The Journey to Paris!

Well, it seems I am on my way to Paris. A few months ago I had no thought of becoming a world traveller. Yes, I have been to a few countries for brief stays, but suddenly I am contemplating spending 4 months in one of the world’s most romantic cities – courtesy of my husband’s job. Thank you, David!

We left Vancouver at 8:25 pm on Friday, Dec. 12 on a 9 hour flight to Amsterdam. Anyone who has flown in the economy section of an airplane for that long knows the fun of trying to find a comfortable position in the narrow seats. I felt like a frog pinned on my back to a lab desk, unable to move, waiting for the end – of the journey, of course!

We finally reached Amsterdam where it seemed we picked the slowest Customs line to declare why we had come – David for business and me for pleasure. Whee!! Nevertheless, we did make our connecting flight to Paris and arrived at Charles de Gaulle Airport at 6:05 pm on Saturday, Dec. 12.

Wow, we are really here! Our adventure is beginning – and how true those words turned out to be. First of all, David’s suitcase did not arrive with our flight. The good news was that they knew where it was and said it would be delivered tomorrow.

Okay, we don’t have much luggage; so let’s take the RER, the train into Paris. Time for me to get accustomed to the extensive and efficient transportation system they have here.

Ooops! One hitch – a soldier with a very pointed gun stops us as we approach the ramp. He explains in broken English that there has been a bomb threat and the train station is closed. Yikes, what a welcome!

All right, let’s try Plan B – a taxi to Paris. We pile our luggage and ourselves into the next available taxi and finally, we are on our way – only to be slowed to a crawl by a massive traffic jam. It seems we arrived on a weekend full of Christmas celebrations (fetes) and lots of people. The taxi driver tells us that traffic has been jammed up all day. After a slow hour’s drive – with me threatening to fall asleep because of my sleepless plane ride – we reach our destination, 49, Rue Gabrielle in Paris.

Our flat is located in Montmartre, the area in the north of Paris where many famous artists lived and had studios including Salvador Dali, Monet, Van Gogh and Renoir. In fact, the building where we are staying is where Picasso had his first flat when he came to Paris! I look forward to exploring the museums, galleries, and the city itself.

But now it’s time to explore our new home, buy a few groceries and hit the sack. It’s been a long day and there are more adventures to come. Stay tuned!