The Long Journey Home

Friday, 10/14 and it's time to head home after a fun filled 3 week trip.  We were ready to go home.  When traveling you always have some challenges, but I think we had some rather bizarre things happen.  Especially when it came to train travel.  We had 3 trains that shut down while we were on them.  After jumping from the train on Thursday, I made a comment that we should be done with the adventures since we were headed home the next day.  I spoke too soon.

Our plane was scheduled to depart from CDG airport at about 12:30 p.m.  That is an airport where you should plan to be there 3 hours before the flight departs.  The last time I flew out of that airport my flight was about the same time.  We had a really hard time getting on a train because it was commute time and very crowded.  We had no time to spare when we arrived at the airport, checked in and got through security.

This time we decided we would leave a bit earlier to avoid the busiest commute time.  I set my alarm for 5:45 a.m. and we planned to leave the apartment at 7:30 a.m.  That would allow plenty of time to shower, eat a little breakfast and make sure we weren't forgetting anything.  Well...we both woke up at 4:00 a.m.  Bummer!  Neither one of us could go back to sleep.  I decided to shower and just get ready to go.  Marie agreed, so we were out of the apartment by 7:00 a.m.  We caught the RER B train to CDG.  I had checked online and it looked like we had to go to terminal 2. We took the train to the end of the line, terminal 2.  So far, so good.  Uh oh...wrong terminal.  We had to go to terminal 1.  There was a shuttle train that took us there.  No problem since we were there so early.  We decided to check our larger bags since they essentially only contained our dirty clothes, and we were very tired of carrying them around.  We had plenty of time to spare.  That's fine, because I would rather be waiting around than to be stressing out about missing a flight.  The flight ended up departing  45 minutes late.  I wasn't worried because we a layover in Washington D.C. of about 3 hours 15 minutes.  We should still have plenty of time to get through Immigration and Customs and catch our flight home from D.C.  The flight was fine.  They served us lunch, we watched movies, chatted with the other person in our row, and it went fast.  Then we heard an announcement from the pilot.  He said we had to divert to add fuel.  The plane was smaller than I have ever flown on an overseas flight before, and it doesn't hold as much fuel.  The pilot had to take a longer route because of weather, and now there wasn't enough fuel to get us to D.C.  It sounded like we were diverting to Newark.  I made a comment to Marie and our seatmate that we should be able to see the NYC skyline from that airport, which I have been to on a few occasions.  We started coming in for a landing and all I saw were trees.  It was beautiful with all the fall foliage.  Obvious we were not in Newark.  We were in Stewart.  Stewart AFB/International Airport in New York.  It was a very small airport.   The pilot said he went there because we should be able to get fuel and get out in 30-40 minutes.  Okay, there is still a chance we can make our flight.  Everyone was in good spirits, although plenty of people knew they were not going to make their connections.  Luckily there were no children on the plane.  Because of weather, rain and lightning, we ended up on the ground there for almost 3 hours.  Now there was no way we would make our connecting flight.  There was no point in getting upset.  There was nothing anyone could do.  We finally landed at Dulles.  After going through Immigration we had to collect our bags and go through Customs.  They then had us go to a customer service line.  It was a long line.  They were doing their best to find other flights for people.  The next flight they could get us on was at 5:25 p.m. on Saturday.  What?  There is nothing earlier?  Can we connect somewhere else?  Nope, that was it.  Now we had to go to another location to get into another line in order to get  vouchers for a hotel and meal.  That required us to have to go through security again.  After standing in that line for quite a long time we finally had our vouchers.  A hotel and one meal each.  By this time it was after 10:30 p.m.  We were tired, but hungry.  Everything up in gate area was closed.  We headed to where had to pick up our bags (again) and find the shuttle that would take us to the hotel.  We found a place in that area that was open, so at almost 11:00 p.m. we ate a little dinner.  We got to the shuttle area and found quite a few people waiting.  They had given vouchers for several different hotels.  There was a foursome from our flight waiting to go to the same hotel we had a voucher for.  They had called the hotel and the shuttle was going to arrive in 20 minutes.  Groan.... We were tired.  The shuttle for the Embassy Suites showed up and the driver said he would take anyone with a voucher for any hotel.  I jumped at that.  The driver said if they didn't take the voucher he would drive us home.  Okay!  We got to the ES and got checked in right away.  We got to bed at midnight, 29 hours after we had woken up in Paris.  We both woke up at 4:00 a.m. Saturday morning.  Ugh...  Since we didn't have to be at the airport until almost 4:00 p.m. we thought we should take advantage of being in a new place.  Neither one of us had been to D.C. before.  We had breakfast (cooked to order!) at 7:00 and took the hotel shuttle to the airport.  I asked a cab driver how much it would be to take us to the Mall area in D.C., since the bus from the airport was not coming for almost an hour.  He said $60.  I don't think so!  We waited for the $6 bus.  After we arrived in D.C. we got the HOHO for a quick tour.  They have 3 routes, but we only had time for one.  After we did the HOHO we had to catch the bus back to the airport.  The shuttle driver from ES brought our bags to the airport for us.  We checked in, checked our bags and headed to 5 Guys for a late lunch/early dinner, using our vouchers.  By the time we got to the gate we didn't have to wait too long before we boarded.  We were given seats in the first row of the economy section, which usually cost more.  Sweet!  We had plenty of legroom.  The flight was uneventful.  We landed in Sacramento about 49 hours after we woke up in Paris and I had slept about 5 hours during that time.

