Day 1 ORY and Paris

Day 1 – Paris

OMG WHAT A DAY! I (Lyneah) left RDU at 11 and got to Kennedy late at 1:00 PM due to a technical issue and due to the fact that it's Kennedy. Plenty of time to find Open Skies and find out they are not open until 2:30 PM so I went and found a Starbucks where they were out of Cinnamon Dolce so they made up a substitute which was really good. Four security officers, two before me and two after, had me feeling rather secure there. Kennedy's new Terminal 5 is lovely, but not well marked and if you were deaf, you'd never know which train to take in which direction –the only way is listening to the loud speaker. Foreigners without a good grasp of spoken English and deaf would have a great deal of difficulty.

Open Skies is the way to travel. The plane was completely full so I was not able to be bumped up to first class (called BIZ BED), but I AM NOT COMPLAINING! Biz is wonderful. I had a Sortie seat (exit row - the plane was a remade l'Avion (the food carts still had l'Avion's name) and everything was in French including most of the flight attendants) and I could not have touched the seat in front of me if I slouched all the way down and stretched out! There were two rather large and comfy reclining seats on each side of an aisle large enough for a cart and people passing by and Flight Attendants willing to pull over to let you by with a smile!!!!!

Then, the service. WOW! First, a bottle of water awaited us at our seats with a sealed blanket and a packet containing an eye shield, a pair of slipper socks, ear plugs, the cutest little tooth brush and toothpaste (now if I could only remember to take it to the WC – the world seems to have adopted the English phrase WC (water closet) for the bathroom) -- everything you didn't think to take. They gave us champagne and/or orange juice. Then they provided personal video devices complete with your choice of about 10 movies, cartoons, games, TV shows, etc. I tried two games, couldn't figure them out and decided against a movie thinking I'll get food soon and be asleep before the movie gets started. I was wrong about that.

Then a hot cloth to wash your hands and face.  Yummy.  What a nice touch!  Then the Flight Attendants took their time to make sure each passenger was well taken care of as they passed out the dinner and I was in the last row to be served. It was SO worth the wait. The appetizer was a combo of seafood that I would have been happy with at the RITZ! A grilled shrimp, an encrusted salmon that was soooooooooooooooo good, a small interesting salad, another white fish, yummy all on  really cute square plates. Dinner was fish and rice noodles with grilled veggies, all good, though not at the level of the appetizer. Rolls that looked great, but I passed and just tasted the brie alone on its plate with grapes and butter. Desert was a three layer chocolate mouse with a ganache topping and a chocolate cookie style crust. Again yummy! The champagne was not to my liking but the Chardonnay was good. Did I mention stainless flatware and cloth placemats and cloth napkins and hot towels served before dinner? I tell you it's the way to go!

The seats tilt way back and the footrest comes up. It took me a while to realize that there's a flip down portion that makes it way more comfy. Alex's friend Miguel was very attentive and sweet. The French male attendant was also very nice and helpful. I can see you guys work really hard! This is a full service flight and I wasn't even in first class. A box of truffles ended the meal and I saved them for the morning planning to have one to wake me a bit and save one for Mark. Sorry Mark, they were so good I ate the second too. I am old enough to remember when regular airplanes had meals and service but even TWA at its best was never this good. The comfort of this flying experience is worth some extra cash.

Once I arrived at Orly, I had no problems getting in and finding the cafe I thought we were to meet at. Mark was in the same area - but one floor down. I started getting worried, bought a pre-paid telephone account at Relay, called our international cell which Mark was carrying and left a message as to where I was (Center Cafe near G between arrivals and departures). It never occurred to me there would be another level of cafes, as the departures and arrivals were all on one level. As I was walking to the Info desk again where the women were very helpful in both languages, I ran into Mark.


Meanwhile, in a parallel universe... Once I (Mark) had dropped off Lyneah, it was my turn to drive down to Charlotte and travel in somewhat more plebeian style, courtesy of US Airways. The good news: they have a non-stop to Paris. The not-so-great news: it was a very full coach section, full of students returning to university from their American vacations with lots of baggage.

The lets-make-an-adventure-out-of-this news: they fly into Charles de Gaulle airport on the northeast edge of Paris, whereas Open Skies flies into the other Paris airport, Orly, in the southern suburbs. So, armed only with maps, memory, and a halting command of le langue francais, I made my way across Paris during the morning rush hour, pausing only to pick up a pair of day-travel passes at Gare du Nord (which would have been fairly simple if the ticket window had been anywhere near the train platforms, but you get the idea). Parisian commuter trains are clean if not brand-new, quiet, and very efficient. Also, Parisian graffiti artists are extremely prolific and talented!

