Paris Revealed

 As part of our new anti-jet lag regime, Bear and I got to CDG 5 hrs early and spent time browsing and vegging. We discovered Stephen Clarke's Paris Revealed - why ever didn't we get this terrific book on arrival instead of at departure? More to be revealed later...

 If you want an easy trip home book your AirFrance flight at 7:15 pm on a Tuesday night in November. Nobody on board.

Bear Onboard,
stretched out over 4 seats for a good 6 hour snooze - unheard of in the past. *Note Bear taped up his Backjoy and it never got lost and surely came in handy for long plane rides.

 

 Before we knew it, it was time to descend into NYC.

 Au revoir AirFrance for a lovely flight home!

 First thing this morning, rather than get up and face bills and reality, we dipped into Paris Revealed - our kind of book. You can dip in anywhere and start reading and laughing and yellow-underlining.

 British author Clarke, by lucky chance, turns up as a judge in the Grand Prix de la Baguette de Paris in 2010, a sort of 'Oscars' judging panel much to his surprise and all shennigans are revealed.

 Clues to judging good bistro fare are revealed by testing a classic dish like

 La salade de chevre chaud over and over until you can tell instantly it has not been pre-prepared ahead and then popped into a microven on demand.

 Where to see great art and not have your view impeded by hundreds of other tourists heads...

 Like at musee Marmottan for the Monets.

 I love it that Clarke dishes on each of the 14 Metro lines (the fun stops to get off and on) and Paris' 20 arrondissements describing their character and ambience.

 Clarke has lived in Paris for 2 decades and written a series of books like A Year in the Merde, yet I just discovered him in a recent Telegraph article. Once I'm done reading Paris Revealed (which only seems available on Kindle in the US so far), I'll be on to the rest. Read a few pages here.

 This book is both entertaining and informative in just the right ways to aid you in your pursuit of a faux Parisian transformation. *Be sure to check out the bread in any restaurant. The Euro starts and stops there so to speak by it's quality.

Bear and I will return soon to our Wheat Belly regime, but for the 1st morning back on home turf we indulged in madeleines from Boissier (bought as a gift for someone else, ahem).

Fighting Jet Lag

 Bag by Barbara Rhil

We all love going to Paris.

 It's the coming home and the attendant jet lag that sucks.

 Yesterday while tossing out papers I found an old NYTimes article on fighting jet lag saved from 1997.

 I'm still fighting Jet lag. I can depend on a solid two weeks of it when I return from a trip. The 'walking through water' sensation is a regular for the 1st few days.

 Waking up and wanting breakfast at 2:30 AM is another reliable symptom.

 Plus falling asleep comatose at 7:30 PM.

No matter how much I force myself to eat coffee ice cream + drink coke (for the caffein) nothing seems to work.

 I'm not keen on taking medication

 Though they say coming home (going west) is an easier adjustment for the body, it's the opposite for me. I have no Jet lag going to Paris. But then a week or so ahead my body automatically goes on Paris time waking up insanely early at 3 AM and ready to start the day bla bla bla. The return trip adjustment is always hellish.

 This trip back was different.

I had to leave my apartment by 10:30 AM and my flight was not till 7 PM. It's well known the last weeks of July there is a mad exodus out of Paris. Parisians are taking off for their summer vacance. The roads are jammed and so are the airports. Plus it was a Friday - the worst day to travel. I knew Charles de Gaulle airport would be crazy bad, so I decided to just spend the entire day there. Instead of my usual tearing around the last day like mad person buying last minute stuff and taking last minute pictures. Et voila.

 CDG was a madhouse of travelers when I arrived at noon. So much so AirFrance told me to wait 1 1/2 hours before going through customs. The lines were horrendous. When they did let me through, the line was short and managable. I went into every gift shop in CDG and looked at every single product for about 7 hours. The result was total mindlessness like at a yoga retreat.

 I even took this picture of a dog in the ladies loo!

  For some unknown reason it's near impossible to read a book or focus on a computer inside the airport or on the plane. No matter the best of intentions. After vegging out in the airport for 7 hours, you board the plane for another 7-8 hours of vegging out.

 The airport time + plane travel puts you into a kind of braindead trans-like state.

The end result of spending my last day in Paris basically doing zero is I have little or no Jet lag post trip! Go figure. I feel like I've licked the common cold. What do you do for Jet lag?

8:15 PM

Just a few parting shots before I take off tonight at 8:15PM on AirFrance.This is a French mini airline meal from Rement.

I did get to vote on Friday and I admit to voting for Amelia Earhart. I'm looking forward to being in Paris for the election and will report all.

PLEASE GET OUT AND VOTE EVERYONE!

My trusty old suitcase refuses to die. It's instantly recognizable on the baggage carousel because it's covered in colorful UPS stickers. But it's had a make-over. Now there are pastry stickers to boot...Hmmm Maybe not an improvement but definitely even more recognizable.

 

I should have been packing yesterday, but I was reading Catherine Delor's gripping 18th-century French tale of Gabrielle de Monserrat's journey through hardships and betrayal by the three men in her life before she reaches at last impossible happiness bla bla bla - a great fun read. I'm be busy reading it in the airport and on the plane between watching the 5 French movies provided. I'm staying in the 12th arrondissement this trip - a switch from the 6th, but there are so many villages to discover in Paris and I'll be near the fab Marche d'Aligre... There will be plenty of visits to tea salons.
When I get home in 2 weeks, this mini French restaurant set from NRFB Queen should be waiting to help allay the mean old Jet Lag. I almost can't wait to come back?!
BONNE JOURNEE!

Coming Home..

Why is coming home from a trip so hard to do?
It's true you did have cold feet about leaving - that's long forgotten.

 

There is the dreaded unpacking.

And new aquisitions to put away, which in my case will fill about 2 sandwich bags.

Piles of bills and paperwork anxiously await you.

Then there's the Jet lag. You go to sleep at 8 PM and want to eat breakfast at 2:30 AM

And of course something always breaks in transit or as soon as you get home, like your brand new and much prized Paris cafe table.

You run out and buy a new piggie bank and start saving for the next trip.

Maybe the hardest thing is the loss of that sense of urgency. The thing that gets you out of bed in morning and rushing out the door to see what new adventures await you.
Any good tips on making re-entry easier will be most appreciated.

Bonjour!