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.
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
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