Another train and the airport shuttle later I arrived at Orly, only to find myself on the other side (or different level) of the situation Lyneah described so well before I started.

So, at last - Our two wandering (if exhausted) lovers, reunited in Paris!

The shuttle to the Kyriad hotel came after the lady at the info desk called for us as we couldn't find the box Alex described to call them. They came quickly and the hotel is just as Alex advised - business class, reasonable rate, clean with some room compared to the older hotels in Paris. After a bath and nap (BTW, do put the do not disturb sign out - the maid tried to enter despite a double lock), we were off. Helpful staff directed us to an e/w bus that was quite full through Orly to the Metro. We made our way to La Tour Eiffel first. Horribly long lines kept us from going up, but we spent time directly beneath the center of the tower.

It was a late afternoon by now, and it had turned into a fantastic day - mostly sunny, 70's and a nice breeze. Picture perfect. After realizing that nether of us had had lunch (and Mark hadn't had much breakfast to speak of), it was time to set out to find a reasonably priced bistro. Right! In any event, we found a lovely brasserie, Cafe Dome, which we enjoyed very much, then back to the streets and a quick Starbucks (Lyneah can find one anywhere!).

The Metro is your friend.  Figure out where you want to go, know the final destination of that route and it will get you where you want to go.  

Our wanderings took us to the American Church in Paris (closed, but the concierge did allow us in for a brief visit and the bathrooms are free!), then across to the Right Bank and past the old Grand Palace, now the Musee de la Decouverture (also closed) and the Champs Elysee, which gave us a clear if traffic-clogged view of the Arc de Triomphe. A quick hop on the Metro (which, by the way, is what all subways should be) brought us to Saint-Chapelle and Notre-Dame on the Ile de la Cite (closed, of course, but we will be back in the Paris at the end of our trip). C'est dommage – the light would have been perfect to see the great rose window from inside Notre-Dame. We stood on the plaque, fixed in the sidewalk in front of the cathedral, which is the zero point for surveying all of France. In many ways it is both the geographical and emotional heart of the country (the original city of Paris was just two islands in the Seine - Ile de la Cite and Ile St-Louis).

It was near dark by this time, so we crossed Le Petit Pont and found a restaurant Alex and Lyneah ate at 10 years ago. It's the only thing still the same on that block except for the Saint - Severin Cathedral. Dinner followed at a sweet little Turkish place on Blvd. St-Jacques in the Latin Quarter (with possible (Mark) undoubtedly (Lyneah) the best lamb we've ever tasted – or maybe we were just really hungry!) , then back to the Metro and the bus for the return to the Kyriad. A very full two days, and we're just getting started! Our legs are very aware of how much we walked today, and the rest of us was very aware of how wonderful it has all been. Throughout the trip we did healing work, however, this journal covers mostly the physical aspects rather than the metaphysical aspects of the trip.

This is my first attempt at blogging, and I think it's easier than I thought it would be, but I am sure there are fine points that I will learn as I go along. I don't think it's putting the pictures where I want them, rather where it wants them, but at this point that is minor. Hope you will enjoy traveling with us.

Day 2 Paris to Zermatt, Switzerland

We were up early and off to Orly to rent our Ford diesel sedan, which turned out to be a Peugeot. Nice. Not hyper-economical, but pretty good at about 52 mpg.  Back to the hotel as my ankle was very swollen from all the walking and stair-climbing we did the day before and the flying doesn’t help with swelling.  We loaded up, then we were off, with help from Jeeves (our exceedingly polite British-butler-voiced GPS we’ve named Jeeves).  Mark downloaded European maps for our GPS, and it is working fantastically.  He (Mark) is an excellent driver and is managing so far very well.  I drive occasionally as well, but he’s doing the lion’s share and enjoying it most of the time.

Once we started on the road, Mc Donalds lured us in on the promise of free wifi on which it did not make good.  4.65 E (Euros currently 1.43 US Dollars = 1 Euro so 4.65E equals $6.51)  for a processed square of chicken  sandwich equally as bad as what they serve in the USA, if not worse.   Café (an espresso) 1.25E.  Don't be fooled.  A freshly made crepe on the streets of Paris with ham, mushrooms and egg or filled with banana and Nutella at 5E  is a way better value and much more fun.


