Nous allons en Paris le mardi prochain - for those who forgot their High school French or who wisely opted to learn Spanish instead, it means: “We leave for Paris next Tuesday.
I am excited about being in Paris for the first time in my life. I’m NOT looking forward to the airport scene and long flight on British Airways. In an article in yesterday’s WSJ I read that they (BOA) lost 550,000 pieces of luggage between Jan 1 and June 30. That's 35 out of 1,000, which is worse than the worst American carrier (Northwest).
Travel has become an impossible test of patience and sanity. I think most people who travel regularly need also to drink heavily and take prescription grade drugs to maintain their serenity in the face of the obstacles and foul-ups that have become familiar fodder for comics and blog ranters – Delays, long slow moving lines, security checkpoint inconveniences, cancellations, uncomfortable seats, homely cabin attendants, crappy food, movies that suck, annoying children, smelly fellow travelers, terrorist suicide bombers, and the like.
We keep telling ourselves that the destination is worth the price of getting there. I wonder…
Sometimes it seems everyone else* (tout le monde) has already been to Paris, France. If I mention my upcoming trip to anyone – waitress, doctor, homeless guy asking me for a quarter – they all tell me that I’m gonna love it. They give me their list of the places we should not miss. They review the old memories of their trip(s). I think I see a glint of envy in their eyes, considering the fact that I (a 65 year old virgin when it comes to the romance of foreign travel) am about to experience The City of Light for the very first time.
We will spend 4 days in Paris before joining our tour, which will travel Northwest to Rouen, Caen, Normandy. Then South to Mont St Michel through Brittany, southeast to Angers, Saumer and Blois which will be our base for excursions in Loire Valley and Chateaux Country. Then North to Chartes and back to Paris. Not counting Air travel days, we will spend 9 days seeing the various sights. I think that will be sufficient.
We will not take cellphones, laptop, ipod or anything else that would invite us to connect with the vast electronic communications network. We are on vacation from all of that, so you will have to get your blogfix somewhere else for the next few weeks.
Au Revior.
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* Except The Millers, who never go anywhere.
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