Ahh! I feel as though I'm already in France and we've only just boarded our air France plane. All the stewards and stewardesses are French and they speak to me in french. Upon each passenger's seat is a bag with a blanket, pillow and eye mask, amenities long given up by American owned airlines. A substantial amount of time was spent by the crew In loading food onto the plane before our boarding began. Each seat has its own screen, coat hanger and coffee cup holder. I await even greater pleasures on this flight. Vive la France!
Saturday June 30
Slept six hours last night. That is the most I have ever slept on the first day of jet lag. I awake today at 3:30am Paris time. My stomach is crying out for French food but I must wait for hours until stores open.
Yesterday was quite an eventful day. My greatest adventure was riding on the back of a scooter. I have never ridden on any motorcycle before. I felt liberated and exhilarated while Marjorie wove between cars with me trying not to hug her too tightly. Jeanne and I had been lost trying to find their home, due to jet-lagged brain. After my first scooter ride we had a marvelous dinner at Foudre (lightening). We had fois gras, the best I have tasted so far, raw salmon, vegetables and salad. Jeanne had a Chinese chicken salad French style, Chardonnay. Dessert was a mixed chocolate mousse/pot de crime with whipped crime.
Another fun experience was a drunk guy on the subway who was loudly explaining to the whole car about how he had had all his papers stolen but to his money and how much more the papers mattered than the money. He would give a description of each stop as to what the meaning of the name meant. For example he explained that, in relation to the Pere Lachaise station, Jim Morrison was buried there. He kept asking certain ones, including me, if they new who the doors were. I just nodded. He was so amusing it was hard for everyone to keep from laughing.
Our loving hosts took us on a driving tour of Paris which was lovely, but jet-lag hit me hard and I had to cut the drive short to get sleep.
That is our first day in Paris other than a few snags regarding a non working debit card and a French sim card that I cannot seem to be able to fill up with any more calling time.
This morning our hosts had the makings of a lovely continental breakfast layer out for us in anticipation of our very early rising.
See you all tomorrow
