I hate when I come across things like this! It's my Normande coming out..

On the train back, that wrong thing happened. The French are funny about the way they do public transportation. I’ve said a million times that it’s great and reliable, but they still don’t make much sense in how they do things. For example, we bought tickets that said “sit where you want” – which we did. But other people bought tickets that said “sit in seat X”. So naturally, every seat we sat in really belonged to someone else.

The French aren't "funny" about things. I mean, there is some sort of system. You sit where you want, provided it's not reserved! All you have to do is look at the little tags above the seat! Is it really that difficult? Stupid Americans..