Travel delights

25% of the flights arriving in Europe have been cancelled. Our 6:30 am arrival was the last flight taken in at CDG from the US. Whew! We made it! So, we claim our baggage, go outside to meet our driver... no driver. We think about panic, but decide not to. Instead, we call our Paris contact from Chez Vous, and he answers...VERY pleasantly! He tells us to hop in a taxi, and he will meet us at the apartment in about 45 minutes.

We go to the taxi queue, a man in front of us gets in the front taxi, so we start loading up in the second taxi. The man in the first taxi doesn't get in, half of our bags are in our taxi, and the first taxi guy gets into a scuffle with our driver, very aggressively telling him we are his ride, not his. Our driver gives in, and we load up in the first taxi. The chief in charge of managing the taxis apologizes. We are delirious... A little sleepy, a little anxious, and just relieved to be in The City of Lights. "C'est bonne, c'est Paris," we tell the chief. He laughs, and says, "oui, it IS Paris...everything IS good."

45 minutes later we pull in front of our ancient building(500 years old or so), located on The Seine, and across the street from Notre Dame. The bells are ringing, the snow is falling, and life is good. I start to pay the driver, and he looks at me like I am crazy. I just gave the man 50 Mexican pesos. Oops!

We enter our building, go up a flight of stairs, and are absolutely blown away. I know I say this every time, but this apartment is GORGEOUS! The bedroom is in the back, away from the street, the kitchen is galley style, the dining room is huge, and the living room has the million dollar view of the Notre Dame cathedral. The snow makes everything so cozy.

We head out into the snow for provisions,stock up on the first day usuals: baguette, ham, eggs, butter, cheese, wine, beer,crackers and sardines. Project Paris is underway. Stay tuned...More to come!