March 9-10 2020

March 9 – March 10, 2020

Off to Another Grand Tour

We are once again taking our two-month driving tour of western continental Europe.  This one will have some interesting twists and turns, many of which we know, and we’re sure a few that we don’t.

The elephant on this tour is the newest corona virus which causes a disease called covid-19.  When we read this years from now we may have forgotten the world-wide concern about this pandemic.  It began in China and has now spread through most of the countries on the planet.  About 2% of those who become sick will die.  Countries are now being proactive and closing large congregations of people including sports events, concerts and schools.  Will that color this trip?  Yes.  Will it spoil the trip?  We hope not.  After our first night in Paris we notice fewer people, easier access to restaurants and some wearing masks in public.

We will do what we need to do to be safe—wash hands, sanitize surfaces, cover coughs and sneezes, keep distance from those around you and run from sneezing and coughing people.  It is harder on the elderly, (us) but we feel we are in good health and hopefully on the lower end of the vulnerable in our age group.  We’ll see.

The trip from home was long but easy.  We had a 4:00 am wake up at home, a 6:30 Uber to the airport and a 9:15 flight on American Airlines to Chicago.  We spent a long 6 hours in the lounge at O’Hare but they had a nice assortment of complimentary food and beverages along with relaxing work and reading spaces. Not so bad.  Our 5:15 flight to Madrid arrived at 7:30 with zero sleep for John and some dozing for Mary.  John did collect 2 Oscar movies (Bombshell and Judy) so he had that going. 

We breezed through passport control and after a pat down (those damned metal knees) the agent asked John if his English was understandable?  John said “si.”  A 9:00 am flight to Paris, where we got breakfast number 2, was on time and easy.  We had arranged a car from the airport (Orly) and he arrived just as we had the phone out to call him.  There was an ATM right next to the baggage collection area so we could actually pay the driver.  It was quite a surprise that no one checked our baggage and no customs.

Our room was ready when we got to our hotel.  Our hostess told us that they had been getting a lot of cancelations.  She went through the list of neighborhood restaurants and we picked out a couple for our quick 46 hour stay in Paris.  Nap time.  We set our watch alarms for 3:00 pm and crashed for a quick 2 hour refresher.  Europe is 6 hours ahead of home (they haven’t changed to DST yet) so we had a very long 28 hour day.  We’ll sleep well tonight.

We did a 4:00 – 6:00 walk down memory lane as we revisited our last trip to Paris now 10 years in the past.  We still recognized our favorite patisserie and our hotel from that trip.  We reconstructed the view of the Eiffel Tower from the Pont Neuf for Dave and Mary, our travel companions from way back then.  We had a leisurely walk along the Seine on the right bank past the Louvre and down to the Tulleries.  We crossed over the Royal Bridge and worked our way back to the Hotel. It’s cloudy and chilly but not overcrowded and altogether pleasant. 

Pre-planning for this trip has had it’s share of angst with potential travel bans in effect.  One stroll down Boulevard St. Germaine and all was right with the world.  That was transformative for our attitudes.

We took a quick rest and walked down the street and around the corner to the café Varennes.  We split a nice Bordeaux and John had the 7-hour leg of lamb and Mary was happy with a huge terrine of onion soup and a pile of cheese and bread. 

Off to bed for the sleep of baby angels.

New today:  Biden grabs a big lead over Bernie and virus, virus virus.