Day 1 and 2 - To the Start

Friday, September 4

Sandy In Her Chair-Bed for the Atlantic Crossing

(Not like our Grandfathers and Mothers)

Sandy actually got 4 hrs sleep on the flight.

The flight on Air Canada was great. Flew to Montreal and then Paris Charles De Gaul.

At the airport, the problems begin. Moving through it feels like stepping into an ant pile. There were crowds of people everywhere and very poor signs. In terminal 2A, baggage is easy, but there is no ATM and I have trouble getting a phone. I finally got one phone working, but I still don’t know my own phone number. Nobody can understand the operator (electronic of course), even after telling multiple people the number.

At our hotel, a standard room for about ($125) is like the Econolodge in Santa Fe, but the hotel staffers were nice. Car rental was no problem, just expensive ($110 day).

Saturday, September 5

The next day I found a phone store and got my phone set up. Stephanie, the phone store employee refused to accept a tip, even though she did a lot of work that should have been done by the people at the airport. Another lesson; take the time to find a phone store.

My Air Caddy for the bike worked great and folded up so small that we took it in the van, so there were no storage problems.

We had a great dinner at very simple restaurant in rural area outside CDG. I had eggs mayonnaise to begin, then beef bourgongne, and mousse ou chocolat. Really fine food in a humble setting.

We took an easy but expensive trip to Boulogne-sur-mer on a toll road. There we had an expensive and looooong dinner at famous fish restaurant. Boulogne now has the largest fishing fleet in the European Atlantic.

First Impressions:

Everything seems close, crowded and expensive. France also seems to be well organized, have excellent food and NICE service people.

We are slow, disorganized for the day-to-day functions but improving rapidly.