A WistfulReturn to Paris
Thursday, April 2, 2009
For the last time on the trip, I woke up in Germany in Scott’s dorm room this morning. I tried to get online with his internet without success, also tried to transfer some files he’d downloaded from the internet for me and that didn’t work well either. He woke up at 9 a.m., with our planned departure no later than 10 a.m. for Trier and the train station. We soon found out the file transfer would take longer than I’d thought, plus I needed to mail another package (my dirty clothes) and I started to get nervous about making the transfer in Lux. City. (Remember I’d been switched to a different train to Trier and it took longer.) I was scheduled for a less-than 20 minute transfer in Lux. City and was concerned about making it. I looked online (by this time I was able to) and found an earlier train from Trier. As I had an open ticket for that leg, Scott and I went ahead and left for Trier. He’s going to mail my flash drive and the clothes later today (hope he did!) One last thrill ride on the Autobahn.
I had tears as we parted. Hard to think of not seeing him again for who knows how long, and knowing he’s going down range (their term for deployment) in May makes it even harder. He just found out (while I was there) that deployment is a go again for the beginning of May. I hope he realizes just how much I love him and am proud of him. Thanks for putting up with your mom for a few days, Scott, and sharing some of your part of the world with me.
I had a nice train ride to Lux. City. This was a nicer coach, even had an electrical outlet, and not nearly as many stops as the other direction had. I am really glad that I took the earlier train, too, as I made the TGV to Paris easily and actually didn’t see the 12:45 train come in before we left at 1:02. The Lux City – Paris ticket was non-refundable and I’m not sure I could have taken a later train. All’s well that ends well in this case, though it cut out a little bit of my Scott time.
The TGV was a nice ride, too. Again, I had electricity so spent most of the trip working on picture editing. I only have (I think) one more day of my own pictures, then will look over Deb & Judy’s and start picking out the best ones of all.
I titled this blog “A wistful return to Paris” as that captured my frame of mind as we approached the Gare D’Est. I realized that I really couldn’t spend any extra time in the city other than just walking around as I had my suitcase, even though this would be my last night in Paris. I’d done quite a bit of walking so opted to go ahead up to the airport area.
I’m glad I did that. There was some issue with the original gate for the RER to the airport, and we were shuffled around. Took longer than it should have but we finally got up to the airport area. My one and only “thing to do” before hitting the hotel was to hit another “hotel,” the CDG Airport Travel Bug Hotel. Get off the metro, get on the CDG airport shuttle, get off at the first parking lot, then about .15 of a mile. Disappointed to only find one TB in the cache. I usually wouldn’t have taken the only TB in a TB hotel but I figured I’d dropped 17 TBs during the trip and only picked up one so far. Went back to the terminal and (after quite a while of trying to find the right pick up point and waiting once I did) picked up the shuttle to my hotel, the Formule One near the airport. For 35 euros, I get a double bed, a bunk bed above it, a TV in the corner, a sink in the other corner, and the toilet and shower are down the hall. Modern and nice & clean though. Went to dinner at the restaurant next door, then spent the evening watching French TV and editing pictures again. Going to get up bright and early and catch the shuttle back to the airport so as to leave plenty of time to get through security and check in (I’ve heard to allow 3 hours and my flight leaves at noon.)
I’ll be pretty jet-lagged on Saturday, most likely. I have a nine hour flight to Chicago, then a six hour layover, then the short flight to Grand Rapids. I get home about 10:30 p.m. My body clock will think it’s 4:30 a.m. though!
Some last thoughts:
Best: being with Scott
Best in London: Walking out of the underground station Sunday afternoon and seeing Big Ben for the first time.
Best in Paris: Walking out of the metro Wednesday evening and seeing the Arc de Triomphe, with the Eiffel Tower in the background.
Best in Germany (other than Scott): Burg Eltz Castle
Good local eating: Escargot; Confit de Canard; Lamb and Stilton Pie; Schnitzel
What I wish I’d have left home: the sleep sack (didn’t use it) and the noise cancelling headphones (I didn’t feel they helped that much.)
What worked well: my clothing choices. The hiking socks helped keep the feet comfy and I got good wear out of the shirts and pants (though they were definitely ready for a wash in Spangdahlem!) The vest was amazing as far as keeping the things I needed close at hand. It did get a bit heavy to wear sometimes, but I was never concerned about pickpockets since I could zip it up (or my jacket over it) in potentially risky situations such as the metro/underground which made the pockets unavailable.
