We are on our way to France. We leave today with Glenda and Jeff arriving from Lincoln to park in front of our house and Abigail arrives to haul the four of us and our attendant luggage to Eppley Airfield for our 10:30 AM flight. We hook up with our other traveling companions, Howie and Lee Needelman and Don and Ann Hosford. We are using American Airlines for this trip. We don’t often fly them, but they had the best options available. We head to Chicago for the initial leg where we “enjoy” a nine hour layover.
We all eat lunch together at a very overpriced airport restaurant and have Caesar salad with grilled chicken for six diners, and Jeff and Mark choose a bowl of lobster bisque soup, a veritable bargain at $12.00 per bowl! We find some seats near our Gate 14, and settle in. Some walk, some sit, and some wander or nap. Around 6:00 we split up for dinner, the Needelmans and Hosford’s headed for a Chicago Hot Dog place while the other four choose a cheeseburger and pizza. After dinner wed head back to the Gate 14 to await our 10:00pm overnight flight.
Compared to the first leg crammed into an American miniature plane, on this leg we enjoy Economy Plus seating. What a difference; plenty of room for wide derrières, decent leg room and provided with blankets, pillows and upscale headphones. Since we had already eaten a few hours earlier, we weren’t too tempted by the meal - some picked salad, and some tried the pasta. Nothing too great. The flight time was a little over seven hours, but given the time difference of 7 hours between Central Daylight and European time, we arrived in Paris just at noon.
The flight was uneventful, but about 5 hours out Mark began to feel ill and feverish. He had to make use of a continuing supply of “barf’ bags, making Deb’s flight a bit unnerving. He seemed to be doing better but had developed a horrible rasping cough. We picked up our transfer and checked in at the Hotel Rochester for the next three nights. Mark went to his room to sleep, and the rest of the crew headed out with the Viking Cruises Guide for a quick reconnoiter of our new neighborhood.
Returning at 4:00, Howie and Deb went to check on Mark and found him sound asleep, sweating profusely and with a cough that sure sounded like pneumonia. Deb and Mark walked two blocks with the Viking Cruise rep to secure an Uber for a trip to the emergency room - the American Hospital of Paris. Like hospitals the world over, this entails a flurry of short activity, be it initial check in, preliminary diagnosis or x-rays, interspersed with hours of waiting. At 11:00 it was determined that Mark was going to spend the night. Deb headed back to find the rest of the group, and Mark was finally installed in his room by 11:57pm; Mark learned later that Deb didn’t get back to the Hotel until nearly midnight, having problems finding a taxi. Mark was served a bit of dinner, but no wine, even though it was Paris France! Deb arrived at the hotel to find Glenda waiting for her in the lobby with wine, bread and cheese. Finally a heroine in this sad tale!
So much for an exciting first day.
