A Series of Unfortunate Events

This morning we visited the Sacre-Coeur. Just when we thought we were safe from scammers due to arriving early-morning, we were bombarded by a hoard of Senegalese with threads. Being morning hours and trying to start early on the jackpots, I was charged 5€ for my thread bracelet and Rosie was charged 10€ from a sexual predator. However, we were clever and planned ahead, so I got away with 0.90€ for mine, and Rosie gave in to her creep and gave 2€. Fortunately they didn't hassle us further and we got away safely!

 

But that was not all over in terms of harassment and sticky situations...

When we arrived later at Bastille for an afternoon session round the Marais, we were ambushed at the station by a hoard of police officers. Well, train officers. Knowing full well we had reduced tariff tickets as we came to the top of the escalators - unable to turn back - we mentally made lists of all the excuses and reasons we could use or how to avoid the officers. Running away? Swinging a rope from the roof structures and escaping Indiana Jones-style? Or perhaps sliding back down the rails of the escalator... breaking into a run and sliding underneath their legs and out the other side Antonio Banderas style?! Each step bringing us closer and closer to the officers, and the moment we turned in panic they moved nearer. Great. Fan-bloody-tastic.

They were checking everyone's tickets and rail cards... I had some old adult-fare tickets, but when he scanned them he said they were used up. And then the moment we were dreading. After hearing/reading stories of being fined, we were convinced it'd be 80€ or something crazy. Turned out it was 40€. Each.

You'd think they'd have something better to do than scam au-pairs and students out of hard-earned money! Maybe make a start on the scammers using string as their lethal weapon of choice, or the not-to-be-fooled 'gold' rings... but no. Let's pick on happy people who still think Paris is the romantic city and that life can turn out good.

We grudgingly paid our fines, during which I considered bartering the 'gold' ring in return for freedom. Too bad our brainwave came a tad too late, but it could have worked. Maybe. All I know now is we're stuck with a brass ring and minus 40 euros in our wallets. Each. To brighten the mood and our raging sense of injustice in the burrows and mazes of the Come On Eileen Vintage Shop, we speculated further catastrophes and unfortunate events which could make our day worse. Walking into another barrage of officers at the next metro to be slapped with another set of fines? Running over a child on the school run? Crashing the car? William returning home for a 'surprise' visit?

 

 Underground in Come On Eileen

Fortunately we made it through the day unscathed by further bad karma and doom, aided by the fact we lowered risk rate by confining ourselves in Rosie's room with well-padded mattresses and cushions and a non-traumatising film. Our day was brightened by our good finds in Coiffure - another vintage shop we discovered on our Tuesday rounds - and we bought a life-time supply of knitted jumpers.

Any more scams out there? I think we're both ready to fight anyone off after the lessons and life skills we've learnt and survived this week!