Tunis Day 1

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This morning I woke up in Paris, France and tonight I am going to bed in Tunis, Tunisia. Tunisia was a "protectorate" of France between 1881 and 1956, so French is the second language here after Arabic. But to get back to this morning, I took one final walk across the Seine to see Notre Dame cathedral, then collected my bags, checked out of the hotel, and caught the train to the airport. Three years ago I flew out of Charles Degaulle airport and Air France has "upgraded" its check-in process since then. I had to navigate through crowds of passengers to use the kiosk to check in, print and tag my own luggage, weigh my suitcase, put it on the conveyer belt, and find my way to the security lines. I miss the old days when I could walk up to the counter, present my passport, and the Air France personnel would handle the rest! Anyway, I arrived in Tunis on schedule and found a taxi to the hotel with only a little hassle. I checked in and found Uncle Jim already ensconced in the room. He had flown in from Michigan today, but has been remarkably chipper for all that jet lag. I unpacked and then we went downstairs to meet the rest of the tour group. Moez, our leader, led us on a stroll into the old part of town to a restaurant where we ate a multi-course meal that we were told was typically Tunisian. First there was vegetable soup, followed by a sort of relish plate with five different appetizers, then a main course of either fish or spicy beef, and a custard for dessert. It was all quite good. I'm sorry I don't have any pictures to show you. In fact, I don't have any pictures today at all. I promise to add photos to the blog tomorrow. Time now to head for bed. The tour group starts early in the morning!

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