Travel to France

My daughter called yesterday and said that she and her husband were boarding a flight to Paris.  Whoa, I thought.  This stirred up a whole hornet's nest of memories.

Herb worked for a big airline in the 80's and we often flew across the pond to visit new and diverse cultures.  One of the first of fourteen trips to Europe was to Paris.  We were going to meet my sister in London (she was a veteran traveler by then).  Due to space available issues, we flew from Denver to Newark.  Then on to Paris because there were First Class seats available.

The flight arrived at Orly airport early in the morning.  By then we had been up for at least two days and had a bit of the wine in First Class.  Oh dear, how do we get to London.  The first order of business was to make a phone call.

Oh dear, how tired can two people be and how often do the French choose to use their English to help Americans who only speak english.  Not often, can you blame them?  We spent two hours trying to figure out how to use the public telephone.  Finally, someone took pity on us and told us to go to a newstand and buy a phone card.

We did finally find our way from Orly to Charles De Gaulle airport and eventually on to London.  When we met my sister with our FOUR large bags, she immediately sent us off to store everything not necessary for our travels by bus throughout England, Wales, and Scotland.

That was our first lesson in traveling light.  We can now go anywhere for any length of time with only a carry-on, even only a backpack.  Also, a good lesson on how little we really need in this life.