Paris is full of gorgeous gardens and parks and the Parisiens very much enjoy them. My first experience in one of these gardens happened because of a case of bad luck.
I was traveling on the metro per usual and decided to get off at a new stop so that I could stroll and see a different section of Paris. It was a beautiful Sunday and people were out and about enjoying the weather. I found a table at a quaint sidewalk café and began looking at the menu. I had just received money from my parents to cover all of my expenses for my stay in Paris and I had it all with me. For some reason, I still decided to check my money prior to ordering. That's when things went wrong. I began digging through my purse and soon became aware that my wallet (a very big red wallet!) was missing. How could this be? Where could it have gone? I was holding my purse the entire time on the metro, wasn't I? I never let go of it at all, right? Did I talk to anyone? Did anyone bump into me? Evidently, I must have looked away long enough for someone to have slipped into my purse, take my wallet, and walk away with all of my funds for the entire year, as well as my license and my emergency credit card. I had nothing. Not even any money for the metro ride home. This was not good.
I began to walk. Thoughts were flying through my head. "How will I get home?" "How will I call for help?" "How am I going to break this news to my parents?" Before I knew it, I was miles from that little café and was at the entrance to Le Jardin du Luxembourg. I entered, sat down on a bench, and began to cry. I soon realized that crying was not going to solve the problem. And as I looked around on this beautiful day, I became aware that I was in a very special place. Not only was there a palace here, but there were beautiful flowers, statues, fountains, and monuments. There were children sailing model boats and older men playing boules and chess. There was a vintage carousel and a puppet theater. And the original model of la Statue de la Liberté (the Statue of Liberty) was here, too! Time seemed to stand still and I was surrounded by beauty and happy, happy people. How could I be sad? Who needed money? I was in Paris!
A nice woman sat next to me on the bench and offered money for my ride home. Once home, I called my parents who, of course, wired new funds to me and canceled my credit card and license. No big deal. Life was good.
And do you want to know something a bit odd? My wallet was mailed to me two days prior to me heading back to the United States. I'm not sure how, after many months, it was miraculously sent to me, but it was. My license, my credit card, my little notes and photos were all there. The money was gone.
So, here's a clip of one of my favorite places in the world. I hope you get to enjoy a beautiful place like this someday, too!
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14 comments:
Wow. Now THAT'S a story! My aunt travels a lot for her work and A few years ago something similar happened to her. I think she was in Lebanon. She was all done with her business stuff so on the last day she decided to peruse the shops. When she was about to buy something she reached into her purse and couldn't find her wallet! After finding a slit in the side of the purse she realized what had happened. Someone had snuck up behind her, cut a slit in the side of her purse and took the wallet without my aunt even noticing!
Wow, I can't believe that someone stole your wallet... and then returned it!
The video isn't working for me, but I googled pictures of the gardens, and they are so beautiful!
You landed in a good place to have a crisis. :]
That's a really good story and some really bad luck. I'm really sorry that someone stole your money, but on the bright side at least you got your wallet, license and credit card back. And I just can't imagine how someone from Paris could steal, it just doesn't fit the picture in my head. But good luck to you in the future. Au-revoir!
That didn't sound to good in the beginning. Well the beginning did, but at the point where you noticed your wallet was gone wasn't very exciting news. I would find it fun too to go to a different stop and visit a new place in Paris. One of your favorite places in the world is very pretty and it's cool that you got to experience it. I would be very upset if I lost my wallet and all of my money and every thing inside it was went missing, but you got it back! well way later and all your money was gone, but you were in Paris so it was all okay. I was glad you realized you didn't need anything like that when you were in Paris and saw the kids and all those people having fun with no real worries. Paris must have been a very great experience.
That must have been so scary! I can't believe someone stole your wallet along with the money inside then sent it back! That's a terrible thing that, that person did. It was nice of that lady to give you enough money for the ride home. But anyways you were able to enjoy Paris, a part that you haven't seen before and that must have been fun! I wish I could have watched the video but I tried many times and it wouldn't work.
I think that's a great story and nearly the same thing happened to my brother in Boston but he was able to retrieve everything EXCEPT the wads of cash he carries in his wallet. But that's really interesting by the way that he mailed the wallet back to like, "I want you to have something that costs money shipped back to you but I am keeping the real money". It just seems odd to me but it was a great story!
Wow, that its very odd. But I have a question, what did the little notes say on them and what were the pictures of? I still say we write a book about it, "Madame Schmearers Missing Red Wallet". Other than that fact that someone stole your wallet it sounds like Paris is a very peaceful, nice place. I would love to live there sometime.
I like that there's a random statue of a head in the garden area. It's pretty awesome. Anyway, how much money was missing??
Did the person that took the wallet ever get caught? And that sounds like something that would happen to me or someone in my family!
Losing your wallet is never a good thing, but to think that you ended up in such a beautiful environment! It's too bad that you lost your wallet but I guess the universe just wanted it to be that way.
Oh my gosh that would be horrible! that's happened to my mom before at a patriots game but someone took her wallet out of her purse and she never got it back but i mean your so lucky that someone was nice enough to send that back to you even though there was no money left. Paris sounds so beautiful i have to go there!!
It seems like you found the right video, they even had the model boats. The person who stole your wallet must have felt guilty and mailed it back, after spending your money. Or they had no use for it, it was nice they shipped across the Atlantic to get it to you, it is a little creepy though.
i would have cried over and over again if i had lost my wallet, but it is very nice of them to actually return it to you!!!
I find it strange how your wallet was mailed back to you. It is cool how you visited a lot of parts of Paris. Did you get to see all you wanted or did you not get to see everything?
that sounds like one of the most frightening things I've ever heard! I probably would have probably gone catatonic!!!! But the Luxembourg gardens are so pretty... There really isn't anything like it in the US, or the entire continent of North America for that matter! Was there a return address on the package that was mailed to you? (even the thieves in Europe are more polite)
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