What I was most surprised about: that so much of my French came back to me, after 30 years plus. I couldn’t follow or carry on a conversation, but managed to communicate when I needed to. Also, “Parlez-vous Anglais?” works pretty well. I had trouble transitioning to German from French, even tried to speak French in Germany more than once. That works in Luxembourg but not really in Germany. I always thought I remembered about the same amount of French and German but the trip clearly proved I know more French than German. I was also surprised at how quickly I mastered the underground and metro. I wish the buses in both cities would have been as easy to use (or at least have more details available about schedules.)
And…the final geocache count: 19. I am now at 1512 finds. Also moved 17 trackables plus 3 of my own that stayed with me. My Mama Bear trackable is now on to new adventures in Paris. I picked up two trackables along the way that are coming home with me. Not as many caches as I’d prepared for but considering I spent much of the trip with muggles, not bad.
My next blog probably won’t be until I am HOME. Actually this one may not get posted until then as well. Depends on high speed, of course. For those who’ve kept up with my travels, thanks!
Friday, April 3, 2009
I’m on the plane from Paris to Chicago and I have just a little bit of battery power left – I’ve gone over five hours! My pictures are (for the most part) edited and I’ve pulled out the best of them. When I’m on electricity in Chicago, I’m going to run slide show on those files and work on them.
Woke up earlier than I’d intended to this morning. The tour groups of young people staying on the same floor got an EARLY start so since I was awake I got packed and going. Got on the shuttle back to the airport at 7:15 a.m. Went straight to check in and through security, made it through in about 15 minutes total. The only downfall was that the good restaurants were BEFORE security, not after as most other airports I’ve been at. Ate breakfast at a self-serve place, then was glad after all that I’d already gone through security as the lines were getting really long. Killed time in the airport by watching a movie on my computer, then a bit of shopping and lots of people watching.
When we were allowed to check in, I thought we were going straight to the plane, but we ended up on a bus that took us out to the plane parked out on the tarmac. That was different. This is a bit smaller plane than the trip to London – no seatback TVs, and only 3 abreast in the middle instead of 5. We had a good lunch, and I’ve spent most of the time reading or working on the pictures. We have about 2 hours or so left as I’m writing this. If I have a place to send this in Chicago (which I doubt) I’ll send it but probably not until I’m home. I have a 6 hour layover – I could drive to Grand Rapids quicker!
I am posting from the Grand Rapids airport - caught an earlier flight. Logged on to use the free call to a landline that I remembered I had on Skype - and Judy skyped me. She called home for me and Steve is on his way....
Thursday, April 2, 2009
For the last time on the trip, I woke up in Germany in Scott’s dorm room this morning. I tried to get online with his internet without success, also tried to transfer some files he’d downloaded from the internet for me and that didn’t work well either. He woke up at 9 a.m., with our planned departure no later than 10 a.m. for Trier and the train station. We soon found out the file transfer would take longer than I’d thought, plus I needed to mail another package (my dirty clothes) and I started to get nervous about making the transfer in Lux. City. (Remember I’d been switched to a different train to Trier and it took longer.) I was scheduled for a less-than 20 minute transfer in Lux. City and was concerned about making it. I looked online (by this time I was able to) and found an earlier train from Trier. As I had an open ticket for that leg, Scott and I went ahead and left for Trier. He’s going to mail my flash drive and the clothes later today (hope he did!) One last thrill ride on the Autobahn.
I had tears as we parted. Hard to think of not seeing him again for who knows how long, and knowing he’s going down range (their term for deployment) in May makes it even harder. He just found out (while I was there) that deployment is a go again for the beginning of May. I hope he realizes just how much I love him and am proud of him. Thanks for putting up with your mom for a few days, Scott, and sharing some of your part of the world with me.
I had a nice train ride to Lux. City. This was a nicer coach, even had an electrical outlet, and not nearly as many stops as the other direction had. I am really glad that I took the earlier train, too, as I made the TGV to Paris easily and actually didn’t see the 12:45 train come in before we left at 1:02. The Lux City – Paris ticket was non-refundable and I’m not sure I could have taken a later train. All’s well that ends well in this case, though it cut out a little bit of my Scott time.
The TGV was a nice ride, too. Again, I had electricity so spent most of the trip working on picture editing. I only have (I think) one more day of my own pictures, then will look over Deb & Judy’s and start picking out the best ones of all.
I titled this blog “A wistful return to Paris” as that captured my frame of mind as we approached the Gare D’Est. I realized that I really couldn’t spend any extra time in the city other than just walking around as I had my suitcase, even though this would be my last night in Paris. I’d done quite a bit of walking so opted to go ahead up to the airport area.
