Paris

The flight over the Atlantic was a bit bumpy in spots, and I couldn’t sleep, but I had a window seat! And congenial seat mates. They gave us dinner and breakfast on this flight – but I have it on good authority that one adjusts to a new time zone by adjusting to the new meal schedule asap, and I calculated this dinner was at 3am new time, so I only sampled the breakfast. It was spice loaf and orange juice.

Here’s a pic of Montreal as we said goodbye. The sunrise over the wing. And our approach to Paris. I saw the white cliffs of Dover from the plane and then it became foggy. We couldn’t see the runway until we had actually touched down and we taxied through whiteness to the terminal. The pilot must have known where he was going because we made it, and so did my luggage. Yay Air Canada!

Customs was quick, simple and easy. They scanned my passport, stamped it, and off I went. Nothing like Border Security at all. Not one question. I could have had chickens in my luggage! The airport was crawling with army and police. All of them had automatic weapons. Chickens would be afraid.

I took a shuttle to my hotel. I was the only one of the passengers who used the seatbelt and when we were careening down the highway in heavy traffic while the driver googled things on his phone I was comforted I wouldn’t be ejected during the crash. Fortunately we made it safely.

My room wasn’t ready but the hotel was good enough to hold my luggage while I navigated the Paris Metro (thanks for the Paris Metro tutorial Jen and Geoff) to the Paris Catacombs. A lovely lady helped me find them after I overshot the entrance. It was blocked by a one and a half hour long lineup! But well worth the wait. Here are a couple of pics…

Everyone here has been so very friendly, kind and helpful. I must look constantly confused because people keep coming up to me and asking if they can help me. The one exception was when they ejected me from the catacombs they drop me out a mile or so from where I went in, without a word of explanation or guidance on how to get back to the front door, which was right across the street from the Metro station I needed to get back to the hotel. The catacombs meander under quite a section of Paris, and they have NOT provided an elevator to get you back up the 123 step staircase you go down to get there.

It took a while but I found my way to the hotel and my room was not only ready but had been upgraded (sans request from me) to a room with a view of the Eiffel Tower.

After a shower (3 days in the same clothes…ew), a nap, and a little sustenance, I feel ready to go for another day. Unfortunately it’s 9pm.