On the second night at Grand Place, perhaps because it was a weekend, the square was still crowded with people and lively sounds even after midnight. Was it my imagination that the lights were also somewhat discotic (laugh)?
I woke up in the middle of the night, and even though it was around 3am, the square was still crowded with people and lively sounds even after midnight.
Exhausted from a day of sightseeing in Brussels, I slept soundly, ate the same homemade breakfast as the day before, and got back into action.
On that day, I was supposed to leave my hotel in Brussels, where I stayed for two nights, and head to Paris, my next planned destination. I had to check out of the hotel at 11:00 a.m., but the Tharys bullet train from Brussels South Station to Paris was scheduled to depart after 3:00 p.m., leaving me with about four hours of free time.
Although it would be a waste to waste this time, it would not be practical to do sightseeing while dragging a large suitcase for transportation. Come to think of it, the streets in Brussels are typical old-fashioned “cobblestone” and uneven, and I remember that it was harder to move around on foot than in other cities such as The Hague. So we decided to leave our suitcases and other belongings at a “temporary luggage storage” near a train station we found on the Internet and go sightseeing somewhere. As was the case in Paris, it seems that many cafes and restaurants are not specialized in this type of luggage storage, but rather do it as a side business. So, I reserved a place near Brussels station on the Internet and headed there using Google Maps’ directions. However, I couldn’t find the restaurant and had to go around the area for more than half an hour. I couldn’t find it, so I asked at a nearby café, which turned out to be a luggage storage store!
Because of the time and energy consumed by such a small problem, I was limited to one sightseeing spot. Then it occurred to me that Brussels is home to the European Union (EU) Parliament and Commission. In fact, the starting point for my graduate research topic was a court case involving a ruling by the EU Commission ordering Ireland and Apple Inc. to take measures to recover tax avoidance issued to Apple’s branch in that country.
Of course, seeing the EU Parliament and its building was of no direct use to me, but it was just an idea that I wanted to see the EU institution with my own eyes. However, it would be troublesome to find transportation from the station to the building, so I decided to take the plunge and walk about half an hour to get there.
The EU Parliament building that I arrived at was a magnificent building of a much larger scale than I had expected, and it made me realize the reality of the huge organization of the European Union as an economic and political union of 27 countries, mainly in Europe, with a total area of 4,233,255.3 square kilometers (the seventh largest in the world) and a total population of 447 million people (the third largest in the world). The exhibition was a real reminder of the existence of a gigantic Allied organization.
I would have liked to see more of the EU Commission building, but it would have been difficult to miss the Tharys bullet train to Paris, so I just nibbled on a huge hot dog at an open café in the park that I passed on the way. I was able to return to Brussels South Station with an hour to spare.
However, the long trip in the morning under the strong sunlight seemed to have considerably exhausted my body and mind. As I was going up and down the stairs at Brussels South Station, I suddenly noticed that my second bag, which I had placed on top of my suitcase, was missing. Normally I would have strapped it to my suitcase, but at that time I was just carrying it in a daze, so it seems to have been cleverly stolen along the way. Fortunately, I had my passport, local currency, and major credit cards in my shoulder bag that I always wear, so there was not much harm done (except Japanese yen, which is not used locally overseas), and the time for the bullet train was approaching, so I gave up the search and boarded the bullet train anyway, arriving at the North Station of the Paris terminal.
From this station, of course, there is a subway line to the hotel near the Louvre, and it would have been easy to get there if I had used the metro line, but I decided that this would be too much trouble and walked for about half an hour, dragging my suitcase along the way.
However, on the way, the atmosphere of the street changed a little, and I passed through an area where all the people hanging out by the side of the road talking were black. I was later told by someone familiar with the area that there is a very unsafe area around Paris North Station, and that it is so dangerous that even the locals do not go near it after dark. I was in a cold sweat when I realized later that I had ventured into the area out of sheer ignorance.
After arriving at the hotel, I walked around all day, including to and from the supermarket, as described later, so the number of steps we walked that day exceeded 20,000, according to my smartphone’s record.
It was after this that the big pinch of the night in Paris came.
I had already had some experience with apartment hotels in Brussels, so I thought I knew the ins and outs of this same apartment hotel in Paris. I had received an email with information about the hotel building and security to enter the rooms. I found a building that looked like it, with a button by the door for the security device.
I pressed the number given in the e-mail and tried to open the door, but the door would not open. I tried several times, but it would not open. I tried again and again, but it wouldn’t open. I must have been waiting for half an hour. Just then, a person entered the building, opened the door and went in. At that moment, I got in and slipped in. （I was breaking and entering 💦.)
It seems that some apartment hotels of this type are operating a few rooms in a Japanese condominium building as a hotel, and the residents of the building seem to come and go as well.
Finally, I managed to escape the strong evening sun and the stares of people passing by and entered the cool building.
However, the problem still persisted. The instructions sent to me by e-mail said that I should go through a “hidden door” after that. A “hidden door”? Again, I felt like I was lost in the world of detective novels. I looked everywhere in the back of the entrance hall, but could not find the “hidden door. While I was mumbling, people who seemed to be residents of the house passed by one after another. One of them, who seemed to be of Oriental descent, seemed to know what was going on and told me, “This is the place”.
I was surprised to find that the door was so “hidden” that I couldn’t recognize it at a glance.
From there, we climbed up two flights of stairs and
In addition, I unlocked security to enter the hotel room floor and
When I finally arrived at the room door, I unlocked the security again for the third time, and
When I finally entered the hotel room, I felt like I was going to collapse with relief.
It was 16:38 when I arrived at Gare du Nord and 18:30 when I entered my room, the end of nearly two hours of hard work💦.
However, it was even after this that we were put in a big pinch for the day.
This 6/29 adventure is not over yet. I’ve already spent enough words on it, so I’ll leave it at that for another draft.
