Stamped

Day 01 ***CHASING FOR EUROS***

As soon as the hotel building didn't covered their eyes a sight of the urban Paris appeared before them. There were street names on the corners, traffic lights, cars, a park nearby, people crossing the streets, it was Paris, however it felt incredibly familiar, just like if they were somewhere in San Diego which is why it was strange a feeling looking at everything in French, of course they were in France so it should be in that language however Mark felt so at home that the fact that the writing on everything wasn't in English or Spanish surprised him a little, they moved across a store it looked like a Walmart back at home and just next to it a McDonald's "of course, they're everywhere" Mark thought and just next to it was the subway entrance, they followed the stairs and went in to check le metro fares.

There was a window an display and some machines, probably for self service, Mark thought about checking them but he ditched the idea, they didn't had money to waste so they went to the window.

"Pardon? Combien le billet pour le metro, mademoiselle?" Mark asked trying to keep up in French, his mom had told him that in France, in most Europe actually, they didn't liked American very much, and his English was quite Californian; the lady behind the glass pointed at the printed fares between the machine and the window. "Merçi, mademoiselle"

Mark and Mireya approached the ticket fares and started checking them up. One way ticket was 1.7 euros, so for the two of them it was 3.4 euros. "Perfect" Mark thought, they both moved to the window and got the tickets, Mark let out a "merçi" to the lady behind the glass, they went through the bars and then down the stairs till they arrived to the platform where they waited under the "Gallieni" sign.

Mireya seemed calm and at ease while Mark had the inner excitement of a kid in Christmas after all it was Le Metro au Paris. When it finally arrived Mark got in expecting to see the French-style-passengers whatever that could possibly mean. So when the doors opened the excitement on Mark's eyes searched for the couture and the model looking people but what expected his sight inside was pretty much the urban scene that was available well almost in any city and then the train was on their way and they were off to meet face to face with urban Paris.

About 35 minutes passed by and they got off when the Opera sign appeared in front of their window, they walked out of the subway, up some stairs and out the station into the streets of downtown Paris to find right before their eyes the proud building of the Académie Nationale du Musique rose high magnificent freshly renewed, with gold coated details all over the façade, two golden angels at each side welcomed everyone into the building that ruled the view, the dome rose on a jade-emerald green bringing two colors to the place, green and gold, colors of wealth from the Parisian luxury.

Both walked into the Parisian downtown still bewitched by the building before them, it was there and it was real, the place where the famous story of the Phantom of the Opera was inspired, it was rich and magnificent, they could feel the glory of all those years ago coming from the ground; Mark stared for a little longer at the building "So this is it, The Ópera Populaire ... how wonderful ..." he thought but right now they had something to do, they needed euros, and as gracious and glorious as the building could be they had better things to look for, and a place to exchange currencies was on top of the list beating the five minutes of delight in front of the former Ópera Populaire.

"He said just coming out of the station here didn't he?" said Mireya looking around "Well, where is it?!"

"There" Mark said a little bit loud pointing at the place and walking towards it, Mireya hadn't spotted it yet so she walked by him trying to find where he pointed at "Right there, just where it says ... Fermé" he let out a sigh, of course it couldn't be that easy.

"And "fermé" means?" Mireya asked to Mark, and he told her that it meant closed, "Ah! Perfect! So we're in nowhere, let's just go back to the hotel, please?" Going into pointless adventures wasn't much her type.

Mark considered the option quickly then he shook his head "We got a lil problem there."

"Oh? which one!?" she said a little bit upset, going all the way into downtown for nothing wasn't exactly what fun meant in her dictionary.

"We kinda have only 1.6 euros left" they only had 5 euros and they both used a 1.7 euro ticket to get there. "It's not enough not even for one of us."

"Well I can try it's just 1 cent what's missing" Mireya was upset when she answered "It was your idea to come here after all."

"Oh come on, I mean this is downtown" Mark said while walking into a crowded street that seemed full of life "there HAS to be hotels around here and usually in hotels they exchange currencies, mostly because well, it's downtown of a very touristic city." They were walking through the street and Mireya was about to reply when Mark spotted a hotel sign "Fair enough there's one right there!" And he walked faster towards it.

"Fine" Mireya thought "hope this is quick, I'm tired." And she kept up the speed to her brother's walk. They walked into a hotel on the boulevard Des Italiens, Mireya was waiting for Mark to come up with the answer, few moments later he was coming back. No exchange.

"But he did told me that there a place close by, however, it was probably closed, because it's Friday and it's 8 o'clock" They walked out of the hotel and stared at the golden sun on the horizon "8 o'clock? Doesn't seem to me at all" Mark thought, they kept walking on the same boulevard until it became the boulevard De La Madeleine, they passed through the great and beautiful Madeleine and turned on Rue Royale just to watch the Place du la Concorde sparkled with the evening orange sun the whole golden scenario was a perfect romantic view, however they were two brothers with no cash, romance wasn't on top of their lists right now, they needed one thing: money.