Final Entry: Odds & Ends

The return home went exactly as planned. Up at 5am, bus to Lyon airport, flight from Lyon to Paris, a four hour layover, then the flight from Paris to Dulles. I watched two completely forgettable films, Duplicity and 17 Again. Flight got in maybe 15 minutes late, just around 7pm. We got fairly quickly through Passport Control, then waited for our luggage, which came out almost last. With everything, we were still home and with our great Tibetan Terrier Colby before 9pm.

A few things that slipped by along the way:

The vineyards in the Rhone valley are full of rocks...and they love it that way. The rocks were deposited at the various times that the Rhone has flooded the valley. The rocks absorb the sun during the day and then release warmth during the night, giving the grapes a chance to grow and sweeten quicker. It is odd to see the rocks, but it makes a lot of sense.

With this our second Viking cruise, there was a reception for "Explorer Society" members a few nights into the cruise. The hotel manager told us that 40 of the 130 passengers were repeat customers, and the marketer in me appreciated the analysis of loyalty in their customer base. They offered us a shot of akvavit, a Nordic drink that was strong and warming! They served it in these really nice Viking shot glasses. Ellen talked me out of walking away with them. When we returned from dinner that night, they had left two of the glasses in our room, a nice loyalty reward. Made me glad I hadn't taken one too!

One of the funniest things that happened was at the last wine tasting. The guide asked during the tasting "what two meals don't go well with wine?" Instantly one man in our group volunteered "Breakfast!" The guide quickly corrected herself and said she was looking for 2 foods that don't mix well with wine. The answer was asparagus and salads with a vinegar base. Not sure if it was a question of a French speaker not finding the right English word or if she did it on purpose, but it was very funny nonetheless.

So we ended up taking our last 3 dinners on shore instead of on the ship. Our feeling was one of the highlights of Southern France is the food. It is a part of the world we are unlikely to go back to, so it made sense to soak in the best of what they had to offer. On our way off the ship the last night, the hotel manager acted somewhat offended that we were skipping the Captain's dinner. I didn't feel so bad, we hadn't bonded with anyone on the trip as closely as we had on our first Viking cruise, so we didn't feel like we were missing much. Others we talked to had started to complain about the food. Evidently this ship had just lost it's chef of 20 years and our chef had only been on for a few weeks. We thought the food was better than our Danube cruise, but we didn't have too high expectations to begin with. I just didn't like the 4 courses taking almost 2 hours every night for dinner, although if we were cruising there isn't much else to do on the ship after dinner anyway. We did especially like the lunch in the lounge, which allowed the meal to take much less time and be much less formal.

The addition of Wi-Fi to the cruise was a huge plus. It allowed us to check email, post to the travel blog and keep up with news of the world. It was sometimes overwhelmed by demand and would fade in and out occasionally. The spottiness issue became clear when we docked for the last time in Chalon and we saw the first officer manually adjust the direction of the sattelite. I had assumed that it was on an automated directional system. It makes sense that as we went around curves in the river or something on the shore was blocking things, that we would lose the connection. In any case, having Internet meant that we never had to use precious shore time looking for Wi-Fi or an Internet cafe. Big ups to Viking for adding the connection and a huge cheer for making it free (or as the lawyers always try to make us marketing people say, at no extra charge!)

I enjoyed putting each day's info up with pictures. I have even more respect for the work done by Jim Brady in the Fred and Hark Mark America blog he kept up. I realized it takes a tremendous amount of time and dedication to write interestingly and descriptively. I was sometimes just too tired to go into too much detail over and above the basic facts. I would have liked to have repeated more of the history and stories we heard along the way, but that would have required paying closer attention along the way. In addition, I would have loved to have included links to various places to add more detail, but the slow Internet made me happy to be able to get my entry and a picture up, anything else would have taken that much more time.

Day 10 PM Edition: Beaune & Chalon Final Dinner

The afternoon featured a guided tour through the Burgundy countryside to the town of Beaune. The highlight there was not the wine tasting, as good as it was, but the visit to the Hotel Dieu. As I've quickly learned in France, Hotel is not a hotel, but a house. In this case, a wealthy man in the 15th century wanted to care for the poor, and created a hospital, full of art, to provide care. The multi-tiled roof was immediately deemed a "wow" by everyone who walked into the courtyard.

The town itself was quaint. We walked through, but some mustard as souvenirs for me (to be consumed when home).

