Departure and arrival

Saturday-Sunday 24-25 January

Saturday morning dawned clear and cold.  And I mean damn cold. It was -17 F when the alarm went off at 7 am. And we still have tons of snow that seems little inclined to leave anytime soon. By the time we left for the airport at 11 am it had warmed up to 10 F. 

We were mostly packed up Friday night thanks to the queen of the packing cubes Susie, AKA the French Tarte. So our morning was leisurely with breakfast and coffee before showering and finishing the last minute routine for traveling. The coffee pot was cleaned, the refrigerator empty of everything but a few condiments, staples and French Tarte ingredients.

getting our carry ons ready

Our neighbor Don T. picked us at 11 am for the short drive to Gerald R. Ford airport. There was no queue at the United desk and after we checked in both ourselves and our bags we walked right through security. No queue there either. After a stop at Starbucks we made our way to the gate to await our 1:33 pm flight to Newark.

A couple of curious things we noted while we waited -- one was a fellow wearing an ID badge (employee or volunteer?) with a service dog walking around the departure gates in Concourse A asking everyone if they wanted to pet the dog. That seemed to be his sole job. Another badged fellow of retirement age, walking around asking people how they were doing, where they were from and where they were going, etc. I guess the idea is to lay out the welcome mat for people on their way somewhere . . . 

view of Kent County

inflight snack

landing at Newark a nation of containers

The flight to Newark took less than two hours gate-to-gate and although we seemed to circle forever around the greater New Jersey area we did eventually land. I am pleased to say that for the very first time in all my years of flying I was the very last person off a plane. No matter, since we had over four hours before our flight to Lisbon.

We made our way the length of Terminal C to our next gate. We were both hungry so we opted to stop and grab a glass of wine and share a sandwich as we bided our time. 

Not to go on about such things but two glasses of wine and a turkey club were more than we would normally think to spend at a basic bistro. But we were in an airport in a big city where price gouging is de rigueur. It prompted us to fondly recall our time in Spain back in 2023 where food costs were so so reasonable and it makes us look forward to Portugal even more!

Our flight left Newark about 40 minutes late -- apparently the 1st officer originally scheduled called in sick and there was a scramble to find a replacement. The plane was full and the journey largely uneventful, the exception being -- wait for it -- the absolutely atrocious food served in the cattle car portion of the aircraft. Inedible. I should think the airlines would just scratch serving food altogether, but they have a certain image to maintain, even if that image has been a butt of cliche jokes for years. 

Anyway, we landed in Lisbon about 20 minutes later than originally scheduled and breezed through passport control. Before leaving the airport we had at least two objectives: finding an ATM and getting coffee while we waited to get to our apartment. While threading our way through the glitz and glamour of Lisbon airport shopping mall we stopped for a coffee at a pastry/coffee place called, oddly enough, Versailles. After lounging for a bit off we went in search of an ATM.

We couldn't find a bank ATM (Santander was our goal) so we decided to bite the bullet and take cash out of a Euronet machine (where the conversion rate wasn't too bad), then off we went in search of our bags. We found them easily at the end of multiple carousels all lined up in a huge hall. Many bags had already been retrieved - ours looked rather forlorn.

I  connected with our host Laura to set up a good time to drop our bags off while we waited for the apartment to be cleaned and then arranged for an Uber for pickup. Two things about Uber/Bolt in Lisbon: one a 40 minute-ride into the city cost us with tip $18.00, and second the ride share at the airport was well signed and turned out to be quite an operation. I should point out we were warned not to use the taxis from the airport because they were significantly more expensive. 

the door to our building on the left and the entrance to where we ate lunch on the right

We were given the code to get into the building where we waited just 20 minutes or so for our host to meet up with us and let us into the apartment. After a quick tour of the space and the various features we said adeus and popped next door to grab a bite of lunch.

Cotidion is a lovely little eatery with a funky vibe, cool staff and populated by lots of young folks speaking a variety of languages. The place styles itself as a brunch club so the food focused a lot on breakfast-like foods. Susie had eggs on toast and I had these wonderful mini-chicken burgers. All washed down with fresh-squeezed OJ. Delicious.

