France, Sunday, April 7, 2019

Well, to begin. Your daring doubles, Howie and Lee, and Deb and Mark arrive at Eppley Airfield due to the kindness and driving skills of their respective children. We applaud their efforts at timeliness and remind them of their respective duties in our absence - check the homes, water the pets and/or plants, and we in turn promise to notify them of any untoward changes in plan.

We board United Airlines for our adventure, traveling from Omaha via Chicago to our eventual destination of Paris. Flights were mostly uneventful, on time, and the meals were acceptable. A miracle that we arrive and depart notorious O’Hare from the same terminal - no schlepping our carry-ons in a rush from place to place. The only significant event on the flight was a single call for a medical practitioner while over the water (Howie answered the call along with two others; no real help needed, but he did wish that next time it would be a small newborn upon whom to practice his skills, rather than some middle aged woman with an upset stomach.) All survived.

We arrived safe and sound on Sunday morning at the scheduled 10:00 AM and received all luggage in a timely manner. French authorities chose not to hold our existing administration against us and  allowed us to enter their fine country. We secured the largest vehicle available, a Mercedes 350 GLC with annoying motion sensors and cameras totally surrounding the vehicle, and proceeded to find our way out of the Charles de Gaulle complex.

Mark took the first driving shift, and Deb assumed the navigator’s seat. We headed towards our eventual goal of Orleans, some 70 kilometres south and east of Paris. Around 2:00, we arrived in the town of Fontainebleau, and during a course correction we spotted a nice looking restaurant, Le Patton and decided to stop for lunch. Pulling into the enclosed parking yard, we learned the downside to having secured the Hummer-like size GLC. Luckily we purchased full damage insurance (no first time travellers we) so should not have to worry regarding a paint scrape from an abbuting pylon. We secured the vehicle next to some of its miniature brethren and partook of a lovely French meal.

Refreshed, we headed on to Orleans, arriving eventually about 5:30 and navigating some very narrow streets to our abode for two nights, the Chambers d’Hotes, a charming 1500 era city home housing 2 lovely bedrooms, en suite, at the top of its steep staircase on the third floor. As there was no room to park on the street, the driver idled in a nearby lane while the negotiating party discussed accommodations. Secured, our next stop is to find parking as there was none at available on site.

Four cobblestoned blocks away, we discovered parking on the grounds of the Cathedral Sainte-Croix and then dragged most of our luggage bouncing back to the d’Hotes. The hardest part was ascending to the third floor (narrow and steep.) We may have over-packed!

Next on order was an evening meal. Since it was only 6:00 PM, and the French customarily don’t eat until 7:30 - 8:00, we searched up and down for a place that was not a pizzeria or taco stand for a meal. We were finally directed by a charming young lady who spoke some English, towards a bar down a side street that might have some chacuturie available with our evening vin. A serendipitous find.

Arriving at the aptly named “Antidotes,” the proprietor, Xavier, allowed us to occupy a small high-stooled bistro near the bar of the small establishment, served us a wonderful Ventu cote de Rhone and produced the most amazing sausage slices. He soon decided to practice his rudimentary English on our less than passable French. A wonderful evening, with a production of cheeses, baguettes, butter and conversation about where to go the next day.

We strolled back to our temporary home, to be then served with a glass of Loire valley Vouvray by our hostess, and a history and tour of the house. The only glitch was that the 85 year old woman believed we were only staying one night rather than two. Long discussion ensued and we agreed to take our leave the next day. Off we climbed to bed exhausted but sure we were beginning a wonderful trip.