See Moon's Musings for update on pm. Too doggone exhausted to deal w/ tablet quieks. Have I said I hate it yet? I DO!!! Mike will post pix too. But I will echo what I have said for 40 yrs. The French are lovely people - even in the big city!
More tomorrow as we train south to Avignon and rent Peugeot to tour vines and Roman ruins (Mike's interest.) Ciao!
Wednesday, October 8, 2014
Paris
OMG. Arrived CDG airport @8:05 this am. Took hour and half to find 'valises' ; customs just a smile & a stamp ☺ Welcome to Paris. Raining and gray just like home. About noon we're finally @ Huegette Brunel's 'chambre d'hote (b&b). I'm sitting infront of a wall of window w/ a cup of white tea, looking out over Paris w/ balconies & terraces and narrow streets & the first place I see in the market area when we surfaced from underground was pastry shop. We must stop on our way to musee d'orsay M says museum? I said art gallery!! I remember.
Flight very tolerabe. Didn't seem that long but I watched the Fugitive, interspersed w/ wine and snacks and a lovely chicken breast salad w/ black beans & corn and tomatoes, side of fresh fruit. Kudos to Delta air - everything complimentary! Breakfast @1:30 -not so good. Egg McMuffin better. :( Been up since 5:30 yesterday am
We walked a thousand miles in airport, train station and metros. 40 years ago I was a whole lot younger. Fifty million stairs w/ no escalators or elevator.
Off again insearch of food and sites. I have attempted French. It's embarrassing but I will not give up!!
Flight very tolerabe. Didn't seem that long but I watched the Fugitive, interspersed w/ wine and snacks and a lovely chicken breast salad w/ black beans & corn and tomatoes, side of fresh fruit. Kudos to Delta air - everything complimentary! Breakfast @1:30 -not so good. Egg McMuffin better. :( Been up since 5:30 yesterday am
We walked a thousand miles in airport, train station and metros. 40 years ago I was a whole lot younger. Fifty million stairs w/ no escalators or elevator.
Off again insearch of food and sites. I have attempted French. It's embarrassing but I will not give up!!
Tuesday, October 7, 2014
Msp
@ MSP airport. Sail through security. Guy says no check on Tues. I think it's 'cause I use cane. 1st stop is bar tp fill water bottle which squeaks. And of course wine and rum/pepsi☺ Life is good. Flight to board in one hour. Honking bog airbus.
Departure from Watertown
Tuesday - anything but 'normallement'. Tuesday Tuesday definitely. We're set to go - both small suitcases packed (but not overfull), raincoats in the doorway. Looks like rain in Paris (Michael reading about Montmartre - where our first B&B is - he said this is going to be delightful - and hilly :) and rain 4 of the 6 days in Provence. We won't melt...
Lots of anxiety and frustration last night as I sorted out the last details (one of which was voicemail on new phone- political robo calls - no more voicemail. Will reconsider after elections) and getting tomatoes sorted, frozen, sent to new homes. Still a tray of green ones in the dining room and a drawer full of apples in the fridge. They'll be fine for 2 weeks.
We're off - à bientôt! (see you soon!)
Love, Jan
Lots of anxiety and frustration last night as I sorted out the last details (one of which was voicemail on new phone- political robo calls - no more voicemail. Will reconsider after elections) and getting tomatoes sorted, frozen, sent to new homes. Still a tray of green ones in the dining room and a drawer full of apples in the fridge. They'll be fine for 2 weeks.
We're off - à bientôt! (see you soon!)
Love, Jan
Sunday, October 5, 2014
Saturday, October 4, 2014
Saturday - October 4, 3 pm
3 days and counting down! Refrigerator is getting pretty empty. I wanted to make a note of all the obstacles we've encountered in the last month, so I don't forget any of them. We are going on Tuesday come hell or literally high water <g> Except I gotta' wonder if there's a message here.
1. Icelandic volcano affecting European airports
2. a plane from Washington DC to near east encountered problems. Never heard more about that so I guess it went away
3, ISIS
4. Ebola
5. Fire in Chicago airport (we aren't going there but still...) affecting all flights in country
6. German and French pilot strike which could have affected airport functioning. All resolved!!
7. Found out European automatic machines only use chip/pin credit cards (railroads, métro...) Thought that one was resolved: 2nd day expedited cards. Someone screwed up and they sent the same magnetic strip cards we already had. By then - down to 2 working days. To send chip card, they would have had to cancel our original card entirely. What if it didn't get here? We'll make do with old-fashioned go to a bank and withdraw cash. What a concept...
8. Polio virus released into environment in Belgium by pharmaceutical firm. Fortunately we are both vaccinated. Hope it still holds valid!
