Our first day in Paris didn’t quite go exactly as planned.
It was a 1 and 1/2 hour train ride from Brussels, landing us in the Paris Gare du Nord station. We got great directions to our hotel and proceeded through to the Metro trains. When we got to the last station, Cheryl was coming through the turnstile when a man pushed her forward so she was not able to go forward or backward through the turnstile and within a second, had taken her wallet and disappeared through the next gate. The whole incident happened in literally seconds!
“As I approach the turnstiles to try to make my way through with my back pack and day bag in hand, I did struggle a bit because it was a small aisle to get me and my baggage through. All of a sudden I felt someone up against me. I could not move forward as the body behind me would not allow the turnstile to move. I could not turn around as my backpack would not allow me through the small turnstile entrance. It was all but a moment and the person was gone. I immediately thought that they were trying to get past the turnstile on my ticket – you know a free ride on the train. When I got to the other side, not 3 seconds later, my next instinct was to check for my wallet. Sure enough, it was gone!
Trying to find someone at the station to report the theft to was impossible. Since I was having no luck at the train station I figured it best to head to my hotel so that I might be able to phone my credit card companies and ask the front desk at the hotel where the nearest police station was.
Thankfully I did not have a lot of money in my wallet. About $25 US and 40 Euro. I had 2 credit cards, a drivers license, a few business cards, and the email address of a wonderful mother-daughter couple we had met in Dublin. We were to contact them when we were in the Netherlands so that we could spend more time with them. I keep hoping that they find me somehow. I would have loved to visit them.
Here it was, my first day in Paris, France. So much to see and do, so many wines to taste and new foods to try. Not for us. I spent the next 2 hours on the phone canceling my credit cards. In the hour since my wallet had been taken, there were over $3,000 dollars charged to my Master Card. Some nice clothes were purchased for $1,500. I am lucky if I spend that much in a YEAR on clothes! There were also two purchases at the train station. I mean, really, why waste time when spending someone else’s money?
Of my two cards I had, the easiest by far to deal with was the American Express Card. Really – don’t leave home without it! They had canceled my card and had a local office that they could have a new card for me within 2 hours! I was thrilled! I knew I was not going to be able to get there until the following day, but the convenience that was offered in having a new card so quickly is one I will never forget. My Mastercard was a little more difficult only because they did not have a local presence and could only send a new card to my billing address. All made to ensure that there is not fraud happening, but given my situation, it was not too helpful. Thank goodness I had a traveling companion more than willing to bring out her credit cards for the next few days while I was getting my act together.
The front desk at the hotel also said that it was required that I report it to the police. I had made my phone calls to the credit card companies first because that was a priority for me. (Side note – it cost me over 100 Euro on phone calls to take care of things related to the missing wallet). So, after a time getting my credit cards taken care of we head out to the police station, They were wonderful there and even had an officer that spoke English. We spent about another hour there, describing what happened, what was stolen, and completing all the paperwork. It was obvious that I was never going to see any of my stuff again. The police officer was really going through the motions of taking all the information, but I am sure she has seen this hundreds of times.
I was still feeling very upset about the whole incident. The feelings of “how could I let this happen†kept returning. I kept feeling that person behind me, taking advantage of my inability to move. Again, feelings of violation were the ones that returned the most.”
After this happened, we did quite a bit of research on the incidence of pickpocket victims in the Paris Metro system and the numbers are staggering! It’s impossible to be totally “pickpocket”-proof, but by keeping valuables in a hidden money belt or under-the-clothes shoulder bag should limit the possiblilities of being in this particular situation. That’s what we do now — hindsight, but maybe it will help someone else along the way.
Safe travels!