Ten Days - France; Goodbye USA - Hello France. Worrall Traveler Days (WTRD) 1-3

WTRD 1 - June 7, 2018 - Goodbye Vermont.

After a delightful three weeks with our family in Vermont, we were off to the Burlington Airport by 1:00 and in the air headed to Iceland with a plane change United Express to Icelandic Air at Dulles in D.C.  

Lucky us, once again we were bumped from Economy plus to Saga Class and received an invitation to the Air France Lounge where we spent a few enjoyable hours waiting for our plane eating lots of wonderful French Bread, cheese, meats, petite desserts, fruit, and wine.  We boarded our plane and settled into our large comfy seats, greeted with steamed towels and a glass of sparkling wine at 7:30.  In the air by 8:00 we settled in for dinner and a short night (5 hours) to Iceland.

A ribbon of crimson orange hugged the horizon as we skirted over the arctic and the midnight sun dipped and rose again.

WTRD 2, June 8, 2018. - An Awesome Dawn.

At dawn, our plane had begun its descent and we were between a layer of high stratus and the tops of lower clouds in a magical realm above the earth where mountains of white shape-shifted and sunlight shone from their puffy tops, shaded the wispy slopes, and reflectively pooled in golden valleys.

What an awesome way to start the day.

When we arrived in cool, misty Iceland where summer had yet begun and had just enough time to weave our way through the the throngs of red-eyed passengers and passport control and board our plane to Paris.  We gained back a few hours and arrived in Charles De Gaulle Airport around 1:00 pm.   It was cool and foggy.  The airport was teaming with people from all parts of the world, most dressed in modern day western attire, but many wearing ethnic and religious attire.

Airports are fascinating intersections of life moving simultaneously in singular and collective cross directions.













Anxiety, excitement, exhaustion, impatience etched in faces as passengers crowded on to elevators,

waited for anticipated luggage, searched for friends, and shuffled through slow moving lines at passport control.  Snatches of French, German, English,  and occasional bursts of laughter and children squealing rose above the bustle and white noise.

We reclaimed our bag, rented our car, (brand new, Toyota Hybrid), setup the the navigation system from French to English, keyed in our address of our AirBnB accommodations in a small village outside of Paris, and were on our way.

Arriving in Bouffemont around 3:00, we found our little flat in a quaint village.

It is wonderful little gem of a place in the old section of the village.

Right hand door, inches from the street, leads to our flat.

The entry door is less than two feet from the narrow street.  Our host Alan, opened up for us.  The flat is impeccably clean,  comfortable, smart, modern, retro, and fun. Fridge is filled with cheeses,  juice, eggs, and yogurt.  The tables have a bowl of fresh fruit, baskets of bread and pastries, and a bottle of Bordeuax.

After settling into our flat, Russ and I wandered around a little in the village.  We extracted some Euros from the ATM, bought a few items for dinner, headed back to the flat, ate, reorganized our bags for land travel, drank the wine, and went to bed. 

We are heading towards Normandy tomorrow.

WTRD 3 - June 9, 2018 - France Day 2 of 10

Russ slept through the.night.  I woke up at 2:00 am and couldn't get back to sleep.  Finally decided at 3:00 to get up.  I thought a cup of tea would help.  It didn't so I amused myself by reading.  Went back to bed at  4:00, tried for another hour to sleep, and finally got up at 5:00 for good.  Oh well, guess it will take me a few days to adjust to the time change.  I took advantage of the time by starting our blog while Russ slept on.

When we were both awake, we dug into the pastries.  Oh yum!

Can't do that every day or we'll balloon up!  After breakfast, we packed the bags to the car, said goodbye to our cute little flat which we will be returning to at the end of the week, turned in our key, took a morning walk through the neighborhood and got on the road.

Claude Monet Gardens in Girveny

Our first stop of the day was to visit Monet's home and the surrounding gardens that gave him inspiration for so many of his paintings.  They were indeed inspirational.  We were too late for the irises, but day lilies, poppies, roses, and water lilies were abundant. We were one of thousands of visitors...get there before the tour busses arrive from Paris.

Chumond

We passed through this picturesque little village and decided to stretch our legs and take a few photos.  Caught the tail end of a wedding.  

Jumieges Abbey

Our last stop of the  day was at the ruins of one of the oldest Benedictine monasteries in Normandy. The abbey took 26 years to build from 1040-1066 and endured the ravages of time and change, and lack of funding for repairs after the 100 year war and the French Revolution.  It was sold to a private party in 1796 and the materials were quarried.  What remains are the architectural bones of the grand abbey.

After our walk through the ruins, we found a cute sidewalk cafe in the shadow of the Abbey and had our dinner, sharing an omelette and salad, and a glass of wine.

Accommodations for the night are in a lovely chateau on the River Seine.

Another  great place!  I am sitting in front of an opened window looking out at the river as I write this blog. 

Very nice. Continuing on after breakfast tomorrow

All is Well with the Worrall Travel R's after our the third day of travels and our second day in France.

Love to all.   

Day 4 FF Western Tokyo Homestay, WTRD 49 of 49, October 22, 2017

Prelude to Typhoon Lan - a True Water Color

Sayonara Japan - Hello California

It rained steadily all night.  We arose early to take care of last minute packing,  blogging, and printing of boarding passes. Yukiko served us coffee, sausages, green beans, and fruit for breakfast.  Takashi ate a single piece of toast with melted cheese for his breakfast.  Yukiko commented that in their household, they usually at  bread for  breakfast, noodles for lunch, and rice for dinner.  

Even though our plane flight was at 4:55 pm, we were walking out the front door with umbrellas and bags at 10:25 am.  It would take an hour to drive to the bus station, and two hours by bus to the airport.  We bade our heartfelt goodbyes with promises to keep in touch and to visit one another.  Yukiko suggested we come back during cherry blossom time, and we could rent the wonderful traditional Japanese house together that Russ and I stayed in while we were in Hakone.  We waved good bye through rain soaked windows of the bus as we drove away.

A Japanese Watercolor

We arrived at the airport about 1:15, and had a couple of hours to spare.  When we arrived the terminal was nearly empty.  Was it the typhoon?  Would our plane be on time?  Turned out we were just early for and international flight, and any worries we had about getting to the airport melted.

We breezed through baggage drop, security clearance, immigration and were eating lunch next to our gate by 2:00 pm. and saw our inbound Tokyo flight from SFO arrive at 2:25.  

An army of people were on hand to meet the Dreamliner, carry out garbage, linens, and empty food containers. Cart trains came out to unload luggage and once that was done the same amount of effort, if not more went into reloading all of the supplies, servicing, and cleaning, while two fuel trucks loaded the tanks.

Our plane left the gates exactly on time.  By 5:00 pm the wind was picking up and the nose of the typhoon was edging its way up the coast.  I was a little anxious because of thunder and lightning forecast. We waited on the tarmac for clearance for an hour. 

As it turned out, there was a little, but not a lot of turbulence upon take off.  We headed north than arced to the east.

A little over nine hours later, we arrived safely the morning of the same day we had left Tokyo in the afternoon.

Our plane heads east Sunday evening and catches the dawn of the same day

The Golden Gate - Always a Welcome Sight

South Bay Salt Flats

So ends, our wonderful two month adventure to. South Korea and Japan.  

We had a great time, and we are  grateful that we maintained excellent health and energy throughout the journey.  Never once did we fear for our safety. Everyone we met reinforced our faith humanity and the power of friendship.

Heh! Heh!  We are also glad that this is our last blog, perhaps you are too, until our next trip.

All is Well with With the Worrall Travel R’s sleeping in our own bed tonight.