If you would have landed me in rural Central France without seeing the buildings, there were times that I might have thought I was in West Virginia; other places, I might have thought Arizona had become green.  The countryside has the long views of the American Southwest and the green of the East, along with oranges, yellows and reds all its own.  We rolled through hundreds of kilometers of vast fields of sunflowers, wheat and corn.

Eventually the hills became steep and had a character all their own; clearly we had reached the Alps.  We stopped at Montreux to touch Lake Geneva, which is stunning... found a sweet park along the lake where you can put up a tent and spend the night.  Would have been a good call had we had a tent.  Along the road from Lausanne to Tasch, we went through over 9 tunnels, some of them 2 miles long, and we agreed that even in the face of a major earthquake they would remain intact and neat.

The Swiss, of course, would have it no other way.  Switzerland is about precision.  Things work really well.  The doors go (I need a hand motion inserted here to show open) and they go (insert hand motion showing shut) very perfectly and efficiently. They make almost no noise at all.  Some are actually silent.  Everything is clean and beautiful. Even the garage floor at the train station (very busy) looks recently cleaned and polished.  You feel you could safely use the 20 second rule here for dropped food.  It’s the “God is a Clockmaker” country and I don’t even think they are aware the rest of the world does not create this energy.

We drove through a long valley with taller mountains on both sides than anywhere else we’d been.  Then the climb to Visp was sudden and sharp.  It has to be this way because of the steepness of the mountains; there really is no going over them easily.  Many switchbacks and sharp curves led to the quick ascent to Visp’s 2680 feet – and one is still in the main valley.  Heading up a side valley to Tasch at 4868 feet meant a 2,200 ft climb in a few minutes.

Tasch, which is about 8-10 miles from Zermatt, is the end of the public road – only electric vehicles are allowed past that point, to keep the remainder of the valley pollution-free.  Yet another piece of clever Swiss foresight  So the last leg of today's trip was via the quiet efficient electric train that takes you up to 5815 ft. at Zermatt.   The top of the glacier is 9,800 ft.  The Matterhorn itself tops off at 14,691.  Once we're there, my ears are still ringing and if this train doesn't stop running through my head, I don't know how I'll sleep – exhaustion will work I guess.

In Tasch we had a nice dinner, served by an incredibly hard-working Dutch woman who spoke English, Dutch, German, and French very well and could switch from one to another easily. Swizz (Switzer) Deutsch is the language of the area but many people are multi-lingual.  It was the first time I've spoken German to a German on Germanic soil.  Mark said I looked very comfortable.  I did feel somewhat at home there.

As we've mentioned, the Swiss are precise.  The automatic doors are so quiet that even if you stop and listen you can't hear them!    In Paris, you go downstairs into ancient cellars where bathrooms are located and you can tell there is 1000 year old dirt ground into ancient stones.  In Switzerland, you go down clean and neat stairs (regardless of their age) and find an immaculate bathroom where the tiles meet perfectly and it feels like it's been disinfected less than an hour ago.

Lake Geneva

Walk to the campground on Lake Geneva











From the station at Zermatt, there was one final athletic adventure, climbing cobblestone streets with our bags to our very high up, very petite hotel (it was called Le Petit Hotel).  The air is very clean, but also quite thin.  I’m glad we took our Chlorophyll supplement.  It’s after dark and the way is much longer than expected.  Fortunately we called the hotel ahead letting them know of our later-than expected arrival.  They told us the code to get in the front door, left a key in an envelope with our names on the desk.  Off they went to bed as they get up really early to make the breakfast.

Staircase at the Petit Hotel in Zermatt

Many things were petite about this hotel – it has the smallest lift we've ever seen.  We had to go up one at a time and squeeze to get one bag in with us. Here we are on our 4th floor and ready for sleep.  We open the window wide.  It too works perfectly despite the age of the building.  I think the Swiss know better than to put another coat of paint on a window without removing the old one.  Nothing sticks even though this building is ancient.  The air is refreshingly crisp and clean.  No smell of fumes is a delight to our noses.  You can smell flowers.  Many buildings are decked with window boxes full of colorful flowers.  There is no sign of the Matterhorn view our internet booking promised.  There is no moon and it’s a bit overcast, so we’ll have to wait till the morning to see the solitary peak that draws so much attention in the heart of Europe.  I am disappointed that no stars are visible either.  The room is small and nice.  It’s a good sized village so the lights might block view of the stars.  We are tired but all good.  Goodnight.

Swiss Train

Look at how clean this train is and the tracks and the station and below look at the cool train car.