We're off!

Waiting in the Msp/StP airport is very different than it used to be. At our gate there were tables with WiFi on iPads. You could order food and other things and have it delivered to your table. It was a good way to pass the time as long as you didn't order anything!

This is the iPad showing the map of the Paris airport. Isn't technology cool?

 

As the sun comes up, we're still 1 hour from Paris where we will change planes to London. We've been flying for 7 hours and I've slept for two of those. In my time, it's almost midnight but here it's tomorrow already. I've watched "Avengers" on a tiny screen a foot and a half from my face. My mother always told me not to sit so close to the tv screen and it's hard to focus with my bifocals on! Uh oh. Telling my age...I had a really delicious supper 4 hours ago and now they're serving breakfast. We haven't done anything but sit here. Good thing I don't fly too often or I'd gain weight. Supper was cold chicken salad and fruit, breakfast is egg muffin.

We're sitting one row up from the toilets. It's a busy busy place after meals. When the toilets flush though, they sound amazingly like the sterilizer at work when it blows. The first few times I was quite startled! All announcements on the plane are in English and then French. The high school French is coming back quickly and I am understanding quite a bit, mostly because they are speaking it very slow.

Later-

Now that we are in the Paris airport, I can hardly understand them because they talk so fast!

The Paris airport is beautiful and fascinating. The terminal we were in is shaped like a tube.

 

 

I didn't get a photo of the outside which is really neat but this gives you an idea. Our gate was at the end of the 'tube' and the view was very interesting. There were a lot of people besides me taking pictures of it.

 

 

Now we're on the flight to London and Heathrow Airport. I've taken a lot of flights out of that airport but it's been quite a few years. I'm sure it's changed a lot. It's about 10:45am here and my body thinks its 4:00a m. I know, you are not supposed to think like that if you want to get over jet lag as quickly as possible. We will be meeting Jacky's brother Allen and his wife Carolyn at the airport. They are flying in from Dallas, Texas. Jacky's sister, Lee, and her friend John will meet us at the hotel. They started in San Francisco and had to fly to Amsterdam and then London. This is my way of introducing everyone that is traveling with us!

 

View as we're coming in.

English countryside. I hope we get to see it up close

Heathrow Airport is the busiest airport in the world. What I noticed is the planes from exotic places I'd love to go. Of course the people in the airport are from everywhere as well. I don't think we've had more than a couple true Englishmen help us since we got here. It's been hard to understand the French spoken, but now also the English spoken!

Had to get through the Border Control. What crabby people work there! Jacky's says 'let it go' so on to 'baggage reclaim' instead of 'baggage claim'. Well, at least it's close....waited for Allen and Carolyn to get off their plane from Georgia, and then on to the hotel...

I'm hoping we survive the ride to the hotel. This driver acts like he's going to turn into a pumpkin if he doesn't get us there by 12. Yikes! I'm covering my eyes. I know this sounds rascist but I'm going to say it anyway. The driver is Indian and he drives like he would in Mumbai! The roundabouts fly by at 70mph (I'm sorry, I don't convert). Good thing we're strapped in. Our ride is shared with 2 ladies, one who grew up in Red Wing and now they live in Oklahoma City. She says every time someone asks where they're from and they reply Oklahoma City, they get an "Ohhhh, I'm so sorry" look because of the tornados . What a small world. After a short chat , the entire car got quiet as we all instinctively gripped the seat with white knuckles and watched for impending doom.

Thankfully we made it to the hotel in one piece. Our room is on the top floor right next to the elevator. It has a wood floor and is modern looking. Here's the view from the window -

 

Lee plans on meeting up at 3:00. Yawn!!! But we need to find an ATM and get some English money, and maybe find some fish and chips. Boy is my body confused right now. Time for a short nap....

 

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