9. 12 inches of rain inundates southern France near Montpelier Monday - just southwest of where we will be traveling. Most of the time we will spend in mountainous hills. We both have raincoats - just no rubber duckies. If the water is that deep, we'll just have to stay inside and eat/drink. Brian says that's all we do when we travel anyhow. He could be very right <grin>
10. Reservations made in Paris at lovely B&B in 18th arrondissement (not too far from the CDG airport, on the 9th floor (elevator and terrace included). Harder time in Nice (where we leave France from). Finally a lovely vacancy at Eden Cap, up on a hill. I took the time to write my reply all in French and got a lovely French reply saying if I would give her the time the train will arrive from Avignon, she will pick us up. Isn't that 'gentil'? (French for gracious :)
11. Problems with tenant in Gunnison. Management company is on top of it. May have new tenants when we return.
Furniture all moved back into its winter place today. Gathering things we don't want to forget, like passports and camera. All accounts are as current as I can make them before we go, so if we get delayed somehow, returning (or Mike says 'quarantined') no worries here at least. Garden is frozen (30 degrees last night) except for two flower pots and parsley. Interesting what is hardy. Gathered my zinnia and marigold seeds for next year. And house cleaning! Family tradition - leave a clean house. If you don't make it back...
Sorry for the length - didn't want to forget anything :) J
3 days and counting down! Refrigerator is getting pretty empty. I wanted to make a note of all the obstacles we've encountered in the last month, so I don't forget any of them. We are going on Tuesday come hell or literally high water <g> Except I gotta' wonder if there's a message here.
1. Icelandic volcano affecting European airports
2. a plane from Washington DC to near east encountered problems. Never heard more about that so I guess it went away
3, ISIS
4. Ebola
5. Fire in Chicago airport (we aren't going there but still...) affecting all flights in country
6. German and French pilot strike which could have affected airport functioning. All resolved!!
7. Found out European automatic machines only use chip/pin credit cards (railroads, métro...) Thought that one was resolved: 2nd day expedited cards. Someone screwed up and they sent the same magnetic strip cards we already had. By then - down to 2 working days. To send chip card, they would have had to cancel our original card entirely. What if it didn't get here? We'll make do with old-fashioned go to a bank and withdraw cash. What a concept...
8. Polio virus released into environment in Belgium by pharmaceutical firm. Fortunately we are both vaccinated. Hope it still holds valid!
9. 12 inches of rain inundates southern France near Montpelier Monday - just southwest of where we will be traveling. Most of the time we will spend in mountainous hills. We both have raincoats - just no rubber duckies. If the water is that deep, we'll just have to stay inside and eat/drink. Brian says that's all we do when we travel anyhow. He could be very right <grin>
10. Reservations made in Paris at lovely B&B in 18th arrondissement (not too far from the CDG airport, on the 9th floor (elevator and terrace included). Harder time in Nice (where we leave France from). Finally a lovely vacancy at Eden Cap, up on a hill. I took the time to write my reply all in French and got a lovely French reply saying if I would give her the time the train will arrive from Avignon, she will pick us up. Isn't that 'gentil'? (French for gracious :)
11. Problems with tenant in Gunnison. Management company is on top of it. May have new tenants when we return.
Furniture all moved back into its winter place today. Gathering things we don't want to forget, like passports and camera. All accounts are as current as I can make them before we go, so if we get delayed somehow, returning (or Mike says 'quarantined') no worries here at least. Garden is frozen (30 degrees last night) except for two flower pots and parsley. Interesting what is hardy. Gathered my zinnia and marigold seeds for next year. And house cleaning! Family tradition - leave a clean house. If you don't make it back...
Sorry for the length - didn't want to forget anything :) J
Sunday, September 28, 2014
La Belle France - here we come! Bonjour :)
Greetings! One week plus 2 days until we board an airplane headed for Paris, France to spend a day, and then TGV (fast train - train de grand vitesse) to Avignon and the Rhône wine valley. Mike says I'm taking him on a wine trip - to southern France :) Guess that's about right.
Plans are not as complicated the second major trip. We have the backpack and small suitcases we used before- which worked perfectly. The weather is much like it is here, with temps maybe 5 degrees warmer. The clothes we took before (layers) worked very well for us in Ireland. Except for taking more short-sleeved shirts, we will probably do the same.
Stay tuned!
Plans are not as complicated the second major trip. We have the backpack and small suitcases we used before- which worked perfectly. The weather is much like it is here, with temps maybe 5 degrees warmer. The clothes we took before (layers) worked very well for us in Ireland. Except for taking more short-sleeved shirts, we will probably do the same.
Stay tuned!
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