On My Way

Huit Jours en Paris 2011

I was without internet connection while actually in Paris.  So much for the world wide web.  Or maybe I just don't know how to work it.  But I did document the experience & will post my comments day-by-day as if it weren't ten days later.  This first comment is from the air en route to Paris.

9/3/11  My plane left LA today at 1:00pm PDT.  It’s an 11 hour flight and we lose 9 hours, so right now it’s about 4:00am Paris time and my body cannot sleep.  I want to document the trip every moment.  Arriving at Tom Bradley International terminal, I found the right line to wait in.  I was surrounded by real French speaking real French so very fast!  I’m afraid I won’t have the courage to try mon Francais en Paris.  Eh, bien.  Checking into the airline was very easy and very courteous.  Then I had several hours to wait.  So I bought a café au lait and a scone.  I immediately spilled coffee on my white shirt – a shirt I will be wearing for 2 days!  I managed to sponge out the coffee in the restroom.  The airplane is full of les Francais, I haven’t spoken to any Americans or other real English speakers.  So I wouldn’t say I’m making friends on the flight.  Oh, by the way, international flights offer so many amenities that American flights don’t offer.  Free, unlimited movies, two full meals without extra charge, pillow and blanket, a care package including eyemask, earplugs, socks.  I was told on one US airline, when I asked for a blanket, to bring my own next time. 

I had thought I would go to the Louvre as soon as I arrive at my hotel.  But with a sleepless night behind me, I think not.  I may just walk around the jardins Tuilleries and maybe wander over to la Rive Gauche.  And ask the concierge if they can “achete pour moi un billet de musees  pour deux jours.”  And then I can go to the Louvre when I am better rested.  Of course, I checked the weather online before I left LA and saw that it is supposed to be raining in Paris on Sunday.  Not the best weather for walking in a garden.  Eh, bien.  C’est la vie.  C’est tout pour maintenant.