Flying Home

We have left Paris. Sigh. We are 33,000 feet over the Atlantic.

I did not blog in the airport as planned for various reasons. First of all, it took forever to get to gate E33. We stood in the wrong line for 45 minutes which certainly contributed to the *forever* of it. Also, security was tight, and someone ahead of us forgot a bag, so there at my feet when it came time to go through the scanners was an unclaimed bag. That caused a stir.

We had arrived 3 hours early, so I still would have had over an hour were it not for all the distractions everywhere. I had to wander. Two more Lauderees, just in our terminal. Yes, I bought one more macaroon - a lemon one - and we enjoyed it. It was very much similar to lemon merigue pie. (by the way, we only ate ONE of our previous eight - we kept forgetting to bring them with us on our day trips. Sigh. They are still in the little fridge on Rue Amelie.)

Macaroons are a *big deal* in Paris.  There was a chocolatier at the airport too...this is one of their signs.  In English since this airport terminal serves the United States.

By the way, I am posting this on May 6 - from Greendale.  In case you're wondering how I fared with all these temptations, I *lost* two pounds on the trip.  Walking 3-7 miles per day is the way to go!

Anyhow, there were many designer stores in the airport. I wandered about and took photos while Frank read and sat with our carryons. I did buy one small hardcover book - “Monuments that Tell Stories of Paris,” a children’s sized book with children’s story book illustrations, yet with quite a bit of facts and information on 26 monuments. I just scanned through it, and am amazed that we only saw about half of these highlights!

Obviously, we’re going to have to go back. !!! Actually, I’m quite sure I will - I have bonded with Paris. I hope to spend a week in the little Rue Amelie apartment with girlfriends in the coming years. Frank is more interested in going to *new* places, although he did mention the possibility of us returning to Paris to celebrate our 50th birthdays. Truly, I loved Paris. It is magical.

Oh, I was also able to buy us each one last croissant.  Au revoir croissants.

Au revoir Pain au Chocolat.

Now I have time to blog. On the DOWN side the plane is not full so I could not volunteer to get bumped and get a free ticket. (I would have!) (My carry on is packed with all the overnight necessities!) On the UP side the plane is not full so we were able to move to a section of three seats and have an empty seat between us - we each have an aisle seat. Our stuff is under the extra seat so we have leg room! What a difference a bit of empty space makes. Frank is currently watching the first of FOUR in flight movies, (Dear John) and we were just served wine and peanuts. I’m going to scan through my photos, my little black *Paris* moleskine and my larger travel journal, and write all I can so as to preserve these wonderful moments. I’ll blog topically so you can read whatever interests you. Or just look at the pretty pictures. Enjoy!

Postscript: My glass of red wine tipped. Splattered on my laptop, on my pants, scarf, jacket, and dripped into my bag. More memories - red wine stains. SIGH. After a moment of panic I knew my laptop was okay. I had purchased a plastic keyboard cover (made for this model) at the Apple store just a couple weeks ago, so I just peeled it up and wiped it off. Thank you God. But it did take the wind out of my blogging sails for a few hours, and I put everything away once I had wiped it off. And now, back at it, I won’t even sip a water… Only an inch of wine spilled but it managed to get on EVERYTHING. Live and learn.