 

Home sweet home!!

Dreams Do Come True

Today is Friday, 10/13. It is the last day of vacation and it seemed appropriate to end this 3 week trip by doing something on my bucket list. My favorite artist is Claude Monet, and I have dreamed for a long time about going to Giverny to see the gardens that inspired so many of his paintings. The gardens were awesome, like a Monet painting come to life. Especially the water garden. Seeing the bridges, water lilies, weeping willows, etc. took my breath away. I couldn't believe that there were some water lilies still blooming. The gardens close for the year on 10/31, but it was surprising how many flowers in the garden were still in bloom. We also went into his house, which was also very interesting. It was a fairly simple house that was furnished as it was when he lived there. Old photos in the rooms verified that things had not been changed. It is understandable why someone as successful as he was chose to live in those surroundings.

After we toured the gardens, house and gift shop we took the bus back to Vernon, where we were to take the train back to Paris. A train arrived and we got on. It was headed in the direction of Paris and it was close to the time of our train. We were a little puzzled when the train left before the posted time. Also, there were only a few passengers. No one came to check our tickets either. Well...we went through a few more stations and then got to a stop where the train sat there for longer than usual, for about 5 or 10 minutes. We thought the train was just ahead of schedule and waiting for more passengers. We weren't paying too much attention because we were chatting. Imagine our surprise when the train went into reverse. We knew we were in BIG trouble at that point. We looked around and noticed we were the only passengers. Holy Crap!! Now what? About 1/4 of a mile from the station the train stopped. What could we do? We jumped!!! Luckily the door opened. It was just like a scene from Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. I told Marie SHE had to be Butch, because I wanted to be Sundance! The really strange thing was that we walked past at least six railroad employees as we walked along the tracks back to the station and no one ever reacted to us being there. Almost like it it was normal. We then caught the slow train to Paris, but at least we made it!!

We decided that since it was our last night we would treat ourselves to a nice dinner. We sat outside at the cafe and watched the people go by, which is entertainment all by it self. Paris is full of street entertainers, and we had a fire eating guy station himself right by the restaurant. After that, back to the apartment to pack and finish off our wine. We will be getting an early start in the morning.

Versailles

On Wednesday we decided to go to Versailles. I went there on my last trip, but it was January and snow covered the ground. We saw the chateau, but not the grounds. This time my focus was outdoors. Marie was fine with that. We did go through the chateau at what some would consider a lightening pace. I had been there, done that, and Marie found it to be way too over the top and not to her taste.

To save our poor, aching feet for more important walking, we took the Petit Train down to the other locations. The Petit Trianon, the place that Marie Antoinette preferred to stay, did not open until noon, so we had some time to kill. We wandered around the Grand Canal and took a lot of pictures.