After lunch we strolled a bit in our neighborhood and killed some more time at a hotel cafe for coffee before getting into the apartment. Once we received the message that our rooms were ready, back we went. By now both of us felt like old hands getting into the building.

Our place is on the 4th floor and there are two large elevators to whisk us upwards with ease. 

across from our building, this space seems totally empty

down our street, rua do Crucifixo

I stretched out on the sofa for a quick nap while Susan unpacked and got us settled in.

Somewhat refreshed we grabbed an umbrella and headed off in search of a grocery store. A 10-minute walk in the pouring rain -- broken up by stopping once to shelter in a doorway, we found Pingo Douce, a chain of grocery stores here in Portugal. After loading up on a few necessities it was back home in a light drizzle. The day was slipping away from us and we felt tired and hungry. We found a Ramen bar just a block up from our apartment where we enjoyed a scrumptious bowl of katsudon (breaded chicken with rice and egg), washed down with an Asahi beer. (Note: Asahi is a Japanese beer now owned by Peroni and brewed in Italy. Go figure).

It was a short walk back home -- and we were amazed to see how many folks were out on a Sunday evening. Back in the apartment we showered and hit the sheets for a much-deserved night's rest. 

Tomorrow it's off to explore more of the neighborhood, find the nearest Tourist Information office and enjoy being in Lisbon. Oh, and we have our scheduled dinner to look forward to Monday evening - yeah!

 

Paris to Grand Rapids in 36 hours

Orly

When we woke up Sunday the weather had turned a bit foul with a chilly rain. A good day to leave France, I suppose. We had another in a long line of leisurely breakfasts and enjoyed just hanging out with the MacDonalds. They’re returning to the United States this summer so we won’t see them again in Lille.

Eventually it came time to say goodbye. We grabbed our bags and walked the five minutes or so to the parking garage. Five minutes after that we were on our way out of Lille and with the help of GPS on our way south to our hotel near Orly airport.

Since we had a Monday morning nonstop flight to Newark (where we left our Subaru for the drive back to Michigan), we thought we’d stay by the airport Sunday evening and made reservations at the Novotel Rungis (Rungis is where the food wholesalers moved when the Les Halles in central Paris was closed in 1971).

After an uneventful three hour drive we found the hotel, checked in and dropped off our bags. We then returned the car to Avis at the airport, a bare 2 kms away — finding the correct road to the rental car return was a small ordeal in and of itself since construction is in process for the 2024 Olympics. But we triumphed once again and finally made our way to the shuttle pickup point and back to the hotel.

That evening we had a quiet meal — quite a good one at that — at the hotel and went to bed early.

Monday we were up early, showered and after breakfast caught the 7:12 shuttle to Orly. Making our way to the British Airways desk we had a short wait before they started taking checkins. But we were soon through airport security with boarding passes in hand and off to our gate. Boarding was to begin at 10:15.

10:15 came and no announcement; 10:30 nothing. Finally at 10:45, 15 minutes before departure they announced our flight was cancelled due to “technical problems” and we would have to go down to baggage services, retrieve our bags and back up to check-in to rebook.

So began our odyssey to get back to the United States. After waiting for two hours in line we were rebooked on a flight from Charles de Gaulle to JFK via London Heathrow. How we were supposed to get to Newark was never explained.

Anyway, after much confusion, lack of guidance and general chaos we were bussed to the northern part of Paris, checked in, dropped off our bags and boarded the short flight to London. We had to dash from Terminal A to B at Heathrow’s Terminal 5 to our connecting flight as they were just getting ready to close the doors.Whew! - we made it.

More than seven hours later, at about 9 pm we landed at JFK and were pushed through the swarm of immigration control. We were eventually declared fit to enter the United States and retrieved our bags. We were pretty tired by this time and had decided earlier to book a room near JFK for the night and make our way to Newark the next day. We had to take the air train to a central shuttle location and call our hotel (the Crowne-Plaza JFK). They soon arrived and before long we were checked in and in bed.