We forewent the Captain's Dinner for one more wonderful French meal. We walked across the bridge onto the small island in Chalon that was home to the restaurants we cased earlier. We decided on La Table De Fanny. We had the best meal of the trip. Ellen had a salad served in a colander with potato, egg, tomato, red pepper and more. I had a fish dish called bar that was served in a cellophane bag with vegetables. Accompanying my dish was grapefruit flavored olive oil in a plastic dropper and 3 different types of salt. Ellen had salmon, served a little more conventionally. We split a 1/2 bottle of white wine and had a chocolate dessert which was molten inside, with chocolate sauce to put on top. Simply a magnificent meal.

We walked through town on the way back to the ship, enjoying the sunset at 9:30 and our last stroll in France.

I'll try to do an odds and ends while traveling tomorrow. There are a few things I've remembered I forgot along the way. I hope those who have read, both passively and those who have commented, have enjoyed this report.

Day 10: Chalon

We don't have sights like this do we? Just a few blocks from where the ship docked, we just walked into this square and drank it in.

We had not chosen the optional tour to Cluny this morning, so we cruised this morning immediately following breakfast. We went up on the deck and watched the countryside go by, on a beautiful day around 75 degrees with the breeze from the ship and just a few clouds in the sky. It was relaxing and breathtaking.

We got to Chalon just before noon, and decided to walk the town and just grab something, like maybe a baguette for lunch. Chalon is a small town of around 70,000, the kind of place in France where all the shops close for lunch. So hard to imagine closing a store from noon to 2 or 3pm every day, isn't it?

We walked across a bride to an island in the Saone where there are many restaurants Ellen found in the Michelin guide. Several will do, so we'll see what we are in the mood for.

We have a tour this afternoon to a wine tasting in Burgundy and countryside viewing by bus. With our luggage needing to be in the hall by 5:15am and our transport to the Lyon airport at 5:45am, we haven't yet decided wheter to stay up late or go to bed early. Either way, it will be a long way home tomorrow.

The Ship, The Trip

I recognize now that I have provided no background related to the ship, the way days go here, meals, etc.

First off, for those familiar with ocean cruises, forget everything you know. There is no shuffleboard, no Lido deck, no swimming pool, no endless buffett, no thousands of passengers. Our ship is carrying about 130 passengers, in 3 levels of rooms. There is one dining room, one lounge, the deck available for walking or sitting when the bridges aren't too low.

Most of the passengers are from the US, with some from Canada, the UK and Australia. Viking's cruises are run in English, so that somewhat explains the country origin. There are 2 women here from Peru though. The average age is probably somewhere in the 60's. With the exception of families traveling together, Ellen and I are probably pretty close to the youngest on the ship.

The cruise includes 3 meals a day. Breakfast is always in the dining room, a buffet of breads, cheeses and fresh fruit. Lunch offers a choice between a sit-down meal and much the same food in the lounge served buffet style. Dinner is in the dining room, usually a four course meal of appetizer, soup, main dish and dessert. Usually there is a choice of 2 appetizers and soups, 3 different main courses and 2 desserts. Viking has made a bigger deal of trotting out the chef before each meal to review the menu, and since we are in France, there also are recommended wines paired with each dish. The food is good but not spectacular, and not worthy of specific reports of what we ate. It is the one downside of touring Europe this way that you are often setting sail right before dinner, and thus cannot eat dinner in the citiies we visit. One reason we try to pick something up for lunch while in town is so that we can somewhat sample the food in town. In Lyon last night, we arrived arround 3:30pm and stayed overnight, making it the perfect opportunity to have dinner off the ship. Add to that that Lyon is known as the gastronomical capital of France, and probably at least 1/2 the ship decided to forgo the already paid-for dinner with a meal in town.

The ship usually travels either in the evenings or in the early mornings. That depends somewhat on the locks, there are 19 of which on this particular trip. We often wake up around 6am when the ship sets sail. The rivers we have been on, the Rhone and the Saone, are not very crowded with river traffic, so we generally have the river to ourselves. Days are sometimes scheduled in borth morning and afternoon, sometimes just one or the other. There have been a few optional excursions (which means at extra cost). The trip to St. Remy and the wine tasting outside of Avignon were optional trips.

This afternoon we were able to go up in small groups to the bridge, to see how the captain steers the ship, with help from radar and sonar. The ship has 2 diesel engines, and generally travels at about 12-15 mph. This ship was originally built for the Danube, but the dimensions also work for the locks on this route.

One full day left of the trip. We are sneaking out for dinner on shore again tonight, we will be in Macon in a few minutes.