We then walked to the Petit Trianon, arriving just before they opened. It was good timing, because we avoided getting too many people in our photos. I can see why M.A. preferred it there. It was so much less fussy. We then started exploring the immense grounds and gardens. That was the best part of all! We found the little village of houses that looked like they came straight out of a fairy tale. With thatched roofs and fanciful designs it was almost like something that Disneyland would use as a model for a village, but better! The little houses surrounded a pond with ducks, water lilies and of course a swan to make the picture complete. Under the little bridges were dozens of large catfish. I don't even know how many pictures I took there. Let's just say a lot!!!

We had to be back to our apartment at 6:00 p.m., so we left Versailles, taking the train back to Paris.

We had some time after returning to Paris, so we went back to the Pere Lachaise cemetery. This time we were successful in locating Jim Morrison. There were over a dozen people there when we found it. The cemetery is huge, with many tall structures (I don't really know what the word is for that kind of headstone), so it is impossible to see anything in the distance. We just followed the pot smoke until we found it.

We got back to the apartment just in time to meet my French 'son', Philippe. He is the exchange student we hosted over the summer. We had dinner and chatted. It was so good to see him again. I wish we had more time to spend together. He is a really great kid. Well, he's 19, so I guess he's not really a kid anymore. It was sad to say goodbye, but he assures me I will be seeing him soon!!

Tomorrow is our last day and I am so excited about what we are going to do...

Parks, Cemeteries, Etc.

We started our day at Luxembourg Gardens. It is a large and very beautiful park, containing many statues, some ponds, fountains and other park-like things. It is anchored by a large palace with gorgeous gardens. We heard a lot of noise coming from one end of the park, so we had to investigate. Through the fence we saw a large group of high school aged students in front of their school protesting. We asked what they were protesting about. Apparently the French government wants the work week to go from 35 hours per week to 36 hours. The French are not having any of that nonsense, so protests were being held all over the country.

After leaving the park, Marie had success with her shoe quest. With her newly happy feet we headed to the Pere Lachaise Cemetery. It is a very old and large cemetery. Many very important people are buried there. We were just looking for one - Jim Morrison. We didn't have much time and we couldn't find him.

We had to meet someone at 3:00 p.m., so we had to give up. Before our trip I submitted an application to a program called Paris Greeters. They have volunteers who show tourists around. We were matched up with a nice man named Alain, who showed us around the Marais. He was born and raised there, but moved to western Paris after he got married about 40 years ago. He spent over 3 hours walking around with us and explaining things. We came across another protest in the Place de Bastille. They were protesting the same things the kids were, but these were adults and beer was involved. From the looks of it, a lot of beer!! Another good, but long day!

Shopping In Paris

Our 2nd day in Paris and we spent it shopping. Marie had been wearing her sandals for the first 2 weeks of the trip. After arriving in Paris she discovered her shoes were just not going to work out. We went to several large department stores but had no luck. Fun fact - department stores were 'invented' here in France. Anyway, no luck with the shoes, but we did make a few other purchases. I was looking for something specific for Jim. I hope he likes it!

I Love Paris!!

This is my 3rd trip to Paris. By the time we leave I will have spent a total of 3 weeks here. There is still much to see. I am hoping that I can have new experiences, while still showing Marie those cool things that most first timers want to see.

Our first full day was Sunday, 10/9. It was raining, so we had to come up with indoor things to do. We are literally just around the corner from Notre Dame, so after grabbing some breakfast (a pane au chocolat for me sil vous plait!) we headed over there. We were just in time for a service, which included a lot of beautiful singing. Now I think it is safe to say that on any other Sunday neither one of us would normally be anywhere near a church (no offense to church goers), but this was Notre Dame, the big daddy of churches. Not to mention it was beautiful and dry.

Later in the day we went to the Deportation Center, a memorial form the Jews who were deported from France and sent to concentration camps during WWII. It is on the tip of the island where Notre Dame is located.

From there we headed to Montmartre.  There was a wine festival that weekend and there were many booths set up for wine tasting and the purchase of other foods.

We ended the afternoon at the Shoah (Holocaust) Museum. They give one guided tour in English per month and we were lucky enough to have it be on the day we were going. I and been there before, but I learned so much more from the guide.

