Rome to Paris

One day, while in Switzerland, it rained and we were miserably wet. Faced with 70% chance of precipitation in Paris, we purchased some water-repellant so that we might be fully prepared. After boarding the train and relaxing in our “spacious overnight suite” for an hour or so, Christina set to work coating our jackets with the protectant spray. Suddenly, an alarm sounded in our cabin. Heart-stricken, Christina wheeled about to face Richard in hopes that he would tell her that she was not the cause of the alarm. He calmly returned her gaze with one raised eyebrow, and simply pointed above her head. Through the haze, she turned again to see a smoke detector with a now flashing red light. As the train began to slow, Christina burst out of the cabin in a panic to beg the conductor to please not stop the train and evacuate everyone. Once in the hallway, she became sickeningly aware of the fact that the alarm not only sounded in our cabin, but throughout the entire car, and the other occupants began to spill out into the hallway in an effort to discover what was happening – some curious, some slightly fearful. As Christina ran up and down the hallway with the can in her hand, trying to explain to the other passengers what was happening in a manner that would certainly win her a charades tournament championship, Richard remained out of sight. (Chicken.) By the time most passengers retreated to their cabins, and Christina was able to make her way to the conductor, he had “somehow” already figured out what was going on. She was relieved to find that he had not a scowl upon his face, but a smirk, and appeared to have no intention of throwing her from the train. Instead, he showed a hint of amusement as he frantically flipped through several manuals and said simply, “I know, I know….I try to stop.” That was it. Christina was free to skulk back to her cabin in disgrace, where Richard – still sitting quietly in the same spot – displayed a similar grin of delight at her self-induced humiliation. Soon thereafter, the power to our car was disrupted for a moment, and when the lights returned, the alarm did not – the efforts of our conductor a success. The silver lining? At least we can be grateful that Christina didn’t choose to perform this task in the middle of the night when she is usually the only one awake and looking for things to do. The other passengers might not have been quite so understanding at 2:00 a.m.!

By the way, it never rained while we were in Paris.