10,832 Miles Later and I Require Another Vacation To Recover From That One


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Europe » France » Île-de-France » Paris
September 6th 2007
Published: September 6th 2007
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Obelisk in ParisObelisk in ParisObelisk in Paris

Looking at the Obelisk and the Effiel Tower in Paris
My trip: Waterford - Kansas City- New Orleans - Gulf Shores - Kansas City- Shannon - Dublin - Paris - Dublin - Waterford

Since the last update I have done some major traveling over the past 2 weeks. After spending 7 straight weeks in Europe, I flew back to the states. I was greeted at the Kansas City airport by my sister who flew in from Baton Rouge to help me celebrate my 30th birthday. That night we went to pick up Maverick (my dog). I was much more excited to see him than I think he was excited to see me. He must have moved on and completely forgot about me. I think he is having too much fun hanging out with his new playmate.

On Saturday I played golf all morning and then I met all of my friends for drinks and dinner that evening. My friend Stuart flew in town from Dallas to surprise me for the party - quite a surprise. Monday and Tuesday of that week I needed to run errands and take care of things I couldn’t do the past 2 months. Things I missed most from the states: Friends, Dog, Ice, Roads,
Mom in WaterfordMom in WaterfordMom in Waterford

Main street in Waterford, Ireland
Cold Diet Coke, Larger Car, TV channels, & Air Conditioning.

Wednesday of that week, Brandie and I flew to New Orleans. The parents picked us up and the 4 of us headed to Gulf Shores, Alabama for a few days of sun, sand and then a wedding. I was not used to the heat after being in Ireland the whole summer so I was suffering. My brother joined us on Friday and it was nice to see him too. Saturday was the wedding which was very pretty and a lot of fun. We drove back to New Orleans on Sunday and I flew back to Kansas City that night.

On Tuesday of that week Megan and I went to the Dave Matthews concert in KC. That was a blast and surprisingly my first Dave Matthews Concert. On Wednesday I flew back to Shannon.

My parents have never been overseas so this was their opportunity. Mom flew out of Baton Rouge and I flew out of Kansas City and we were going to meet in JFK in order to take the trans-atlantic flight together. Of course I got delayed into Atlanta and from Atlanta to JFK. They had
FranceFranceFrance

Somewhere in Paris
to hold both flights for me which I was very grateful. Everyone had boarded the JFK - Shannon flight and they were waiting for me. Mom was very excited to see me get on the flight! Of course my luggage did not make it to Ireland - big surprise. I barely made the connections I figured my luggage didn’t have a chance. After I filled out the lost luggage claim we got our rental car and headed into Ireland.

Mom and I went to the Rock of Cashel which is an old castle I have visited before. It was a good half way point from Shannon to Waterford and a perfect time to get out and walk around (mainly to keep us awake). We had lunch at this small pub and then continued to Waterford. I did some power shopping to buy new clothes since we were leaving for Paris early the next morning and Delta had no idea where my luggage was. After buying some essentials we drove to Dublin in order to spend the night before our early Paris flight. We stayed at the trusty but meek TravelLodge for the night and we were asleep by 11
Mom Sleeping on the busMom Sleeping on the busMom Sleeping on the bus

Mom sleeping on the tour bus
pm.

We woke up at 4 am and quickly made it to the Dublin Airport. Our flight to Paris was at 6 am so we didn’t have much room for error. We flew to Paris without any trouble and made into the city center around lunch time. I have been to Paris once before and I loved it but I wanted to see it again to make sure. I still claim that Paris is my favorite city in the world! Despite my awful command of the French language we were able to get by and the people weren’t all that rude. (Relative to the DMV)

We bought a double decker city tour bus package and quickly hit the city. We haven’t had any sleep over the past 3 days so we were delirious at this point. At one time Mom was completely asleep on the top deck of the bus. I constantly had to wake her up to make sure she didn’t miss anything - it was too funny. We got to see the whole city on the bus and then we found a great restaurant. After dinner we walked up and down the Champs Elysees and went
The LouvreThe LouvreThe Louvre

In front of the Louvre
to the Arc de Triomphe. It was an awesome night and the weather was perfect. We went back to our hotel and got a full nights sleep - YEAH!!!

We woke up Saturday morning and took the subway to the Louvre. Disclaimer: If you are an art lover please skip this paragraph so I don’t offend you. Over the past few years I am attempting to learn how to appreciate art. I am not at that point yet. For me there is a thousand other places I would rather be than an art museum. So my goal at the Louvre was to see the Mona Lisa and get the hell out. Much to Mom’s disappointment that is exactly what we did. We only had an hour anyway so it was a quick quick tour of the Louvre. I suggest they put the Mona Lisa in the lobby so I wouldn’t have to walk the long way to the picture. In all honesty, I really did enjoy the museum and I would go back when I have more time in Paris. We just didn’t have the leisure time to hang around and look at more pictures.

After the marathon
Temple Bar in DublinTemple Bar in DublinTemple Bar in Dublin

Temple Bar district in Dublin
through the museum, we hoped back on the bus and saw the rest of the sights we missed - Moulin Rouge, Sacré-Coeur Basilica, & Notre-Dame. We had to catch the bus at 2:30 in order to make our flight. We successfully made our flight back to Dublin that evening. After we checked into our hotel in Dublin we asked the concierge where we could go for a quick low key dinner. He suggested a small village north of the airport and to catch the #42 bus. Well the #42 bus doesn’t go to a small nice village - it goes downtown Dublin. Following typical Irish directions, we got on the wrong bus and ended up downtown Dublin. We turned our nice relaxing evening into a party night downtown by hitting pubs until 1:00 am - Go Mom!
We missed the last bus to our hotel so we had to cab it back that night. We woke up and picked up Dad at the Dublin airport Sunday morning. He had a nice flight and his luggage made it with him. We drove around Dublin a few hours and then headed to Waterford.

My luggage was waiting for me in my
Wedding in Gulf ShoresWedding in Gulf ShoresWedding in Gulf Shores

Brandie, Keri, Josh, Jeremy and Kelli at the wedding
apartment in Waterford - Thank God! My emergency back up clothes weren’t going to cut it too much longer. We toured Waterford on Sunday and went to the Waterford Crystal Factory. Sunday night we joined a co-worker out for dinner at my favorite steak restaurant. On Monday (Labor Day) I had to return to work -> it was hard to return after 2 weeks off from work. Mom and Dad rented their own rental car and toured southeast Ireland on Monday and Tuesday. I bought them on a bus ticket for Tuesday night to Shannon. The website has a bus that leaves at 6:30 pm. When we arrived at the bus station we realized there is no 6:30 bus - only an 8:30 pm departure. We hung around Waterford for another 2 hours and then they were on their way. I really would have liked to bring them to the airport myself but it is impossible to go to and from Shannon in the evening and still make it to work Tuesday morning.

I only have 6 days of work left after today. This weekend I’m staying in Waterford and going out with a few co-workers for drinks and
Bus in IrelandBus in IrelandBus in Ireland

After I put Mom and Dad on the bus in Ireland
dinner. I might explore a few last things in the southeast - but mostly I’m going to take it easy. I’m still recovering from my US-Europe tour. I’m still upset about missing the LSU home opener and worse yet, I’m missing this week’s LSU - Virginia Tech game. I’m trying to find a way to watch the game on the internet from the hotel lobby or pub but the game won’t start until 2:00 am. I’m still working on logistics.

Again, I hope everyone is doing well in the states and Geaux Tigers!!!!

Jason








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