Somewhere along the way we learned that the only shuttle from JFK to Newark required going to the Port Authority in Manhattan and then connecting to Newark. Nope, not going to do that. So the next morning after breakfast we had the hotel arrange a car service. Our driver, a former professional cricket star from Guyana whose heritage is Indian soon picked us up and after 45 minutes of stress-free driving as he calmly talked about his life and engaged us in casual, friendly conversation, he dropped us off at our car park near the airport.

His name is Marlon Isaac (business name) and you can reach him at 347-403-2533 or Mkalli691@gmail.com.

We loaded our bags into our car, paid our bill and headed off to make our way to I-80 and Michigan. Eager to get home and tired of eating on the road, we opted to drive straight through, which we did. With both of us driving off-and-on some twelve hours after leaving the carpark in New Jersey we pulled into the parking lot at Meijer, our go-to grocery store near our home in Grand Rapids, to grab a couple of essentials for breakfast.

Fatigued and now both under the weather, since I had been thoughtful enough to give Susan my cold, we were thrilled and thankful to be home.

It had taken some 36 hours to get from Paris to Grand Rapids. We won't do that again anytime soon if ever.

Between New York and Paris

It was a quick and easy three-hour drive from Corning to Prattsville, another beautiful day to be on the road and we made good time, arriving at the Archer home about dinnertime.

The evening was filled with catching up, swapping tales and just enjoying each other's company -- and of course there was a delicious meal compliments of Gloria Archer: corned beef and cabbage, and the brisket was lean and delicious. Unlike the standard CB&C Gloria used Savoy cabbage cut into wedges and they were the perfect accompaniment to the beef.

The next morning we had a leisurely breakfast before saying good-bye and getting back on the road. This time we pointed ourselves south, down I-87 toward Newark and Liberty International Airport.

Traffic moved well and after about three hours we arrived at the airport -- and after a few minutes driving around a rather distressed neighborhood we located our car park where we would leave our car for the duration of the trip.

After being shuttled to the terminal and checking in -- for some reason the airport authority had stuck British Airways and Spirit Airlines in the basement along with baggage claim  -- we made our way to security. Once scanned and approved for travel we found a place to grab lunch and kill some time before time to board.

The airport, and this will come as no shock to many of you, but Newark Airport is. High prices and the lack of general upkeep as well as the absence of major updating are strikingly familiar (we'd been through here years ago).  At one charging station, near where we were sitting, and consisting of nearly a dozen outlets which didn’t work seemed to frustrate a great many folks crammed into our end of the terminal.

And the overcrowding?! Some things never change and the absence of upgrades or serious environmental enhancements is one of them.

 But we were only temporary residents and before long we were called to leave the terminal and board our British Airways flight from Newark non-stop to Orly Airport, south of Paris.

The flight itself was unremarkable as was the food and the accommodations: the plane was showing its age and the seats were in need of repair. Still, it was non-stop and we arrived at Orly a little after 8am local time.

 Once we were through passport control and had picked up our bags were off to find Ground Transportation and the OrlyBus to Denfert-Rochereau in the city center. We made our way to the nearest RATP office to load our Navigo Metro passes for the coming week and learned that we needed new passes — we had ours since 2006. The young woman behind the desk at the RATP counter was most helpful. At one point when language seemed to get in the way she took out her ipad and scribbled a few lines in Google translate and placed the pad up to the window. Pretty slick.

 With our new Navigos we navigated our way to the Metro and began the age-old schlepping process down and up and down and up the various stairs to line 6. We got off the metro at Nationale and walked the short block or so up rue Pinel to our apartment. Our hostess, landlady, I’m not sure what to call her, was waiting for us when we got to the door of the apartment. It was on the top floor, the 6th floor (7th in US terms) so we were thankful for the elevator.

Next: In Paris

The Boston Leg 12-13 September

color change in Grand Rapids - already!

