I haven't been here for a while, we have been very busy. Two weeks ago we went home to the US for a week. Fred had classes and meetings and I had to sit with the furnace repair folks. But all that is done and we have returned to France, a week ago today.
Our travel went well both to the US and back, no real delays, and we made all of the legs of the flights. We arrived in Paris at 7:30 Sunday morning, then took the Air France bus (as we usually do) to Gare de Lyon to catch a train to Clermont. We arrived at the station about 10 minutes before the 9:00 train, and thought the turnaround to buy tickets and catch that train would be too tight for us. Reserved seats are required on this train and it is often quite full, so we can't really buy tickets before, because if our flight is late or traffic is heavy, we might miss the train.
Anyway, the next train was at 1:00 pm, so we found the luggage check, left most of our bags, and went for a walk. We walked over to the Seine River and stood on the bridge for a bit, then followed the Canal St Martin, which leaves the Seine near Gare de Lyon, leads through locks up to the Bastille monument with park on one side, then goes underground for roughly one mile. Then it surfaces to pick up the Seine again on the north side of town. It is a very pretty park and the canal is home to many houseboats, some quite large. From the Bastille, we walked back to Gare de Lyon, ate an early lunch, picked up our bags, and made for the train.
Normally we try to stay awake all day, but I was just too tired. We flew through Houston this trip, and it is a 10 hour flight from Houston to Paris, but I only slept for about 3 hours. That is NOT enough for me.
When we got back to Clermont, it was just a short walk to our apartment. We unpacked, then went to 1513 for dinner. We had salad and dessert, then headed home.
We both had a long week ahead, Fred teaching and for me - the first week of my program, so we both need to be ready to go on Monday.
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