The Detour on the Way to Paris

We decided not to buy a train ticket all the way to Paris because we knew the bus tickets would be cheaper. So our plan, was to buy a bus ticket once we got to Brussels, knowing about how much it would cost and that it would leave within an hour after getting there. When we got to the Brussels bus station we found that the only tickets still available were 1st class, which would cost us over $100, we were hoping to spend closer to $30 or $40. There was another bus leaving in the morning with cheaper tickets, so we decided to buy those tickets and find a place to stay in Brussels for the night. We got on the dreaded metro, heading for the Van Gogh hostel not knowing if they had any beds available, just hoping.
We found it pretty easily, it was not far from the metro stop and was apparently the building Van Gogh lived in for a period of his life. Luckily, they had a room for us! It was a pretty clean and put together place. This hostel had a variety of energy and water saving appliances, the kinds I originally expected to see in Europe, but had forgotten about. The bathroom light was on a timer, so if you forgot to turn off the light it turns of automatically. Of course it also turns off if you take too long. I found this out not because I took too long, but because I went in after someone else and jus got the tail end of their light session. The shower is also on a timer. Instead of having an on-off handle and temperature settings there one button. If you press it once you get about 2 seconds of luke warm water, but i discovered if you press really hard for a couple seconds you get about 30 seconds of warm water. It was definitely a bit annoying, but I think I would get used to it after a little while and end up using a lot less water and heat. I would not enjoy my showers quite as much, but perhaps those are the kind of sacrifices that are necessary if were going to take serious efforts toward sustainability. I would be curious to know other peoples response to that experience, and how it differs across cultures and demographics.

The rest of the night was relatively uneventful and we made it on the bus to Paris with ease. Our detour, although a bit frustrating at first, went pretty smoothly and did not put us back too much in terms of time or money.