Day 9 AM: Lyon city tour

Day 9 had us still in Lyon. This morning Viking took us on a city tour via bus. We had done most of Lyon by foot yesterday, but saved the basilica to the Virgin Mary, as it is at the top of a very high hill in Old Lyon. The church seems brand spanking new by European standards, built only in the late 1800's. It is "overdone" on the inside, in an attempt to compete with other churches, there is a lot of everything in terms of decorations inside.

Also on the top of the hill is a metal structure that looks very much like the Eiffel Tower....but much shorter.

After a little more sighseeing by bus, we had the option of getting out and walking. We took that option. The weather in Lyon has been very pleasant, highs in the 70's, so it felt good to walk, get a baguette and arrive back at the ship before the hordes arrived and slowed the WiFi to a halt.

This afternoon we will be cruising, so I will try to add a post that talks about the logistics of the ship, the food onboard, etc. while cruising up the Saone.

Day 8 PM Edition: Lyon

We returned to our favorite way of traveling, exploring a city on our own. We arrived in Lyon at 3:30 and were among the first off the ship. We had a map from the ship and pages from Rick Steves in hand, and that's all we needed.

We walked over a Rhone bridge, to the island of Presqu'ile, which has great open squares, shopping and restaurants. We continued then over the Saone river to the old city of Lyon. We visited the St. Jean church, walked along the streets, then returned to Presqu'ile. There we visited a silk shop that still paints silk through screens by hand (just like we did at Woodward to make show t-shirts!). Ellen bought a scarf there.

We selected a restaurant out of Rick Steves, Le Bouchon Aux Vins and had an absolutely delicious meal. Ellen had sausage appetizer and chicken, I had steak with potatoes and broiled tomato. We had a chocolate mousse for dessert. With wine and dessert, only 62 euros. It was getting dark as we walked home, and the city came to light, something it is famous for.

Day 8 Morning Edition: Vienne

We woke up this morning docked in Vienne. It is a town of just 60,000 along the Rhone. Once a major city and bishop seat, it is now a stopover along the highway between Lyon and Avignon.

We went on the guided tour, specifically requesting Christian, the same guide we had yesterday because we like him so much. The history of the city is heavy on Romans, with a forum still in tact and an amphitheater seating 13,000 in continuous use for 2000 years. Even many of the houses were built incorporating Roman pillars and arches.

We had awhile on our own, which was nice but not much to do. Having a bad hair day even after showering, I looked to get a haircut, but the several salons were already booked. I did get (Rebecca, thanks for noticing) a baguette later in the morning. Just too hard to resist, and with so much walking, not much of a risk. We stopped in a grocery store, as Ellen wanted to supplement the ship's lunch with cheese and crackers. We had to be back on the ship by 12:15, as we set sail for Lyon. Ship lunch featured spaghetti for the first time, and was quite good.

Now a few hours to relax and read before arriving in Lyon. I am getting close to finishing Katharine Graham's "Personal History" that I started 4 years ago. Seems like good history to know now. I just made it to the Pentagon Papers and Watergate era, things are just getting good!

Chocolate, Wine & Mustard

Not all at the same time at least!

The morning today was just cruising, from Viviers to Tournon. So we ate breakfast and then moved to the lounge. 10:00am featured a French lesson. I tried, but words from Debbie Sadugar, who I studied with in Israel in 1981 kept ringing in my ears---"my mouth doesn't go that way."

We arrived in Tournon just after lunch. Ellen and I went for a quick walk through town (and I picked up a baguette). We returned to the ship to go on today's shore excursion. First stop was the Valrhona chocolate shop. They gave us free samples and everything, but it was just visiting a chocolate shop.

Next we were off to the Domaine Du Murinais winery. The family has been growers for 7 generations, but just this generation decided to become wine makers. Enjoyed the visit and tasting here much more than the more commercial one a few days ago. Finally have some idea what to do when tasting, but still completely confused by the varieties, regions and complexities of French wine. Felt better when the guide told us that the French have made things much more complicated than they need to and what they really need is better marketing. Finally, a place where I can help!

Last stop of the excursion was the Museum Pierre Palue. Cute little museum run by his daughter, but not much of an attraction.

Back on the ship, the highlight of the evening was a Mustard lecture. Since we are entering Burgundy, whose capital is Dijon, we got a history lesson and understanding of how mustard is grown and produced. Luckily I was paying attention to the 10 page PowerPoint presentation, as I twice needed to recite to interested but non-attending passengers what was covered in the lecture. I found it interesting, but heck, I like mustard. Ellen hates mustard, and skipped the lecture.

