Traveling with Laura

3,607 miles. That’s the distance I traveled today between Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport and Boston Logan International Airport. I don’t think I will ever not be amazed by air travel. In a little over 6 ½ hours, I went clear across the Atlantic Ocean.

My travel day started when I left the hotel at 7:30AM. From there, it was about 10 minutes by metro to Les Halles and another 35 minutes on the RER B train to CDG Airport. I was hoping to retrieve my phone charger, but was directed to a different terminal if I wanted to see if it was there. I decided to just gift myself a new charger when I got home.

The airport situation at CDG was another nightmarish example of travel these days. Fortunately, I was able to skip the security line thanks to my Sky Priority seat today, but the line continued well outside of the immigration and security area. Once through security, the airside terminal is light, open, and airy. But where was Gate 53? Down the stairs to the basement where we had a bus gate. Once we were herded onto the bus and out to the plane, we had to wait another 10 minutes on the bus until they finished cleaning the plane.

I love visiting other airports because you can literally go anywhere in the world and because there are so many different airline liveries to see. Our plane was parked right next to a Kenya Airways Dreamliner and behind us were American Airlines, Vietnam Airlines, Thai Airways, and Air Austral.

I flew home in Delta’s Premium Select cabin, akin to a domestic U.S. first class. I had grabbed a quiche Lorraine and a yogurt/granola/berries parfait from Pret a Manger before my flight, and boy am I glad I did. The meal choices were not anything I would eat, so I subsisted on the free drinks and snacks for the duration of the flight. The cheddar and chive cheese biscuits were particularly tasty.

Speaking of food, one meal I didn’t write about on my trip was dinner at Chez René on Wednesday night. I wanted to enjoy a nice French dinner and read some good reviews of this little authentic French restaurant in the 5th arrondissement. I felt all fancy ordering the boeuf bourguignon. The meal started with crusty bread and a garlic spread. When my meal arrived, the waiter made a production out of opening the cast iron bowl and spooning it out onto my plate. Unfortunately, boeuf bourguignon isn’t really my thing. However, the île flottante I had for dessert was to die for. A HUGE soft meringue floating in a pool of custard and topped with candied nuts. I wanted to eat the whole thing, but had to give up halfway through because it was enormous.

I also didn’t say much about my hotel while I was staying there. I stayed at the Hotel Madison and I can’t say enough good things about this little boutique hotel in the Saint-Germain-des-Prés neighborhood. It was convenient to everything I wanted to do and was walking distance to the Luxembourg Gardens, the Seine, museums, and tons of shops and restaurants. Every time I returned, it felt like coming home. Though my room wasn’t huge, it had everything I needed, including tons of electrical outlets and plenty of lighting. The staff all spoke excellent English and greeted me with “Bonjour!” every time I entered. Waking up to a view of the Saint-Germain-des-Prés church every morning wasn’t bad either!

I occupied myself on the flight home by watching “Maybe I Do”, “Life is Beautiful” (one of my favorite movies ever), and a couple of episodes of “The Office”. As much as I love to travel, seeing Cape Ann and Boston from above is always a welcome sight on the trip home.

“I guess it goes to show that you just never know where life will take you. You search for answers. You wonder what it all means. You stumble, and you soar. And, if you’re lucky, you make it to Paris for a while.” ~Amy Thomas