Unlike our previous trips abroad to Europe where we flew out an international gateway -- typically Boston or New York -- direct to London or Paris, this year is different. Two factors were at work in forcing us to stretch our travel time to Paris: one was British Airways and the other simple geography.

In order to use our large number of BA air miles we had to fly out of one of a handful of international gateways. The other is, of course, that we now live in the midwest, a thousand miles from the nearest usable airport.

So, yesterday we flew from Grand Rapids to Boston by way of Newark. Leg One of our journey to France for 2016.

We were up before dawn to finish packing and getting the house ready. We loaded my mother-in-law's car and the three of us drove to the airport.

It was a gorgeous day for travel. About 70 degrees F when we drove to the airport in Grand Rapids where we found ourselves in line -- by ourselves!

All quiet on the B Concourse

We checked in, dropped our one bag off to security-- the TSA handler turned out to be a young woman we knew from another business in Grand Rapids -- and made our way through security. Even though we had TSA Precheck (creatively called "TSA Pre") there were only four of us in the security line so there was no wait there either.

Once through security we relaxed at the gate until our plane pulled in, offloaded it's cargo of passengers, and loaded up a new group -- ours.

One hour thirty minutes later were were gliding down to Newark, giving us superb views of the Manhattan skyline. Once on the ground we made our way from Terminal C, the tiny plane terminal, to Terminal A the BIG plane terminal - hey, that's how our flight attendant described them.

Since we had a bit of a layover and it was lunchtime we grabbed a bite to eat. Most of the eateries in Terminal C, at least down the C112 corridor, were fixed with iPads at each dining station for ordering (and more); and there were plenty of tables with stuffed chairs also loaded with iPads and charging stations mixed in with gate seating.

Anyway, we found a spot at the Vanguard Kitchen. We ordered right off the iPad, swiped our card on the device fixed to the table top, which initiated the food preparation. Fifteen minutes later we had our food and it was pretty tasty, I must admit, although quite pricey. During the meal we simply turned the iPads face down on the table although we noticed lots of folks were using them to check email, surf the web, play games, etc., while eating. That didn't appeal to us -- we believe connectivity goes just so far. . .  One thing we thought interesting: you could pay with a credit card or United air miles.

We boarded our Boston leg flight at a little after 2pm (1400) and after a quick 39-minute flight ending in a spectacular glide down over Boston Harbor, landed at Logan Airport. It was just about a 15-minute wait to get our checkin bag, and another 10-minute wait for the Logan Express bus to Framingham where Susie's brother Dick would pick us up.

And so it all worked as planned. Or hoped. Anyway, the travel weather was perfect, and flights on time (actually both arrived at their destinations a bit early). While commuter traffic getting through and out of Boston was lousy we were on the bus and really quite unconcerned. Fifty minutes later we pulled into the Logan Express terminal at Framingham near Shopper's World Mall where Dick loaded us up and the three of us were soon cruising down I-90 to Route 146 south and Douglas, Massachusetts.

We sat outside in their garden, sipping sparkling wine and enjoying the last light of the evening. Dorothy had a tasty meal ready for us. After an evening of good wine and even better food we headed upstairs to bed.

After a good night's sleep we felt refreshed and ready for another long day of travel. The upside to all this is we don't feel rushed or harried; we just take our time. Time is what we have plenty of, right now anyway.

Our British Airways flight out of Boston doesn't leave until nearly 10pm (2200) this evening so . . . . .  our plan will be to hang out in Douglas and then Dorothy will drop us off at the Framingham shuttle about 4pm (1600). One tiny curious glitch so far has been that we are unable to checkin online -- the message from BA when I try to do so simply says "Proceed to the airport to pickup your boarding passes." Hmmmm. That sounds a tad ominous.

Whatever may come of that small mystery, since we used our air miles to upgrade to Business class we'll at least be able to spend time relaxing in the BA lounge with wine and food before boarding the plane for our red-eye to London. More about that in the next post!