We ended the evening watching the shore go by up on the upper deck.

Day 6 Addendum: Cannonballs, Roots and Nuns

"Cannonballs, roots and nuns--this is a dangerous place" tour guide Frances

I was slightly premature in posting my day 6 summary, as I forgot that we had a quick town trip planned. We docked in Viviers at 10:30pm, were met by tourguides, and set out on foot for a quick tour. The village has a small lower town and then uphill, the home of the bishop and 53 residents, including 23 nuns. The moon was full and tremendously bright, as shown in this photo.

The walk was almost enirely in the dark, with a flashlight used to guide us. One narrow street had a cannonball cemented at the top to keep cars from driving down. Tree roots were pointed out to us to avoid tripping. And we were told one of the nuns had recently gotten her driver's license....but hadn't learned how to brake. Thus our warning about cannonballs, roots and nuns was completely for our safety.

We got back to the ship at 11:30pm. Probably the highlight of the day was not being near enough to media to be overwhelmed by the Michael Jackson funeral. I'm okay with this big news event happening while I was gone.

Day 6: But I Don't Waaaaant To

Ok, first really lame title. But today was a day of wine.

We started out in Avignon today. Having already spent two days here, it felt much more like returning to a familiar city than exploring something new, even though we began with the group guided tour. We had left the Pope's Palace off our agenda before, because we knew that the ship's tour included it. Having perhaps missed the day in Hebrew School at Beth El where they reviewed papal history, I must admit I was unaware that there were 7 popes in the 14th century who resided in Avignon due to instability in Italy (and of course I'm not counting the two schism popes that followed). The popes made their own new Vatican in Avignon. Not much besides the stone walls survives today, but an interesting bit of history. Perhaps even more interesting is that no pope has returned to Avignon in over 600 years. Our tour guide said she once asked the local bishop why the popes do not return. His answer was "It's complicated." We in the US are certainly not used to grudges and avoidance that lasts more than 600 years.

We stayed with the tour because it included the synagogue of Avignon, but after we simply walked by and were told "there's the synagogue", we decided to spend the rest of the time on our own. Ellen wanted to buy a signon figurine, and we decided to supplement the ship's lunch with sandwiches.

In the afternoon, we had opted for the optional tour to Chateauneuf du Pape, the summer home of the pope and the home to some of Provence's best wine country. We toured and tasted at Maison Bouachon, buying a bottle of red wine that we tasted. .Ellen and I aren't wine people, so we enjoyed the tasting lesson provided by the winery. Just need to figure out now how you get wine back home. There must be a way to return from France with wine, right?

After the winery, we went to the ruins of the papal summer home. Nothing but ruins, destroyed through several ancient wars and a spiteful bombing by the Germans towards the end of World War II. We finished the day by walking through the village, home to almost nothing but wine stores. Go figure.

Day 5: Tour de France Everywhere

Got our first good night's sleep last night, both because we are now fully adjusted to the 6 hour time difference and because our room is nicely air conditioned. I woke up at 6 when the ship started moving. Looking out the window, I saw the scenery go by and decided I wanted to experience that first hand. So I got up an hour and 45 minutes before the alarm (I am certain that is a first!), showered and went out onto the side deck to watch the shore go by. We went from Avignon to Arles in just about 3 hours.

I brought the Dell Mini out with me and soon discovered that Andrea was still awake back at Penn State. So we had an early morning/late evening Facebook chat. Thrilled me more than her, I am sure.

After breakfast, we were onto the bus for an optional excursion to Baux and the St. Remy sanitarium. We had just arrived at Baux and were getting instructions for where we were going and when to get off, when the police told the bus it couldn't stop. We had wandered into the middle of the Tour de France. The ship had been told the tour would be there in the afternoon so we were safe to visit in the morning. Turns out that wasn't true. So we drove down the hill a little and got out to take pictures of people waiting for the Tour. It was fascinating to see, RVs, cars, motorcycles, all lining this country road.

So with a quick change of plans, Viking decided to take us to the village of St. Remy, that normally we would not have seen. Quaint little town, the highlights of which were the birthplace of Nostradamus and the town church. I bought a baguette (I could live on them throughout France, 85 Euro cents for bread better than we can get anywhere) and a bottle of bordeaux.

