We are in France!

It was an uneventful flight yesterday and today, just the usual…a bit of turbulence in the air, sleeping interrupted by announcements from the crew, many families traveling, babies crying, and a few good movies. Arriving at Charles DeGualle was as I remembered–lots of walking, waiting and walking some more. Through passport check, finally getting all of our bags from carousel 42, we picked up our rented Mercedes from Eurocar and drove to Bayeau, arriving at about 1:30 pm, exhausted. The boutique Hotel de Luxembourg is just off the small city’s Main Street. We checked in, brought in our belongings and took a nice long nap. At 4:30, when we woke, we bundled up and went for a walk. The Main Street was decorated with lighted snowflakes and icicles and the bustling crowd was shopping and looking for just a bit more daylight before the Christmas shopping was finished.

None of the restaurants looked too promising so we got 1/3 kilo of 36-month Comte cheese (our favorite–Thank You Clay and Connie!), a fresh warm baguette for me, a baguette sandwich for Allan, and a bottle of wine to share for dinner. We stopped at a boutique kitchen shop and bought a combination wine opener and knife before returning to the hotel. We opened our wine with our new opener and poured it in the provided coffee cups, toasted our arrival, sliced the Comte cheese onto the saucers, and ate the baguette and baguette sandwich. Great first meal in France!!

It’ll be an early night so we expect to rise early on Christmas Day and see what is open for sightseeing..