I’m glad I did that. There was some issue with the original gate for the RER to the airport, and we were shuffled around. Took longer than it should have but we finally got up to the airport area. My one and only “thing to do” before hitting the hotel was to hit another “hotel,” the CDG Airport Travel Bug Hotel. Get off the metro, get on the CDG airport shuttle, get off at the first parking lot, then about .15 of a mile. Disappointed to only find one TB in the cache. I usually wouldn’t have taken the only TB in a TB hotel but I figured I’d dropped 17 TBs during the trip and only picked up one so far. Went back to the terminal and (after quite a while of trying to find the right pick up point and waiting once I did) picked up the shuttle to my hotel, the Formule One near the airport. For 35 euros, I get a double bed, a bunk bed above it, a TV in the corner, a sink in the other corner, and the toilet and shower are down the hall. Modern and nice & clean though. Went to dinner at the restaurant next door, then spent the evening watching French TV and editing pictures again. Going to get up bright and early and catch the shuttle back to the airport so as to leave plenty of time to get through security and check in (I’ve heard to allow 3 hours and my flight leaves at noon.)
I’ll be pretty jet-lagged on Saturday, most likely. I have a nine hour flight to Chicago, then a six hour layover, then the short flight to Grand Rapids. I get home about 10:30 p.m. My body clock will think it’s 4:30 a.m. though!
Some last thoughts:
Best: being with Scott
Best in London: Walking out of the underground station Sunday afternoon and seeing Big Ben for the first time.
Best in Paris: Walking out of the metro Wednesday evening and seeing the Arc de Triomphe, with the Eiffel Tower in the background.
Best in Germany (other than Scott): Burg Eltz Castle
Good local eating: Escargot; Confit de Canard; Lamb and Stilton Pie; Schnitzel
What I wish I’d have left home: the sleep sack (didn’t use it) and the noise cancelling headphones (I didn’t feel they helped that much.)
What worked well: my clothing choices. The hiking socks helped keep the feet comfy and I got good wear out of the shirts and pants (though they were definitely ready for a wash in Spangdahlem!) The vest was amazing as far as keeping the things I needed close at hand. It did get a bit heavy to wear sometimes, but I was never concerned about pickpockets since I could zip it up (or my jacket over it) in potentially risky situations such as the metro/underground which made the pockets unavailable.
What I was most surprised about: that so much of my French came back to me, after 30 years plus. I couldn’t follow or carry on a conversation, but managed to communicate when I needed to. Also, “Parlez-vous Anglais?” works pretty well. I had trouble transitioning to German from French, even tried to speak French in Germany more than once. That works in Luxembourg but not really in Germany. I always thought I remembered about the same amount of French and German but the trip clearly proved I know more French than German. I was also surprised at how quickly I mastered the underground and metro. I wish the buses in both cities would have been as easy to use (or at least have more details available about schedules.)
And…the final geocache count: 19. I am now at 1512 finds. Also moved 17 trackables plus 3 of my own that stayed with me. My Mama Bear trackable is now on to new adventures in Paris. I picked up two trackables along the way that are coming home with me. Not as many caches as I’d prepared for but considering I spent much of the trip with muggles, not bad.
My next blog probably won’t be until I am HOME. Actually this one may not get posted until then as well. Depends on high speed, of course. For those who’ve kept up with my travels, thanks!
Friday, April 3, 2009
I’m on the plane from Paris to Chicago and I have just a little bit of battery power left – I’ve gone over five hours! My pictures are (for the most part) edited and I’ve pulled out the best of them. When I’m on electricity in Chicago, I’m going to run slide show on those files and work on them.
Woke up earlier than I’d intended to this morning. The tour groups of young people staying on the same floor got an EARLY start so since I was awake I got packed and going. Got on the shuttle back to the airport at 7:15 a.m. Went straight to check in and through security, made it through in about 15 minutes total. The only downfall was that the good restaurants were BEFORE security, not after as most other airports I’ve been at. Ate breakfast at a self-serve place, then was glad after all that I’d already gone through security as the lines were getting really long. Killed time in the airport by watching a movie on my computer, then a bit of shopping and lots of people watching.
When we were allowed to check in, I thought we were going straight to the plane, but we ended up on a bus that took us out to the plane parked out on the tarmac. That was different. This is a bit smaller plane than the trip to London – no seatback TVs, and only 3 abreast in the middle instead of 5. We had a good lunch, and I’ve spent most of the time reading or working on the pictures. We have about 2 hours or so left as I’m writing this. If I have a place to send this in Chicago (which I doubt) I’ll send it but probably not until I’m home. I have a 6 hour layover – I could drive to Grand Rapids quicker!
I am posting from the Grand Rapids airport - caught an earlier flight. Logged on to use the free call to a landline that I remembered I had on Skype - and Judy skyped me. She called home for me and Steve is on his way....
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