City of Light One

Have to be brief because of time constraints and uncertainties of hotel internet connection.  So, we'll just conveniently ignore the Dulles experience.  I don’t have to spend much time on the trip over, went on Air France again, with the only nuance being the aircraft (It isn't Boeing, but I'm still going!)

 

You get the idea of how many folk there were from the seating plan, both “upstairs” and down..  we were in the second to last grouping on the left hand chart.  Food was well, processed, pre-packaged airline food (there was penne pasta under the foil - glutinous). 

Many pieces of paper generated on a small tray, and some oddities.  See the little (blue) Nanton container of water?  It came from that noted French region of Wisconsin!  And the little triangle of “cheese” by the cup and bottle.  Quick reminder that this is Air France, where fromage is one of their most prized products.  A (bad) close-up of the “Brie” label:

Read the top line and the word under Brie.  What is this world coming to?  I must say the service was gracious and you weren't hurried to finish the "food".

Anyway we finally survived the two hour weather delay at Dulles and the seven hour trip over in quite small seats.  I will say that the 380 wasn’t a bad aircraft, it was fairly quiet, but I will just add that Bose Noise Cancelling Headphones:  Worth.  Every. Penny!!!.   All the difference in the world.  And the audio programming on the plane did have a classical channel.

We arrived about 7am (local) at a rainy Charles De Gaulle Airport and walked seemingly miles, and several passport showings before we finally got our luggage. I am not sure why countries welcome you by treating you like cattle. After that, a mere 80 euro taxi ride in rush hour got us to our hotel.  Unfortunately our room wasn’t available right away so we had to do a little sitting and walking before getting to our lovely room.

Overlooking Rue Duphot in the Madeline District.  Despite advice to “tough it out” the first day, we did take a little nap.

Okay, end of travel worries and woes.  And you might not believe this out of the mouth of the feeder, but since then it has been a glorious trip.  There is just something enchanting about Paris.  A little bistro or brasserie on almost any corner, filled with interesting people, traffic and motorcycles everywhere, but all adding to the atmosphere.  On our post walk nap we discovered a place called Fauchon

I am not sure how to describe it.   I guess it would be a combination of Dean and de Lucca and Sutton Place Gourmet, but this place puts them to shame.   Glitzy, presentation and display to knock your eyes out

 

They actually have two stores on Place de la Madeline, the one shown is devoted entirely to candy, coffees, and the other has a wonderful selection of charcuterie, cheeses (pictures to come), seafood, patisserie, and so forth mostly for take away.  It is astonishing.  And there are helpful clerks everywhere. 

 

I was going to describe our lovely (just right) dinner of last night, but time marches on and I have a lot to say about that.  A teaser:

And courtesy of a French couple a rare if not unprecedented shot of the travelers:

Tonight we are dining at a former (?) Michelin One Star famous for seafood.  And it is getting time for me to

DFD