Tuesday, December 2 - the Adventure is Not Done Yet!!

To say that our travel day was harrowing is an understatement. Fortunately our bags were mostly packed on Monday evening and we straightened up the apartment as well. Our driver was scheduled at 7:30am for the trip to Charles de Gaulle airport for our 11:50 United flight. Lloyd had set his alarm on his cell phone as back-up to my small travel alarm. At 4am, he heard the text message clicks--uh, oh! United Airlines had sent us a text that our flight was cancelled, and they had re-booked us on a 1:00pm flight from Paris to Newark, and then a flight from Newark back to Dulles on Wednesday morning! We popped out of bed and started looking at our options.

After searching the web-site, Lloyd found that there was United flight from Paris to Newark, and we knew that if we could get onto that flight, we could always rent a car as a last resort to get back home. Lloyd called United--fortunately he got an agent who spoke English fluently! She was able to re-book us from the 1:00 flight in economy to the 9:15am flight in Business Class where our original reservations had been. Next dilemma was the challenge of re-booking the taxi driver. Lloyd called the reservation line, and while he can speak some French, the recorded message was beyond his grasp. He sent a quick email to Victor Cabs, then called Victor directly and roused him out of bed. It's now 4:30am and we scheduled the driver for 5:45 for our new flight to Newark. It was lucky that our apartment had two bathrooms, so we weren't tripping all over to get ready.

"My" bathroom

 "Lloyd's" bathroom

Our driver was on time, the last bag of trash was deposited in the proper receptacle, apartment keys were left on the dining room table (always a scary thing--what if you left one last thing in the apartment?--too bad!!), and we were off to the airport before 6am.

When we got to the airport, we were told that our second flight - the one from Newark to Dulles had been cancelled also, and we were again booked on to a different flight on Wednesday morning. We knew from searching the United web-site that there was a flight from Newark to BWI at 12:47pm, but since our Paris-Newark flight didn't land until 12:10, the agent couldn't book this arrangement because getting through customs and immigration would not allow it to be a "legal connection". Of course, we were determined.

Long story, cut short: we were sitting near the back of Business Class near the door and we were able to make it off the plane before everyone else (without any pushing and shoving!) in spite of a medical emergency behind us and a large gathering of EMTs ready to board the plane. We were lucky; they held up everyone else! The walk from the jetway area to the immigration area is quite a distance; when we entered the hall, there was no one else there--a new experience. In fact, all the agents had been sitting around chatting with each other, and they snapped to when they saw us and immediately went to their posts.

Believe it or not, we made it through the customs process, out through the international security area, over to the next terminal and then back through the TSA security lines in time to get to the gate for the 12:47pm flight to Baltimore. Whew! But the saga wasn't done yet. Usually the gate agent has the most authority for booking seats on his/her flight, but this agent informed us he was "too busy" to help us so he sent us down to United's "Customer Service". As soon as we saw two harried agents there with over 20 people who apparently were trying to be re-booked from a cancelled San Francisco flight, we knew we needed another solution. Fortunately the United Club was quite close to where we were at that point, so we raced up there (keep in mind we are dragging our bags with us everywhere we go), raced past the check-in desk to the service counter. The nice lady there, (after about a thousand keystrokes) produced two boarding passes for the 12:47 flight. The gate agent, was surprised to see us, but he let us board and wished us well. What a relief to be in our seats.

Some "takeaways" about this part of the 'adventure':
1. It helped to have been flying on a Business Class Fare,
2. The untimely mini-strike by the Lufthansa pilots that cancelled over 2000 flights didn't help our situation,
3. Having booked a reliable cab company (Victor Cabs-Paris) insured our timely drive to the airport,
4. Lloyd will always insist that we never check bags on a flight!
5. Be persistent in achieving your goals and objectives and don't give up!
6. The small amount of time we spent to acquire TSA Pre-Check and Global Entry status was well-worth the fee, and most important of all:
7.  It is so nice to have our good friend Frank be flexible for airport pickup duty!!

