Travel home day #20

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Sadly, we woke really early, completed packing, weighed both our checked bags to make sure that they are below the maximum weight of 50 lbs or 22.68 kilograms. Made a couple of adjustments and were ready for our 7:00am pick up for the ride to Charles de Gaulle airport via the Paris Shuttle. It only costs $40 euros for both of us including baggage so better an a taxi. The only thing is that like our super shuttle, they have several riders. There were already 2 in the van and the driver made 2 more stops but even so, it only took 45 minutes to get to the terminal 2 drop off. Plenty of time.

For the first and longest leg of our return journey, we booked an 11:00am Air Canada Paris to Toronto flight. The airport was shear madness but we got through check in with only our normal security issue. Somewhere there is a younger Jim Wilson on the security watch list so they always delay us until they investigate and ultimately, check us in for the flight and send our bags through. We stopped and grabbed a final cafe au lait and pastry and headed to french customs, security and on to our gate.

While we were in line for boarding pass and check in were chatting with a 12 year old girl from Toronto and her grandmother who lives in Paris. She had been visiting Paris and grandma for 2 weeks and was on her way home to Toronto (yes, she was flying alone). What a lucky girl to enjoy and benefit from such an opportunity at her young age.

They check your passport and boarding pass a million times before you finally and ultimately board the plane. That is actually a good thing really. The airplane was a Boeing 777 and the seating was 3-3-3. We had a center and aisle seat in economy. The window seat was occupied by a very nice young man from France. He was on his way to study in Santiago Chile for 6 months.

For the first time ever, I joined the Jim club of falling asleep in the plane BEFORE it leaves the tarmac! Who thought that would ever happen! I missed the whole security briefing, take off and distribution of headsets. Simply amazing. The flight was about 8+ hours, we were fed twice, watched movies, i read my kindle (still getting through the 2nd book of Game of Thorns). The flight attendant brought us a couple of glasses of nice French red wine (grenache which is the grape used in chateaunuef du pape) from first class because Jim helped her get the overhead closed. Nice.

When landed in Toronto, the plane had to wait for about 20 minutes for a tow truck to move some equipment. We went to pick up our bags, go through Canadian customs, recheck our bags through to Denver, go through to US customs then we headed to our gate F62. We had about 30 minutes so Jim went and got us a Starbucks to enjoy. He had euros and US dollars so to avoid returning with a 3rd countries currency, he paid with a credit card. The flight Toronto to Denver was in a smaller plane where the seating was 2-2. It was a 3 hour or so flight and went quick and smooth.

We picked up our bags, went out door 506 and met up with our driver from Anthony's limo, Jenna (Terri's daughter). We very much enjoyed the chauffeured ride home and Jenna was very nice.

We had an absolutely wonderful trip. We enjoyed some memorable and unforgettable excursions and tours. We met several really special people, some we hope to maintain an ongoing friendship with (Jane and Bill from the cruise) or we hope to reconnect with on a future trip to Provence (David from Avignon wine tours and Jane from Provence Experience).

The food and wine was out of this world and a foodie's delight. We were trying to pick our favorite meal and it was really hard to do. We ate so many different foods that we don't see here in the US. Like the entree "ouefs Bourgogne" which are poached eggs in a burgundy wine sauce and they are just fantastic. The first time this dish was recommended I was hesitant but in the spirit of embracing a different culture we went for it. I had this dish 3 times during the trip! The French do love their eggs. The pate with crostini was great every time we tried it and was served with a fig jelly. The sauces were always elegant and savory. I loved all the coffee and couldn't get enough.

And then there were the wines. I like say we drank our way from Provence to Paris and enjoyed every taste from the great wines to the not so good. It was all a learning experience on how to taste and recognize good wines, any kind from any where in the world.

So this is the end of our journey and Jim and I had a really wonderful trip. Au revoir until next trip. Where will we go there are so many choices. We really enjoy traveling with Uniworld River Cruises and may look at what they have scheduled in the future.

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