France - 1988

Wednesday, August 17 - Thursday, August 18

Lunch with Judy and Walt was fun but we were anxious to "allonz-y." We arrived at the airport - Dulles - at 3 p.m. which made for a leisurely check-in and fabulous choice of seats. The 747 was overbooked so every seat was spoken for. We boarded at 5:40 and sat on the field until 9:20 pm due to a bad thunder storm between Washington and New York. Picked up our other passengers at Kennedy and left for Paris and Charles de Gaulle airport at 12:30. They fed us sandwiches to keep us happy as dinner didn't come on board until New York. I slept through dinner and got quite a bit of sleep. John watched the movie - ate a big dinner - and didn't sleep at all.

Arrived at 12:20 Paris time (six hours ahead). We took the Air France bus to Paris and then grabbed a cab to take us the remaining five blocks to our hotel. It cost $20. We should have known better. We are a bit tired so we walked to tour Eiffel and took the Seine cruise - a good choice for today. We picked up a light dinner on Rue San Dominique. What a delightful section of Paris. Many Boulangeries, Patisseines, Brasseries - neighborhood shops - very quaint and in the open air. I don't understand why they don't have a milion flys. We like our hotel; It is very French and although it seems to cater to Americans, the neighborhood is local and no one speaks English. John is doing beautifully with his French. Temp in 80's, no humidity, lovely breeze. The evening temp about 60 degrees. Early to bed. Tired. We are in the 7th Arrondizment.