Until a couple of years ago, I was pretty good about tracking my travels via a blog. Got out of the habit, and find that it's really hard to remember the details if you don't take notes. So I'm going to try to recapture that discipline. This is a catch-up on the journey so far.
The Big Surprise
The story starts (for me, at least) on my 60th birthday, November 21st. My parents and brother Charlie came down from Springfield, which was a treat. Son Dan and his wife Leah flew in from Seattle for the festivities, which I thought was my big surprise. It wasn't.
The family chose dinner at the Blue Talon (country French cuisine), and brought the presents to open there. A beret. A baguette and a bottle of French wine. A video collection of Pepe Le Pew cartoons. A Lonely Planet Guide to France. At this point, I get that France is somehow in the picture. What I totally didn't get was that all 3 of my sons and their wives would be joining Judy and me in Paris: we would leave the USA Christmas Eve and arrive on Christmas day. From there to Lyon, then back to Paris, then home on January 2.
The entire family had been hatching this since mid-summer. Chris, his wife Teresa, Judy and I would rent a car in Williamsburg, drive to Newark Airport, and fly from there at 6:30PM on Christmas Eve. Dan and Leah would fly direct from Seattle (first class) on Dan's frequent flyer miles (a modest repayment for the hassle of commuting weekly between Seattle and the East Coast for over a year). and arrive about an hour after Chris, Teresa, Judy and I. Dan also got Adam a frequent flyer ticket to Bogota to meet his wife Monica. They would fly together to Paris, joining us a few hours later. We'd go to the 7:00 PM Christmas day service at Notre Dame Cathedral. The next morning, we'd hop on a train to Lyon for a couple of days, then back to Paris for the remainder of our trip. Then Adam would fly to Richmond by way of Bogota (to get Monica back to Colombia). Chris, Teresa, Judy, and I would fly back to Newark via Dusseldorf, then rent another car back to Williamsburg. Dan and Leah would fly back to Seattle. Later, that changed to flying to Dublin for a consulting assignment. So Dan and Leah were packing for a season, not for a week.
What could be simpler?
The Tribulations
Adam and I were up late the Friday before the trip (December 18th). Our conversation turned to the trip and he said - jokingly - "you know, you and mom had better check that your passports are still good!"
We did. Both of ours expired November 24th.
I spent 3 hours on the phone Saturday with the good folks at the Passport office. We would be able to get an immediate expedited passport provided that Judy and I could be at the Passport Office in Philadelphia at 8:00AM on December 23. We booked a hotel room across the street from the Customs House (home of the passport office), switched the rental car over to Chris and Teresa, and made plans to drive Teresa's car to Philly, get the passports, spend another night at the hotel, drive to Newark, put Teresa's car in long-term storage, and meet them in the airport. Then we'd all come back from Newark in Teresa's car.
We also discovered that the cost of train tickets from Paris to Lyon had gone through the roof: if the eight of us could get tickets on the slow train, it would cost a total of over $1,200 round trip. I got online to look at car rentals. I found a company that claimed that their van could seat up to 9 people plus luggage for $579 for 3 days. My past experience renting in Europe suggested that we'd double that when you add in insurance and surcharges, but we booked it anyway. We would drive to/from Lyon, which would give us the latitude to do a little more touring in the area.
What could be simpler?
Actually, the passport acquisition/Newark journey part worked surprisingly well. It took a long time to get to Philly on the 22nd, but we got there. The hotel was a really nice boutique hotel 2 blocks from Independence Hall and right across the street from the Passport office. It took longer to get through Customs House security than to get through the passport application process. We were out by about 9:30, visited the Liberty Bell, toured Independence Hall, had some lunch, and picked up the passports at 1:30. It was rainy but the temperature was in the 60s, and the drive to Newark on the 24th was the easiest trip I've ever taken on the Jersey Turnpike. We all got to Newark early enough to have dinner before converging on the airport with way more than ample time before our flight. The flight itself was uneventful and reached Charles de Gaulle Airport on time.
Here's the absolutely not simple part. Adam called us while we were waiting to get into Independence Hall. Monica would need proof that she could return to Colombia, and that round-trip ticket and hotel reservations weren't enough. Specifically, she would need proof (in cash) that she had 100 euros for each day that she was out of the country. Adam would have to come up with about 1,000 euros in cash in the next couple of hours, before leaving for the airport to meet Monica in Colombia. Grandparents Jan and Orlin floated him some cash to cover.
The next phone call from Adam was from Richmond airport. His flight was delayed by bad storms up and down the east coast, and he would not be able to make his connection to Bogota... which meant that he wouldn't be able to meet Monica with the cash, and that they'd miss their flights to Paris. Adam called super-traveler Dan, and he texted that they were working on "Plan B." Dan worked the websites and phones to figure out any way to get from somewhere near Richmond to Bogota via any connections.
The next call was that Adam would need to buy another last-minute ticket - this time, from Washington D.C. to Fort Lauderdale... assuming that that flight would leave, and D.C. was under the same weather system. That flight was already dangerously delayed to 10:30, and flights tend to cancel as they approach midnight take-off.
Among many next calls was one from Chris, who was headed to Richmond to get Adam, drive him 2 1/2 to 3 hours to D.C., turn around, come home, pack, and then drive to Newark to meet us. Another was from Teresa, who said that Chris had been up since 5AM and there had to be another way. If there was, nobody figured it out.
