How to Get to the Flixbus at Quai Bercy in Paris 75012

So, my next adventure is almost upon us. The only thing is that I need to find out how to get to the Flixbus in order to do it. Do you have any idea how do you get to the Flixbus at Bercy Seine? That is the question. So you're sitting there wondering what is the Flixbus I'm talking about. The Flixbus is a German run bus service that offers inter-European travel for a fraction of the cost of the plane and train. Here is a bit about them on Wikipedia:

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FlixBus

Flixbus' current logo, used since 5 May 2016
Type	Private
Industry	Transport, Travel, Travel technology
Founded	2011
Founders	Daniel Krauss, Jochen Engert, André Schwämmlein
Headquarters	Munich, Berlin
Area served	Europe and the United States
Services	Intercity bus service
Website	www.flixbus.com

Flixbus (styled "FLiXBUS") is a German brand which offers intercity bus service in European countries and the United States. Launched in 2013 following the deregulation of the German bus market, Flixbus aimed to establish an alternative to carpooling and Deutsche Bahn, the German state-owned railway.^[1] In 2015, after the merger with the competing startup MeinFernbus, Flixbus controlled^[2] 71% of the German market (measured in kilometres driven by the company).^[3] Flixbus is now rapidly expanding across Europe. The company's investors include General Atlantic,^[4] Holtzbrinck Ventures and Silver Lake Partners.

So, for my next adventure, I will be taking the Flixbus and the stop is at Quai de Bercy, right off the Seine. The problem is that most people seem to have the darndest time finding the place and I am notoriously horrible with directions. I can never find my way without a lot of help from kind strangers. How will I ever find this place?

Which is why I decided to do a dry run today. I did not want to take the chance of turning up on the day only to find myself utterly lost and then miss my bus. According to Google, the best way there is to take the line 14 to Quai de Bercy or Parc de Bercy or something like that then walk 15 minutes to the depot. Can that be right? It doesn't sound to me that it is right.

So guess what I did? I followed my gut and took a bus that was not even mentioned in Google maps or directions or any of those. Even Ratp.fr did not suggest taking the Bus 89 to Quai de la Gare or whatever that stop is called and getting off and crossing the bridge and its right there! You just walk across the bridge, turn right and go straight ahead and you can't miss the depot.

This area of Paris is not one I am terribly familiar with. I don't come over to this side very often at all. It is an interesting area in its own way. I took the time to take a few snaps along the way across the bridge to the depot:

So I finally made it to the depot and it was easy as pie, actually. Taking the Bus 89 is definitely the best way as far as I'm concerned. Well, maybe the Metro 14 was closer but coming from my place, the Bus 89 makes the most sense.

 The people grumbling online were right about a few things though. For example, the restroom is scary. I couldn't even use it. I held my business and took the line 14 to Madeline and went to use the Restroom at another venue, a bit more posh. 

Flixbus is definitely not a glamourous way to travel, that is clear as soon as you step into the depot. It reminded me immediately of back home in America in the days when I took Greyhound from New York to Atlanta. For me, Greyhound is like, "OMG." I vowed never to do to myself that again for the rest of my life - get on a Greyhound bus. And I say this with all due respect to the company and its customers. I don't want to sound like  a snob but I have to say, it is pretty darned awful, that experience. I concluded it was a way to travel if you want to be treated like savages and I did not want to be a savage or treated like one. So I decided no more 17 hour trips on Greyhound for me for the rest of my life (except if it is in an overnight, private cabin which does not exist).

This trip I am about to take here in Paris, that I will be taking is a 4,5 hour trip but it looks a lot like the same type of experience as when I took Greyhound. But I have to say that the bathroom at Flixbus Bercy Seine looks really bad. I have to be honest. It was like, "wow."

Greyhound did not have a fancy bathroom and it wasn't pristine but it did NOT look as bad as the one I saw today at Bercy for Flixbus. I was surprised by how bad it was. And it is so easy to fix that, I would think. All they have to do is make it a paid toilet (one euro per pee) and have a person who monitors the space. And a femme de ménage. That is all they need. The paid toilet option would help absorb the cost of the front desk person and the cleaning lady. And when people pay for things, they treat it better. Really, if they got a paid toilet, I think it could be a very, very appealing way to travel.

What will the experience be like? I have to admit I am a little bit nervous. But the price is unbeatable. I mean, for under 40 euros (sometimes under 20) you can get from Paris to another European city or to another major city or port in France. It is a good price. But will it be worth it when you factor in other things like restroom, fellow passengers and duration?

I will let you know just as soon as I have all the information.

The Marais at Midday on a Thursday in January

Wow. What is going on in Paris?! The Marais was eerily quiet today when I strolled through the streets ISO the Musée Carnavalet. Usually, this part of Paris is a buzzing, mini universe onto itself but it was eerily quiet and unpopulated, sort of like Rue Mouffetard was the other day. What is going on?? Have tourists been scared off from Paris? This will decimate the economy if that is so. Or maybe it is just one of those things? A coincidence? I sure hope so.

