Arrived! Left early Sunday morning to meet Sharon at PHX. Checked into American (bound for Detroit) and grabbed some breakfast. Our flight was boarding but we had to stop to get a new People magazine and water for the trip. The line was incredibly slow but finally got through and dashed across the aisle as the door to the plane was just closing. "WAIT!"
"Oh," said the gate agent, "You must be the two Sharon's." Looks like we have been dubbed.
Stewardess on the plane greeted us as we exclaimed, "We're here! The two Sharon's have arrived, we can take off now." Wait, someone is in my seat. Turns out she didn't care for her isle seat and wanted my window. I smiled wanly and waited for her to move. She did. I took "her seat". What she didn't know was that I can't sleep on a plane, I need to fly it to our destination, and I can't do that from "not my seat." She moved and I got us to Detroit without incident.
After reading many FB posts about Paris Travels, especially about "lost" luggage and how the Apple air tag saved the day on many occasions, I purchased one for this trip and tucked it inside my luggage. It has been a hoot tracking my suitcase to ensure it made it on the plane and then to the claim area.
Touchdown Detroit. Took seemingly forever to get the shuttle to our hotel, but it eventually arrived. We settled into the Wingate (much like a Hampton Inn), dinner in the hotel cafe, bed, sleep, wake fitfully and rise to a new day. We actually booked two nights at the Wingate because we weren't leaving for the airport until 6pm and didn't want to "hang out" from noon until our flight at 9pm. So, we eventually called a cab to take us into Detroit for lunch at Joe Muer Seafood. Wow was it amazing! Already posted a pic of the Chilean sea bass stuffed with crab and lobster. It was wonderful! The restaurant is located right on the river our view was simply wonderful. The service from the hostesses through the water person and wait staff was top notch. And the food, ohh la la!
Across the river was Windsor, Ottawa. Yes, that close. We took a chocolate lava cake in a to go container and our waiter actually wrote on the top: 1.5 minutes in the microwave and gave us "high end" plastic utensils to eat it which we did just before leaving the hotel. Yes, it was delicious!
Left the hotel around 6 (to give us 3 hours to get through all the necessary international steps). We were through and at our gate in 30 minutes. Plenty of time to shop, buy another People magazine (a travel requirement), oh and a hoodie that says Detroit (never been there) at a greatly reduced price (I have always loved a bargain) and so to the waiting area and plug in our phones to recharge.
And then the announcement: The incoming flight to take us to Paris has been rerouted to Chicago due to weather in Detroit. We're delayed two hours; new departure time is midnight. Oh great. It's international language in the waiting area, children of all ages bouncing around, excited to be going home, clearly hyped up on sugar or carbs and running up and down the people mover. Parents tired from their "vacation" and just sitting as their darlings race about. With all the news about child kidnapping I sat there worried sick that one of them would be grabbed while the parents backs were turned, but thankfully I was not called upon to defend these adorable kiddos who were just having fun.
In the fullness of time we were called to board the plane. Seats were fine but we were in the first row in Premium which means we did not have a row in front of us to stow our stuff, it had to go into the overhead. Oh well, we managed. Dinner was served and eventually Sharon curled up and went to sleep.
Shon cannot sleep on a plane -- it is my duty to support the pilot and be his/her virtual assistant. So I am relegated to watch one movie after another while I sent supportive thoughts to the cockpit. This I did for the 8 hours of our flight which is why the plane did not go down over the Atlantic and we landed safely in Paris. Lori, you're welcome.
Lori, my daughter, has forbade me to drown in the ocean. She wants ("only needs") a 1/4 cup of my ashes to have a blue diamond made and she WANTS that gem when I die. I am committed to staying alive over the water.
We landed and proceeded through customs. I have NEVER been through the passport control process as fast as we did. Less than 7 minutes to walk the maze and present my passport. Easy peasy.
Luggage conveyer was at the furthest conveyer belt. Took a bit, but that PURPLE suitcase eventually surfaced. It was fun to watch its progress given that I had purchased an Apple Air Tag before leaving.
Sharon had decided that we should just take a taxi instead of reserving a private transfer. YES! The cost was about parity from our last visit, CDG to our hotel in Picpus was 53 euros, a bargain!
Got to the hotel and a new lady was behind the desk. While she is delightful, we were so hoping Rashid would be here. (He will be when he gets back from vacation on Sep 11th). Looking forward to that homecoming. Our hotel (Lux) has new owners (as of January) and many changes are in the works.
We slept and ate and slept some more. Turns out we're not as young as we used to be and time change is a challenge.
This morning we got up to an alarm and met our group in the Montmartre for a food and wine walking tour. Our guide, Julie, was wonderful! She took us through the Montmartre wanting to convince us that this area was the best and reason she chose to live here.
The Montmartre was originally a "village" outside of Paris, separated by a stone wall. This urban area was known for its vineyards and windmills. While Paris has been updated, streets widened, buildings modernized (typically by Haussman) the lower part of the Montmartre remains mostly as it was, except the streets have been paved/cobbled -- but recently, no more than 100 years ago (I chuckled). As we moved closer to Sacre-Coeur the buildings looked more modern. Yes, they are quite new and sell for roughly 2000 euros per square meter. Apartments (very small ones) sell for roughly 450,000 euros. Shaking my head. Our tour ended at the base of Sacre-Coeur and we were beat, so we headed back. The sweets were VERY sweet, the choux were amazing, the cheeses were VERY good, the macrons were lovely. What a fun trip!
Back to homebase, quick nap, then onto dinner at the local Vietnam restaurant. Now Sharon is snoring and I'm slaving away at the keyboard wondering when that creepo will shut this down. Wow, sucks to be boring me.
Tomorrow we board the boat. "Ship" feels overly grand. Our boat will hold 144 passengers (unless some decline to sail due to personal issues). More (may) be revealed.
Hugs to all!
Sharon and Shon