We then went to the sanitarium. Much to do about Van Gogh of course. It is still a working mental health hospital for women. Reproductions of Van Gogh's paintings were placed around the grounds, showing the inspiration for the paintings. Fascinating to look at the ordinary olive trees, then see how Van Gogh painted them. Lots of good pictures, and beautiful grounds.

We bussed back to the ship for lunch, then Ellen and I decided to do Arles on our own. We were not more than a few blocks from the ship when we came upon a circle that was preparing for the Tour de France to come through. It was again interesting to see the preparation, the people, the colors. Official vehicles came racing by every few minutes, making us think that the cyclists would come by soon. Then vans would come by and stop. The driver would get out and sell souveniers. How cheesy, right? We bought a 20 Euro bag that included a hat, a t-shirt and other Tour memorabilia. We waited an hour, but were running out of time to see the rest of Arles. Later we were told that the cyclists came by real fast and then we were gone. Would have been nice to say we had seen the Tour, but it would have been nothing more than checking an experience off.

Arles has a Roman coliseum that still houses bull fights (which were going on today). We walked around the coliseum, then visited the church and the town square. Better than a bunch of cyclists, I have to agree.

Back at the ship, we attended a brief presentation on Provence, then had dinner. Sat with 2 new couples tonight, managed to make conversation despite being a good 25-28 years younger than our dinner guests. The ship was offering accordion music and singing and dancing when we approached Avignon, but we decided we would pass up that fun for a seat on the outside of the ship watching the world go by.

Day 4: Sur Le Pont D'Avignon

We finished the ground portion of our trip today. We accompanied our B&B host to the Avignon market, and marveled at the fresh vegetables, meats, breads, etc. The French love their food and certainly starts with the freshness of the ingredients.

We walked up to the garden at the highest point of the city for lunch, sandwiches and a chance to catch our breath.

We arranged for a ride from the B&B to the ship. It wasn't too far, but with the heat so excessive and the walk over cobblestones it would have been a difficult trip. Our room is comfortable, but smaller than our last Viking ship, with two twin beds.

After checking in and getting into our room, we walked a few blocks to the Pont D'Avignon, the bridge made famous in song. As you will see from the pictures, another afternoon storm was coming in, so we hid under the bridge for a short while, then took the audio tour of the bridge. The story is interesting, a boy had a vision to build a bridge, and somehow convinced the town people to build one. The bridge was damaged multiple times by floods and no longer spans the Rhone, but by gosh, it is still famous.

We came back to the ship for the mandatory safety training, an introduction to the staff and our first meal. We dined with a couple from Westchester County, learning about their 4 boys (aged 39-29) and their prior travels. They had taken the Viking Danube cruise last year that we took 4 years ago, making us both members of the Viking Explorer Society (which gained us a different name tag and a captain's reception on Tuesday!).

The meal was good, but 5 courses and 2.5 hours, a bit much for our patience.

Tomorrow we are taking an optional tour to Les Baux and St. Remy, and then the city tour of Arles in the afternoon.

Day 3: Lavender

After a decent night's sleep, we ate a breakfast of fruit and breads at the B&B. Our driver, Michelle, then took us our of Avignon, headed for the land of lavender. We stopped first at Musee de la Lavander, skipping the museum, while heading straight for the boutique. We got a lesson on the properties of lavender (good for calming, digestion, anti-bacterial, you name it), the difference between the real stuff and the cheaper lavendine, and of course, all the great products made with lavender. We picked out "only" a few things, so we rang up only a 51 euro tab.

We then headed up the hills to the town of Gordes, which looked almost too much like a movie set. Beautiful old buildings, churches, and absolutely breathtaking views.

We then drove down the hill to the Abbaye Notre-Dame de Senanque with beautiful fields of lavender surrounding the abbey structure.

Last for the daytrip was a quick visit to the town of Roussillon, where we grabbed sandwiches for lunch and dined outside.

It was cooler away from Avignon, with the temperatures in the high 80's, compared to 95 in Avignon. After we returned, we set out for an outdoor cafe so I could enjoy a beer, Ellen a Coca Cola Light. The sky turned dark and we got to see everyone scatter as rain came for 1/2 an hour or so. It cooled everything off, which was quite welcome.

Dinner was at Resturant L'Opera Cafe, a short walk down the main street and right across from the carousel. Evenings attract great crowds of local and tourists, it was fun to people watch as we dined.

Tomorrow will leave us with some free time in Avignon, to visit gardens and the famous bridge before starting the trip.