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| Chris, Teresa, Judy and I, waiting for our flight in Newark |
Before leaving, Adam set up a group chat on WhatsApp, a text service that lets you chat by wifi anywhere in the world for free. Chris, Teresa, Judy and I got on as soon as we reached Charles de Gaulle airport to tell the rest that we'd arrived. By the time we'd cleared immigration and had our luggage, we'd had a reply from Dan and Leah that they'd arrived, but at a different terminal. We found them quickly, then spent way too much time trying to figure out how we'd get to the hotel. At the end, we decided to get a couple of cabs, whatever the cost... and it turned out that one of the cabbies had a van that would hold all 6 of us and our luggage. We got to the hotel, dropped luggage, got some lunch, wandered down to Notre Dame (a few blocks away), then back to formally check in and crash for awhile. Adam and Monica found their way to the hotel and we had a wonderful (and frankly, improbable) reunion. God is good!
Paris, Part 1
We decided to rest for a little while and ended up getting to Notre Dame well after the start of the church service. Nonetheless, we were able to get through security and get in about halfway through the sermon. It was a pretty impressive experience.
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| Notre Dame Cathedral, Paris |
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| Christmas Day Service, Notre Dame |
Afterwards, we had a terrific (and surprisingly affordable) meal just across the Seine at a restaurant called Le Metro. Most of the guys got roast duck, and it was delicious. Our waiter was friendly with a wry sense of humor, which capped off the experience. We returned to the hotel, had some wine in the lobby, and finally went to bed around 1:00AM (or was it 2:00?).
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| Le Metro (site of first dinner in Paris) |
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| Christmas Dinner at Le Metro |
Lyon, Part 1
Nobody woke up in the morning. I think Judy and I were first out of bed around 9AM, and we probably all really needed that sleep. Judy, Adam and I went to get the car from the train station around 11:30, and were surprised to find a HUGE car that really would hold all of us, and comfortably. We were wise enough to pay for GPS, but not wise enough to know that it doesn't work worth squat in the city. By the time we found our way back to the hotel and got everyone loaded up, it was around 1:30. Traffic to Lyon was horrible: what should have been a 4 1/2 hour trip was more like 7 1/2, with the last hour trying to find the Air B&B that we'd rented. We dumped everyone off, then Adam, Dan and I spent another hour trying to navigate to the parking garage the owner had directed us to. And then, trying to get the van - which I swear didn't have more than 1" ceiling clearance - through the gate and into a parking space. We have not moved it since, and frankly I am terrified to try to exit that garage. May need to let air out of the tires to gain an inch of clearance...
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| Adam, Monica and Leah in our Lyon appartment |
Today was pretty laid back - just a lot of walking. We are staying in a fifth floor walkup with three adjoining apartments, each with a bathroom and kitchenette, and sharing a washing machine. It's located just off Place Carnot in the Perrache district, between the Saone and Rhone Rivers and just north of where they converge.
After breakfast in the apartment, we walked north on Rue Victor Hugo to Place Bellecour, a large plaza with a big Ferris wheel. It's Sunday, and pretty much everything is closed. We walked west and crossed the Saone on the Pont Bonaparte, then took a funnicular up to la Basilique Notre Dame de Fourviere, an amazing basilica overlooking the city. There are two chapels stacked on top of one another. You can see a couple of pictures below.
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| Notre Dame de Fourviere |
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| Upper Chapel, Notre Dame de Fourviere |
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| Lower Chapel, Notre Dame de Fourviere |
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| Notre Dame de Fourviere (top of hill, upper left) from the Bonaparte Bridge |
Afterwards, we worked our way down the hill (see picture below). Leah had been advised by a friend who had lived in Lyon that we must eat at a Bouchon-Lyonnaise restaurant, and there were many choices in the old city, on the west bank of the Saone. Most of us ordered from one of three "price points" for a three-course meal consisting of entree (in France, a starter) plate (main course), and desert. I had Salade de museau de porc (pig snout salad), followed by Gateau de roies de volaille au coulis de tomates et basific (chicken liver cake in tomato sauce with au gratin potatoes and some veggie), ended with panna cotta (kind of like a cheese cake, but more liquid and topped with raspberry preserves. Actually, really good (even the pig snout salad, which had a delicious dijonnaise dressing).
Most of the rest of the evening was spent window-shopping. Our restaurant is on a walking arcade full of restaurants, sweets shops, and other things that are fun to look at (and eat). Ultimately, we worked our way back across the Saone to our apartment, for salad, wine, and good conversation... oh, and blog-writing.
Everyone wants to try to visit a beaujolais vinyard tomorrow. I'll let you know if we get the van out of the garage. Happily, I paid for extra collision insurance.
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| "It's a long way to the top if you want to rock and roll." - Bon Scott |
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| Our first Bouchon restaurant. Pig Snout Salad. |
Most of the rest of the evening was spent window-shopping. Our restaurant is on a walking arcade full of restaurants, sweets shops, and other things that are fun to look at (and eat). Ultimately, we worked our way back across the Saone to our apartment, for salad, wine, and good conversation... oh, and blog-writing.
Everyone wants to try to visit a beaujolais vinyard tomorrow. I'll let you know if we get the van out of the garage. Happily, I paid for extra collision insurance.
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