rubbed against her stomach they couldn’t feel anything. Sam had a fanny pack on but because of the jerk that Scott caused the only zipper they found was the top one that had just a little travel poncho in it that didn’t get removed! Meanwhile we realized that the young lady trying to ask me all the questions was trying to distract me and make me raise up my hand away from my bag . The short time I had raised up my arm to look at my watch they had already unzipped my purse. When I had placed my had back down on my purse I found the zipper open and had been trying to get it rezipped while standing there so I had my hand over the opening and there was nothing taken out of my bag. When we got off the train Scott said that after he took his Pass back he put it back into his pocket and placed his hand inside his pocket. She attempted again!!! and he elbowed her. Meanwhile on his other side someone was trying to take his umbrella from his other pocket so he elbowed her! Then the train stopped and the door opened and we got off! We then realized that there was a group of young people all working together. The only thing partially pulled out of my purse was my Paris Pass guidebook! If that girl had been able to actually keep Scott’s Paris Pass it wouldn’t have done her any good except for one more day of the Metro as it was only a 5 day pass and we were on the 4th day use of it. Scott wouldn’t have been harmed by it being gone because we had no more plans to use it due to our leaving Paris early the next morning. The only harm would have been that she could have been successful. We all know that the Holy Spirit was directing our actions and protecting us from harm. We praise God for His protection in all areas of our lives! We thanked God then and there and later in the evening Scott prayed for that group of girls. What could have been disastrous turned out to be just an unpleasant experience. Lesson learned? Don’t get on crowded subway cars. Wait for the next train to come!
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