A mystery cleared up:

 This is the official international symbol for Evacuation Assembly Point -- now we know!

Some additional observations and thoughts: it was a wonderful experience to connect with Lloyd's cousin Bernard and his wife. I am sure that we will all find ways to stay in touch and visit each other both in France and the USA.

Bernard, Dominique, JoAnn and Lloyd enjoyed several fun days together.

This trip we had more casual lunches and dinners--some in the apartment, so I didn't include many mouth-watering pictures of the food we ordered. Here are two from the lunch we enjoyed with new friends Paula and Tom at Bistro La Bruyere. The first is well-done filet of beef  (but without frites!) and a then a filet of daurade (bream):

These were our "main plates". The appetizers were smoked salmon and a duck carpaccio--who would have ever thought I'd eat raw duck!! Both were quite delicious.

We think we'd rather be in France a little later into December. Many stores and shops had their Christmas decorations in place such as the upside Christmas tree in Galeries Lafayette:

and many street associations also had their decorations done and lit in the evening such as the nearby walking street rue Cler:

But some were still putting them in place:

McDonald's (known widely, we learned, throughout France as "McDo" -- pronounced Mac-Doe, had its traditional display in place. Here, as well as at Starbucks, is a popular spot to pick up a wi-fi (pronounced wee-fee) signal when in France:

The Christmas Village booths along Champs Elysees are fun, but the merchandise is usually not high quality:

And one last memory: we learned two words thanks to Bernard and Dominique that we frequently used in Lyon, then in Paris as well as on our way home to Easton: the first was 'embouteillage'

This is an example of an "embouteillage" also known to us as a bottle-neck or a traffic jam! This one happens to be on the Champs Elysees.

The other was 'brouillard'. We saw brouillard during the first few days of our trip. Here you can see the top of the Eiffel Tower, behind the Ecole Militaire, shrouded in brouillard.

And so it went. We awoke this morning to cloudy, damp weather--a reminder of what we saw in France this year. But our breakfast of English Muffins and coffee (no warm baguette from the boulangerie) caused us to miss France already. "Venir sur notre prochain voyage" -- come along on our next trip.

Monday, December 1 - Almost Ready to Pack Up!

One more day to go in our latest French Adventure. We decided to pack some of our favorite excursions into the day, so we first ventured over to Le Bon Marche's La Grande Epicerie.

(The Epicerie is across the street from the main store.)

Prior to entering the store is the requisite stand selling fresh oysters (huitres). This is the season:

Same oyster season as in the USA.

La Grande Epicerie, as many know, is a combination of  all the best of Whole Foods, Trader Joe's and Costco (but without the bulky piles in the aisles and perhaps with a touch more class.) Last winter when we visited, part of the store was under construction--everything is now complete. And what a wonderful store it has become. Every department has displays that are beautiful to see and, of course, a temptation to the pocket book. Here's a peek at one of them:

This picture does not do justice to this display of bottled water--some that I spotted were priced at 59 Euros (those were the uniquely-named "Bling" which was spelled out in tiny rhinestones! How else could they justify 59 Euros for a single bottle of water!?!)

After buying a few items, we popped across the street to the main store to search for their "notions" department. I had heard that they have a fabulous array of buttons, thread, and other sewing necessities. After looking through several of the floors to no avail, we stopped one of the many astute-looking. attractive young salesclerks. He informed us that they no longer have a notions department--it has been replaced by the department of Christmas decorations, exactly where we were standing.

 Unfortunately, the reindeer displays that are hanging throughout the atrium do not show up well in this photo, but they really are quite spectacular.

After leaving Bon Marche, we stopped into the Chapel of St. Catherine Laboure, a beautiful church I discovered last year, thanks to one of my neighbors. I bought a medal and then had it blessed; quite moving.