The rain stopped, so we ended our day at the Eiffel Tower. We hopped on the RER C train headed there.  It is only four stops from where we got on at the St. Michel station.  Two stops later the train stopped and turned off the lights.  What's going on?  It was only about 6:00 p.m.  Way too early for the trains to be shutting down.  Apparently the train was now out of service.  Now what?   We decided to follow the others and see where they went.  After going up and down countless stairs we ended up at another train that would take us there.  The train was very crowded.  Marie got on, but the doors closed before I could get on too.  Marie looked like a deer in the headlights.  I was yelling at her where to get off and to wait for me there.  It was only two stops away and there is an Eiffel Tower symbol next to the name of the stop, so I was really hoping she would figure out what I was trying to say and where to get off.  The next train came about 10 minutes later and I got on.  At the next stop I poked my head out of the door to try to see if Marie got off there, but there was no sign of her.  I arrived at the Champs du Mars/Tour Eiffel stop and there she was!   It was early evening when we arrived and we watched as the lights came on. The darker it got, the brighter the lights got. Finally, at 8:00 p.m. we were rewarded with the top of the hour light show. At the top of each hour (I think it ends at midnight) the lights twinkle for 5 minutes. After that we needed back to our apartment. We had a very full day!!

Arrival In Paris (or Oh No...Not Another Dump!)

We arrived at the Gare de Lyon, then took the metro (two trains) to the apartment I found in the Latin Quarter.I first considered renting the apartment we stayed in almost 3 years ago. It was great, very charming and very French feeling. The only negative was that it was on the 4th floor of a building with no elevator. Because the person who was supposed to go with us, but ended up canceling, has health issues, it was determined that all those stairs would be difficult. The place we decided on has only one flight of stairs and is in a prime location. It is located on a street around the corner of Notre Dame (we can hear the bells) and just off Boulevard St. Michel. It is tourist central, but we are tourists after all. I thought it would be within walking distance of almost everything. This place got glowing reviews from people who had stayed there.
 
I knew the building would be old. There is old, and there is old and in some disrepair. This is the second one. We were met by two sisters who work for the owner, Pascal, who I had been communicating with by email. We had to pay our balance and I needed cash. One sister went to the ATM with me and one stayed with Marie. I came back and handed the money over. Then Marie asked if I was afraid of mice, because she saw one running back and forth. Are you kidding me? If that was it, I would be okay. It gets worse.

We left right away go to the store, because it would be closed the next day. We then went to get some dinner. The plan was to settle in when we got back for the night. We put our things away and I discovered there were no sheets on my bed. I have stayed in a lot of vacation rentals, and when they include linens (which this one does), the beds have always been made. Okay, great. It's been a long day and now I have to make the bed. Ummm...where are the sheets? That's right, there were no sheets. There was a bottom sheet for the sofa bed, which is a full size bed. My bed is a twin. I used that and put the duvet cover from that set onto the questionably clean comforter. Marie is sleeping in the mezzanine. She has a queen bed with a mattress pad and a fitted sheet that she is using as a top sheet. Her comforter is also questionably clean. And the towels, well they were no better. It was as if someone folded wet towels and left them to dry. They smelled of mildew. We threw them in the washer/dryer (yes, it is one machine), but they were still wet in the morning so we couldn't shower. And there is the noise. I mentioned this is tourist central. The description on the apartment's website describes it as being in a quiet courtyard. I think calling that cement slab area a courtyard is delusional, and it is far from quiet because we are right above a restaurant. Thankfully we have earplugs.

We were busy all day Sunday (that will be in another post), so that night I called Pascal and left him a message about my displeasure about the bedding, etc. I called him back the next morning and left another message. After being gone all day Monday we returned to find new sheets had been left on my bed. No, the bed had not been made. It was a brand new set with a bottom sheet, a duvet cover (which I am using as a top sheet) and a pillow case. The cardboard was still folded into it. I guess it's better than nothing. The real question though is - why did they have to buy new sheets? Why didn't they already have some? I have never heard from Pascal regarding any of the other issues, including our new pet mouse that Marie has named Maurice. I can't even begin to express my regret that we didn't rent the other apartment. But...we are in Paris and we will have a fabulous time! Really, how much time will we spend in the apartment anyway?