Sunday, September 12, 2010

A rainy kind of Sunday!




Sunday morning, 12 September, 2010

Allo!

Well…let me just say that sometimes things don’t go exactly as planned!! First, Mom’s Detroit-Washington DC flight was cancelled, but United was able to re-route her through Chicago, and she still got to go first class Chicago-Paris, so that was good. However, getting to her at CDG – now that was exciting!

We left about an hour and a half early, as we didn’t want to be late for 9:30 am arrival…..good thing that we did, as when we got to the Luxembourg RER B station, we were informed that, due to work on the line Saturday and Sunday, the RER B train would NOT go to CDG, but rather would let people off at Aulnay-sur-Bois or Mitry and take buses. So, off we got at Aulnay, up to the street, and there were buses ready to go. What we didn’t realize (because they weren’t telling this part of the equation…we found out last night at Gare du Nord) was that if you got off at Aulnay, the bus would go to each subsequent RER B station, and THEN go to the airport, while if you got off at Mitry, the bus would go directly to CDG! So, round and around the suburbs we went; very frustrating!! FINALLY reached the CDG train station, and it was complete and total CHAOS! Lines of people everywhere! We found our way to Terminal 1, and they were actually off-loading luggage for Mom’s flight! And there she was!! Mom said she very much enjoyed her first class ride; glad to hear it, that’s for sure!

Decided on the way back not to mess with the chaos of those bus lines, so we took a cab back to the RER station at Aulnay. That worked out very well; caught a train back to town, and voila, there we were at Luxembourg! Gave Mom a chance to settle in, then whisked her off for lunch downstairs. Note: The café right across the street from the flat does NOT have good food; passable wine, but I think we made a mental note last time we ate there NOT to do it again…which we did. So this time, REMEMBER! Mom had onion soup, which she said was excellent. R had a Croque Monsieur (grilled ham and cheese sandwich) [not very good. R] and I had a variation on the croquet, like R’s meal at Le Favorite a few days ago – grilled prosciutto and cheese and tomato on bread; OK, but the bread was rather tough to cut!

From there we decided against the market at Rue Mouffetard, as we needed to find white wine or champagne vinegar and flour. Went instead on the 21 Bus to Pyramides and the Monoprix. Got the flour and vinegar and a few other odds and ends. By this time, Mom was dropping, so back to the flat, stopping to pick up Magnum Classic bars and croissants from the boulangerie for Sunday’s breakfast.

We all took lovely naps – it was nice and warm, and with the breeze blowing through the flat, it was terrific! Up around 4 and ready to leave for Graciela and Alain’s for dinner about 5:15 p.m. We had wanted to take them out to dinner, but Graciela insisted that we bring Mom to their place for dinner! SO sweet of them! Metro’ed to Gare du Nord, and then came the interesting process of getting tickets.
As I may have explained earlier, there are very few ticket booths open with someone to talk to, who will also take a U.S. credit card. In fact, while we had had no problem at all last Saturday, this Saturday, there were absolutely NO booths open! So, that left us with the only option being the ticket kiosks, and LOTS and lots of change! (The kiosks will not take U.S. credit cards, nor will it take BILLS – coins only; very silly!) R bought a bottle of water with a 20 Euro note, and asked for coins (no bills) in return. That, added to the coins we already had, we were able to cover the 22.80 € bill and get the tickets…what a hassle!

Then to find the right track…well, seems that the 6:13 train cancelled (it seemed to be that kind of day!) so we had to wait for the 6:43. Fortunately, we were among the first on the train, and were able to get seats, because boy, did that train fill up to bursting point! Lots of people milling around in the aisles – or rather they would have milled, had there been any room!

Half-hour later and we were at St. Leu-La-Foret and Alain came to pick us up. We had a really terrific evening! Graciela made a wonderful fish terrine starter with tomato sauce, and it was followed by duck with mango, potatoes and yellow beans. Then came wonderful French cheese, and last but not least, a great apple tarte! Graciela is an excellent cook, and everything was delicious!! Mom started fading about 9:30 or so, so back on the 10:04 train to Paris. Got back here about 10:45 p.m. and there was NO time to blog or do much of anything – everybody too tired! Lovely cool breezes all night made for very good sleeping weather!

We were up around 7 and headed to the Laundromat so that I could do a load of wash including R’s jeans. The weather forecast says it is going to get cooler, so I figured this would be my best opportunity to get them washed and dried before he needs to wear them! Back to the flat for breakfast, and now all is cleaned up. I think we may head to the Bastille Market, but it has started to sprinkle…may look for a museum instead! We’ll see!

More later! Lots of love!
m
x

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