I'm about four hours into my flight from Paris to New York City. I got an email from Eric yesterday telling me that he made it to the US okay, but that the Metro ride from the hotel to the airport was much longer than expected, and that they'd waited in line at ticketing and at security for a total of nearly two hours. This made me rethink the idea of sleeping in and getting a lazy start to Charles de Gaulle. We got up early and had breakfast, and I looked into transportation options. A taxi would cost €60 or more (about $90), and that was just too much. I found a bus that runs from a nearby Metro stop to the airport for €10 per person, so that seemed like the best option. It took an hour on the bus alone, but it dropped us off at our terminal, so it was easy. We'll want to keep this option in mind for next summer. I guess Mondays are slower airport days than Sundays, because we zipped through ticketing and security. Still, we got to the gate at just about the time I'd hoped we would. I'm glad we got an early start.
Charles de Gaulle is a wonderland of duty free shopping, but shockingly devoid of coffee. As much as I love French coffee, I've been longing for one of our enormous American-sized cups for a few days now. Given the number of Starbucks in Paris, I thought I might find one at CDG, but no. All I could find was a souvenir shop with one tiny section of snacks and bottled water--and the ubiquitous Orangina. Instead of coffee, I settled on a box of lemon tarts and some snacks for the kids, along with a big bottle of Evian. I guess that lemon tarts for lunch continue the diet busting meal plan I've enjoyed in Paris. Given that I haven't walked my usual ten million steps today, though, those teeny tarts are probably turning into belly fat as I write.
Andy and Maria seem eager to get home now. I think that the accumulated strain of foreign travel has caught up with them as it does with me at some point. The incessant pace of travel, no matter how pleasant, combined with the basic difficulty of hauling luggage around, communicating a foreign language, using foreign currency, etc. takes its toll. I know they've had a great time, but I do understand wanting to get back to normal life. I do, too.
I had an interesting moment in the Metro today. I was trying to buy tickets, and the attendant was being less than helpful when I really needed help. Behind me in line was a Chinese couple, and I could tell that they were even more mystified by the touch screen ticket machine that I was. They asked me if they knew how they could get a pack of ten tickets, so after I'd finally resolved my own issue with the machine, and before they had a chance to buy, I walked them through it. When their turn came, they were still iffy about it, so I asked if I could help them, and they looked so grateful. I got them their tickets and we walked to the platform together and talked a bit. They are from Hong Kong, in France for ten days, and they don't speak any French. They speak English, though, so I suspect they'll do fine. I told them that I'd been in China, and they were so excited. I really wanted to ask them if I could take their picture (I feel obligated to ask this of all Chinese visitors I encounter after my moment of celebrity in China) but I didn't have the guts. I said tsai tsien and boarded my train. I kind of feel like I chipped away a teeny bit at the debt of gratitude I owe to all the Chinese people who helped me in my travels. The Scottish, English, and French ones, too, for that matter. I think that debt will take me a long time to pay off.
We'll be in Buffalo by 9 tonight, and then in Erie by midnight. My travels are surely over for the year. I've had an amazing run. I don't think I'll have an adventure filled year like this one for a vey long time.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
No comments:
Post a Comment