Day 2: All That And A Bag of Chips

I really don't do French very well, so this will be an interesting trip. We got into Paris Charles de Gaulle about 5:30 am local time, and our train for Avignon didn't leave until 11:40 am. That's a long time in a little train station. Ellen wanted some chips, we got some change and I bought what I thought were plain chips. Turned out they were roasted chicken and thyme flavored. Who ever heard of such a thing? Ellen ate them anyway, so nothing lost.

We were exhausted, both getting virtually no sleep on the plane. Time crawled waiting for our train. We met a couple and their two children from Scarsdale. Kids were 4 and 3, seems impossible to remember Andrea and Ben at that age.

Finally it was train time. We had 1st class reserved seats and the train was very comfortable. I tried to look out the window at the countryside as the outskirts of Paris turned into farm country, but I didn't last very long. We both slept pretty much the whole way, which was much needed.

We are staying in a B&B in Avignon, called A L'Ombre du Palais. It is located right near the center of the old city, across from the Palais Des Papas. We had enough energy for a walk down the main street, a sampling of French baked goods and finding the local supermarket. We both love foreign grocery stores, so interesting to see similar and very different products.

Our B&B hostess treated us to wine and hors d'oeuvres at 7 pm, and made us reservations at L'Epicerie just a few blocks away. Ellen ordered beef, I ordered a seasoned lamb dish, and we ended up both liking each other's better. For dessert, I had an apricot tart with vanilla ice cream. It was obviously made by a pastry chef and the ice cream was home made. It cooled the core, which was necessary since the highs are in the mid-90's.

Tomorrow we have hired a car for 1/2 a day of site seeing ouside of Avignon, then we'll try to finish off the city itself, with the cruise starting on Sunday.

Day 1: We are under way!

Ellen and I needed this vacation. Last year's summer trip was derailed at the last minute due to family health issues. The year before that I was suddenly “between jobs” just days before vacation, leading to an abbreviated and unsatisfying trip to Oregon. A return to a Viking cruise, to a place in Europe neither of us had ever been to seemed like a great way to return to our summer vacation pattern.

Packing and preparing for the trip was not particularly hard. It will be hot the whole time, so not a lot of variety needed in clothing. Technology kept to a relative minimum: I brought only one iPod, my Touch to take advantage of its WiFi, a brand new Dell Mini10 courtesy of a very early birthday present from my mother, and a Nikon S550 point and shoot, equipped with an EyeFi card, to hopefully geotag some of the pictures and allow for the pictures to be uploaded whenever in WiFi range.

Vacation day 1 started with a little more than 1/2 a day at work. The days leading up to vacation are always frantic, trying to cram all the last minute things in. This week was no exception. After last week's Metro accident and celebrity deaths, this week was a little calmer. But it started with a presentation to senior staff of my biggest recent project and ended today with the latest Twitterstorm self-incflicted and the the birth of the #wapofail hashtag. No, I won't explain what happened if you don't know already.

Loaded up the car in the morning, Colby sensed as usual that suitcases meant something was up and insisted on kissing me for awhile before I was allowed to leave. About a mile from home I freaked that I hadn't brought the chargers, pulled over, and found that I had. I hate that feeling.

Made it through the day, Ellen took the Metro to meet me at work, and we were on our way to Dulles. Parked, took the shuttle to the airport, checked the luggage, made it to security, all routine. Except that I had thrown my yogurt into my backpack and forgotten about it, so I got a stern lecture from TSA about liquids. Ellen of course met not one but two people she knew on our flight, both CESJDS related. I never know anyone anywhere we go, but she always does.

We only had enough miles to fly steerage, but the Air France 777 was configured 3-3-3, and we had adjoining aisles, so not too cramped and uncomfortable. The dinner was actually pretty good. I watched “Bride Wars.” Perfectly mindless, and might have even been worth the Redbox $1, but really glad I didn't pay to see it in the theaters.

Tried to sleep, relaxing with the Bose noise canceling headphones and a slew of Jackson Browne bootleg songs my brother Rick had just sent me. Was able to close my eyes and listen, but completely unable to sleep. We have a couple of hours at the airport in Paris before taking a train ride, so there will be a few opportunities for sleep. The first day going in this direction is pretty much a loss anyway, so low expectations of anything more than simply relocating ourselves several thousand miles east.

Bags packed....

Am almost ready to head out for a flight this evening to France. Two nights on the ground then a Viking River cruise of Burgundy & Provence. The trip itinerary is here although our trip is in the opposite order. Stay tuned for all the highlights!