i may not have made it to the catacombs but...

I definitely got a taste of Paris attitude. ARGH. I was once told that if you have nothing nice to say that you should say nothing but... [need to vent]

I had two more encounters today that left me with yet another fantastic impression of people here (and I realize that this by no means is reflective of everyone here - I have had some fairly normal encounters with people... but the ones that are bad are just really irritating...)

The first: I go to the RER ticket salesperson to confirm whether or not I have to pay extra for a ticket to the airport. She quickly answer "B'en Oué!" in a tone like "are you a fool?" Clearly I am a fool for asking such a ridiculous question! Given that the RER and Metro are both accessible on the SAME tickets I guess my question was a ridiculous one?! ARGH. Whatever.

Number two: I get to the Catacombs at 4:03pm. They close at 5 but apparently they don't let people in after 4.... Okay... So right, I'm late but I'm hoping that a lonely French Canadian girl might make her way in... so I go to the bouncer (he looked like a bouncer) and ask him if it's closed. He responds that yes they are closed... so then I try some more "vous venez de fermer?" (seeing people paying just inside the door.) "oui, il est trop tard. On ferme à 4heures." Hmmm... I put on the sadest face I can and say "oh, mais je retourne au Canada demain...." (a lie but he wouldn't know...) .... "vous pouvez revenir demain matin." I respond that my plane leaves in the morning... and realize that I am getting zero sympathy so I look at him and say "eh bien, c'est la vie, n'est-ca pas?" turn around and walk away. (No response from him as I said this...)

I've read in a number of travel books that people here have an attitude. I was starting to think that maybe it wasn't so bad here. But... moments like the ticket lady at the train station really reinforce this belief. I don't blame the guy for not letting me into the catacombs - I was late, it was my problem not his. He could have shown some sympathy though... I guess he probably gets that every day though so maybe he just doesn't care anymore.

I leave for Berlin tomorrow morning.