Aurora Whoa

We left Seattle about 2 p.m. on Friday, September 10, on Air France headed to Paris. While in flight, I closed my eyes a bit and was awakened by one of the French air stewards who leaned over me and asked me if I had ordered a special dinnAIR. That's right, he said dinnAIR, emphasis on the AIR. I didn't remember so I said Yeah, Vegetarian. Well, I admit I guessed on that one. He looked at me and said, You ordered gluten-free, right? Duh. I nodded and he scurried back to the galley and promptly delivered me my special dinnAIR. Only here's the deal, he then came up the aisle with a basket of rolls and offered me one. He seemed surprised when I declined. So I said, Listen, Frenchie...I can't have bread! Get it? GLUTEN FREE means no bread! And then I threw a roll at him but missed. Oh, wait, that was only in my imagination. My INSIDE voice! It seemed, well, so loud at the time. :-)

We raised a glass of champagne (free--thank you Air France!) to Tim who passed away on the 9th. It seemed fitting that David also ordered cognac after dinner (free again!) in honor of Tim, since he liked cognac as well.

Later in the night, we looked out the window and saw the Aurora Borealis. Whoa. Those Northern Lights--a tinge of green--were swaying among the stars. And then the big dipper appeared right on the horizon. I love polar routes--you get to see things you never see in your neck of the woods.

After a crazy crowded Passport Control at Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris, we flew to Marseille, picked up a rental car at Hertz, and drove about a half hour to Aix. Glorious Aix-en-Provence, city of so many fountains and sunshine!

The condo owner told us we could get our keys at the restaurant across the street from the apartment. We found a parking spot on the street--a minor miracle in Aix--and strolled into Le Darius. A large, bald man was tending bar and the till. We went up to him and asked for the key--he waved us off as he was too busy. We probably stood there for 20 minutes while he helped customers and gulped the occasional glass of wine--you don't see THAT in America! He looked at us much like we were flies to be swatted away. The restaurant was pretty busy.

We were hungry and tired, so I suggested we sit and eat there--might as well as this guy wasn't doing us any favors. We ordered delicious salads and while we were eating, this guy looks at us from afar and says, The key? Like he finally understood. So that was the price of entrance--buy food from the restaurant and suddenly he became helpful. A good lesson! :-)

The apartment we are renting for the week is amazingly huge (2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms) and modern. Except for those damn 2-prong plugs, I'd say it's about perfect. Oh, and we can't get the free wifi to work even with the password and a call to the owner. Damn! TGFE! (Thank God for Ethernet!). Hard wiring rocks!

After we both took naps, we headed out to Monoprix about a half block away for groceries and had a late home-made dinner of chicken, couscous, and salad, along with--of course!--a glass or two of rose. I fell asleep on the couch but this time, I have an excuse! I may use it all week!

Sunrise from the plane to Paris

The restaurant across the street

The view from our balcony looking north