Jaunted

Our room was a little bigger than the rooms at the Jane Hotel. Seriously. It had bunk beds with the top bunk sporting some protective netting to keep you from rolling off at stops. We chose the bottom bunk, of course.

Then we pulled out our copy of A Tale of Two Cities and nestled up in our bed. There's something about trains that's just so peaceful and soothing. (Also, French cough syrup with high amounts of alcohol helps you sleep.)

We awoke in the middle of the night when the train stopped at a station we think was called Nancy. That's when we decided to pull down the black-out window shades. We didn't get up again until we were about two hours from Munich.

In the morning, we were able to explore the "amenities." Our room had an outlet, a pull-down seat next to the window, storage space under the bottom bunk, a small bottle of champagne, some bottled water and a control panel next to the head of the bunk with lighting controls and even an attendant call button.

We were served breakfast by said attendant when we were an hour from Munich. He came in with a table leaf that attached to the window sill. One person sits on the pull-down seat while the other sits on the bed. The breakfast fare wasn't too impressive: It was the European standard of rolls, butter and orange juice.

The star of the cabin was obviously the private bath. It had a shower, toiletries and unlike some hotels we've stayed in, plenty of towels. We didn't shower and the sink was sort of in the shower, making washing our hands and face a sort of splashy experience. Still, it's a private bath on a train.

All in, we paid €373 for this overnight train experience for two people. At the exchange rate we paid, it worked out to $511. We probably could have made it in just a regular seat, and there are cheaper ways to travel from Paris to Munich. But we did it for the experience--and it saved us the cost of a hotel room for a night!

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