It was time for a bite to eat, so we walked down the street to Cafe Varenne, a cute restaurant where we ate last year. I chose the lentil salad with a poached egg on top and Lloyd had the petite ravioli, each with a glass of wine--quite enough for us today. Then we were off again to walk through some familiar areas to see which boutiques and stores are still thriving: down rue du Bac, over to Blvd. Saint-Germain, on to rue de Buci. These are all areas where we have either stayed or shopped over the years.

Yes, lots of memories for us. Too soon it was time to head back to the ParisPerfect office to print our boarding passes, then back to the apartment:

to start the chore of packing up for an early ride to the airport tomorrow.

And one more view of the Eiffel Tower before we wrap

it all up and stow those new memories.

Sunday -- Part 2 of the Day--the Adventure Continues

Lloyd and I had visited the archeological crypts several years ago, but the exhibition has been updated and certainly worth another visit.

Lloyd, a student of history, examines a map of medieval Paris

Besides the static displays, there are new 3-D computer images of the building of Notre Dame, etc. It was very interesting. Nancy and I enjoyed it also.

(You can see the computer display on the screen behind us.)

We stopped for lunch at a bistro near the Conciergerie. Unfortunately the team photographer did not take any pictures. As many of you know, this site was first established in the 6th C. by Clovis, the first French king, as his royal residence. Later, through the centuries, it became a prison during the French Revolution. Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette were held here before being guillotined in 1794 along with over 2700 souls.

When exiting the Conciergerie, we came across two sights--one familiar and another not so:

One of the old Metro signs

None of us were quite sure exactly what this sign is indicating.

Nancy, Jim, and I (along with photographer Lloyd) were now ready to stroll across the Seine and start our stroll up the rue de Rivoli:

Along the way, since the weather had turned quite damp and chilly, Jim managed to spot a Starbucks Coffee--a nice place to take a break on our way to view the Champs Elysees. We ran into a young woman who told us she spends 4-8 hours a day there--why?! Oh, well--another generation.

Our goal for the late afternoon was to make our way through the throngs that were walking through all the Christmas stalls in order to see the lights on the Champs Elysees. 

Even the "locals" are checking their watches for the magical hour.

The local Parisian government apparently "listened" to the people and did away with the horrible blue hoop lights that adorned the trees that line the boulevard in recent years. This year the lights are much lovelier--and we were there for the 5 o'clock illumination:

Voila!! Let there be light!!

We made it there on time; now it was time to head back over to "our" side of Paris. Along the way, we came across something we had not seen before--a portable crepe wagon.

Quite the entreprenuers!

A full day with many memories....on to December!

Sunday, November 30 - (Part 1 of the day) -  the Adventure Continues...

Today's agenda started out with meeting up with Nancy and Jim at Notre Dame so we could attend the Gregorian Mass. We hopped on the #69 bus. On Sunday morning, it was virtually empty--quite a contrast from yesterday when it was packed to the gills with Saturday shoppers.

The Mass was spiritually moving--chants, incense, and the enormity of the soaring ceilings in the cathedral. The service was very crowded--almost as many that we had seen at Christmas eve this past year. Notre Dame is already decorated for Christmas.

Even the manger scene is already in place--of course, without baby Jesus. This year's display is completely done with 'santons, the typical figurines from the Provence area of France:

Lloyd and I traditionally light several candles to honor our departed relatives. This year was no exception:

The various chapels that surround the interior of Notre Dame are filled with these small tributes.

The exterior courtyard of Notre Dame is a popular place for brides to use as a backdrop for their wedding photos. Unfortunately Mother Nature did not cooperate with this bride today, but she was not to be deterred:

Following the service, we set off to visit the crypts under Notre Dame that have been uncovered. They show the ancient ruins of the original settlement of the early city of Paris. Then we visited the Conciergerie, originally built as a palace turned into a prison during the French revolution.

More on these activities shortly.