Arrivée en France!

Today is day four of my 2011 trip to France!  I'm settled into my hotel room in Reims, the capital of the region of Champagne, after having spent three whirlwind days in Paris.  The flight was wonderful - and I say this in all seriousness, in an age where overseas flights are not always pleasurable.  I flew via Toronto, on Delta, but the overseas leg (Toronto - Paris) was on an Air France aircraft.  We were on an 747, which was not full, so the flight attendants asked some of the passengers if we would like to move upstairs to the business section, and then, they didn't seem to want it to fill up.  So, I ended up in business class, with an empty seat between me and the gentleman sitting next to me.  We enjoyed a glass of champagne, followed by a decent dinner, red wine and interesting conversation about the Jacques de la Compostelle pilgrimmage, which is a hike that I'd love to do someday.  My neighbor had hiked it twice, once alone and once with his granddaughter.

Arriving in Paris was a bit of a surprise... after the 90+ degree temperatures in Atlanta for the past month, I felt a bit chilly in Paris.  Shortly after I arrived at my friend's apartment, she had to leave for an appointment, so I went for a long walk in the Bois de Vincennes - the forest that surrounds the Chateau de Vincennes, just outside of Paris.  Here's a photo of a man feeding a couple of swans and their goslings.

You can see that the weather, while sunny, was not hot!

The next day, Thursday, I spent the day in Paris with a friend and student who came up from Geneva to meet me.  It was nice to catch up and walk around St. Germain des Près (yes, Donna, you were on my mind!).  Late in the afternoon, we crossed over the Pont des Arts (this time, Susan was on my mind) and she snapped this quick photo of me.

It was a whirlwind three days in Paris, a year's worth of catching up with Jeannine, seeing Vanessa, seeing Kristen (another friend and student) and seeing many members of my French family.