Our trip started from Phoenix for a short flight, then we landed in LAX (Los Angeles) for the very long flight that lasted over 10 hours, but somehow managed to arrive early. The distance to the departure gate for the long leg of our flights spoiled us for future transit transfers.
Noteworthy on the Phoenix leg of the trip was the amazing, mellifluous voice of Michelle, a flight attendant whose voice deserves to be recorded. At first, I thought her voice was a recording, but I found out that was really her. Her family members are singers, and I bet she’d be a great singer, too. Sometimes you just have moments of memorable people or events. Michelle was it for me. But even with a fabulous voice, she said she loved being a flight attendant.
The long trip to Paris was overnight, but the seatback movies were an enticement. I watched two full films and part of another before we landed. Although I’ve seen Nottinghill many times, knowing we’d be in that neighborhood during our trip made me interested to see it again. It was still charming and laugh worthy. I took a “nap,” but that did not equate to a night’s sleep.
After arrival, even though we’d (Roger and I) seen videos of the trek from CDG (Charles DeGaulle airport) to connecting transportation, it was still a shock. Taking the trains was a jolt. It took forever to reach our next connection.
We’re spoiled in the US. In Europe in the train connections, there are hardly any escalators (let alone elevators), so dragging or trying to carry the carry-on-sized suitcase plus a full backpack was no ride in the park. The highlight of that stretch was one elegant Frenchman who offered to carry my suitcase and backpack for me. After one flight of stairs, I expected him to relinquish the bags, but as we came around a corner, he indicated the two additional long flights of stairs. I gladly accepted his offer to carry the bags to the top. Vive la France!
Transferring between a subway system to the train, we encountered many stairs up and down. A nightmare. Roger said we could have walked on the surface streets without stairs, but it seemed a good idea at the time to stay underground to finish the process.
When we reached the Montparnasse station, I was faced with an issue. Needing a bathroom that required 1 Euro to use. We hadn’t had time to exchange money. One of several uniformed train employees helped me by giving me a pass to use the facility. Whew! And I will say that the bathrooms are spotless, with an attendant cleaning sinks after each patron left!
Traveling to Bordeaux, we finally arrived the first night after about two hours’ sleep. Jet lag pills to the ready!
Roger developed our full itinerary, for which I’m eternally grateful. The weeks before we left, I was wrapped up in finishing everything needed to publish Love at First Sight. I just weighed in on the vineyards we were to see, and we’re seeing many.
I must mention that having only rudimentary French (I was never good at speaking it after three years way back in high school and college, but my recall is spotty and hilarious.) My brain acts like a RAM-random access memory. I’ve also studied Spanish and lived in Germany years ago, so my brain grabs whatever word it can find from any language and, suddenly, I’m multi-lingual badly. At least I amuse people in my efforts to speak to them!
Just to remind everyone: the prequel to the Louisa’s Vineyard Series, Love at First Sight, is available now on most publishers’ websites. If you haven’t read the free blog columns on my website, I encourage you to read them. They’ll provide you with additional insights on the characters in Love at First Sight. I channeled the main characters and had a great time having them speak candidly about their lives, and even complaining! Talk about a split personality! I was able to speak from their perspectives, even when they weren’t the friendliest. (I laughed a lot as I wrote their bios!)
If anyone has ordered the book, please let me know if you’d like to provide a review from an unbiased perspective!
More for next time!