So yea, I went to check out the Musée Carnavalet this midday. I have been there a few times obviously, but it is the kind of place you can never really see too many times in my opinion and the best part is, it is free. So being that I was already in the neighborhood after my morning meeting, I figured, what the heck.

What the heck is that the darned place is closed down (and I mean battered shut) till at least 2020. I could not believe it on one hand and on the other hand, it is so commonplace to have this kind of thing happen. Nothing at all is sure. One minute you see it and the next minute it is under travaux or gone completely.

If I had the money I would have swung by the Musée Picasso which was also in the vicinity because it is no longer under construction though the last time I visited a few years back when I had the money, it too was closed for construction until a very ridiculously long time. So it's gotta be me and my infamous bad timing. Right? It's gotta be.

So I just turned around and headed back to Chatelet to catch my bus and while I was at it. I photographed points of interest such as the Archives Nationales (a really impressive piece of architecture I should say) and I window-shopped several of the art galleries on Place des Vosges. Interestingly, I could not find the Maison de Victor Hugo which is supposed to be in this vicinity. I wonder if it, too, was closed for construction?

I believe I also photographed the Place des Vosges and some street scenes in the Marais. I headed up Rue Rambuteau and stopped to admire the "modernity" of the Centre de George Pompidou as well and then, finally, (just so I could have a little pleasure after the disappointment of the musée being closed)  I stopped in at HEMA (my favorite store) to pick up a few little bits and bobs.

Then, it was homeward bound. I am here at my little round table typing away while lunch boils on the stove. I am trying to fix something healthy and quick  before I head out again. I am working on something  healthy and RED. Why red? Cause. I am in a red state of mind.

Below you can find some of the photos I took today. Enjoy!

A Little Bit of Snow in Paris Leads to a Joy Ride in a "Private" Navette and Utter Pandemonium

It snowed in Paris today. This is a BIG deal. It hardly ever snows in Paris. It is one of the things I miss about New York winters. Snow. Blizzards. Can you believe I am saying that? That I miss New York blizzards when snow piles up almost to my neck on the side of the streets? That is because of the scarcity of snow in Paris. After several years of this, it makes you sort of nostalgic for snow and blizzards like the ones we get in New York.

Which is why today's snow should have been the most awesome sight but instead, I was caught off guard and I was like, "What???" I had on the wrong boots for one thing. They have no grip and I no longer trust my sense of balance. Not one hundred percent. Maybe 80 percent. But not 100 percent. Before, I never thought about falling but after my fall on Rue du Cherche Midi in December (because of my slippery shoes), I know it is possible for me to fall and so having the wrong boots in snow is not something I think is very cute.

But the boots were not a problem. It was the busses. I could not believe that two flurries of snow rendered everything immobile in a city like Paris. Seriously? You are throwing us off the bus and turning around because of two flurries? Are you serious? And how are we to get to work? Oh, you expect me to take the metro? I have to get on the RER? Seriously??? The driver did not give a damn about my hysterics. He just wanted me off the bus so I got off, and stood there perplexed. How would I get to my destination on time knowing that my clients were such sticklers for punctuality? I don't like to be late with this client.

Behind me, I notice there is a metro station. The RER C. I hate the Metro. I may have mentioned that before. I have bad luck in the Metro. Strange shit happens in the metro. I don't like it at all. But there are those moments when you just have no choice. So I get on the RER and I get off at a stop that should have been easy to circumnavigate but instead, I looked around and recognized absolutely nothing. This is Pont Garigliano?? Where is this place?? Where am I?? Luckily, I see a navette, a little van. Normally, navettes are run by the city and the old people get on them but I figured, even if I am not technically old, since the weather is inclement, they will let me ride. So I flag the navette down and hop on.

The driver is alone in the navette but I only notice this afterwards, after he had closed the door. He asks me in French where I am going. I tell him where I am trying to do. He compliments my "jolie accent" and then he tells me the navette is a private van for Microsoft workers. He continues to drive but I do not know where he is going.

OMG. I want to get off this van NOW. He asks me where I am from. I tell him New York. Brooklyn. He tells me how jolie New York is but that he has never been there. He tells me he bought a 1970 Mustang from America but that it was delivered by boat and that he has never been to America.

All this time I am smiling but I am petrified. I want to get to where I am going but not in a private navette alone with some overly friendly man I don't know. He asks me again where to. "The Seine," I say. "If I get to the Seine, I can find my way."

We start talking about the architecture. I point to a building and tell him how beautiful it is. Small talk. Nervous AF. Scared. But he wasn't scary. Although, are they ever? His name is Pierre. He continues driving and asks me exactly where my final destination is and I tell him. I hope for the best. I continue the small talk and he continues the small talk. We talk about the French language and English and the chateaux and histoire. He tells me how proud he is of his history and he lectures me on various chateaux.  I explain that I had wanted to go see the one in Chantilly yesterday but that my Navigo did not cover the commute. "Dommage," he said.

Make a long story short, it worked out. He dropped me off in front of where I was going, in the 16th arrondissement and we shook hands and said goodbye, no harm no foul.

But that was just bad. How could I have hopped into a van with a stranger like that before ascertaining where the fuck I was going??? That could have ended really, really badly. You know?