Thursday, May 19, 2016

Home again, home again, jiggety-jig

It always amazes me when I make plans and arrangements and they carry through perfectly. This trip back to the US went so smoothly that, now when I look back on it, it seems like a dream. It's hard to remember the days before everything was on the internet and how we managed to arrange international travel. Trains, planes, automobiles, and hotels, all my reservations worked with no hassles; everything was ready and waiting, even on my return to France on a day of rail strikes. I had not a single problem. And now I'm home. I'm very grateful to my Aunt Kathy and to my wonderful friends Lou and Lorraine for putting me up, and for putting up with me, while I was in New York.

Now I plan to spend a while processing photos of the trip and sharing them, and some of my adventures, here on the blog. I appreciate your indulgence.

Out the door of my hotel in Paris, looking left, this is what I could see. To the dome!

I left Saint-Aignan on Monday the second of May. Ken drove me up to Blois where I got a train into Paris. I spent that first night in a hotel on the Left Bank, then took the RER up to the airport the following morning for my mid-day flight to Montréal. But first, I had an afternoon in Paris to do some sightseeing. My hotel was a few blocks from the Panthéon, and Ken and I had read that now that the recent round of renovations is complete, visitors can climb up the steps to the dome for the views out over the city. So, once I was checked into my hotel, I made my way to the Panthéon and did just that.

9 comments:

  1. Glad everything went so smoothly. Now, it's Ken's turn to go up to the top of the dome. Monte là-dessus et tu verras Montmartre!

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  2. So glad you're home safe and sound. By the time you finish processing your photos the grass will need cutting. :)

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  3. Welcome home. It really is hard to imagine how we arranged travel before the internet. My partner and myself recently discussed the subject and for local Australian, each state had a tourist bureau in Melbourne, as did New Zealand and even in 2010, there was a place in the city to buy a Japan Rail Pass. And of course, much was done through travel agents, which we still use at times. I look forward to your photos.

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  4. Glad to know you made it home smoothly, and I can't wait to see all of the photos!

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  5. I didn't appreciate how long you were gone. What a wonderful-sounding trip. Welcome home!

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  6. I'm glad you're starting with the Pantheon. Welcome back home.

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  7. Glad it was a smooth trip, and like the others I'm looking forward to seeing the pictures.
    In the olden days, you got corralled into someone's darkened living room to see a lot of slides . . . "And here is Uncle Howard at Niagara Falls".
    Now we get to view them at home, in our jammies. Progress!

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  8. chm, et je l'ai bien vu de la haut. LOL

    betty ann, long before that, I'm sure!

    andrew, it is amazing. I haven't been to a travel agent in ages.

    judy, thanks! Stay tuned...

    mitch, it was two weeks of fun!

    evelyn, it's always best to start at the beginning. ;)

    emm, a much better way, in my opinion. :)

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  9. Welcome home!
    Hotel des Carmes?

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