Day 1 (Oct 2nd): New York in Paris and Normandy travel log

Our flight was at 11:30pm, so we had all day to pack. We both took the whole day off, so we were not rushed. I think we were done about two hours before the airport shuttle showed up.

I had lied to the shuttle company about the flight time, so even though the bus was late, we were at JFK early. We killed time eating dinner and just relaxing.

The flight - an Air France direct flight - was smooth, but I find it much harder to latch on to the French accent of the flight attendants than any other accent. Maybe that will change in days to come. I didn’t sleep well - I think I might have an hour’s worth of sleep on he plane - but I wasn’t particularly tired. The cruise company has a representative to pick us up at the airport (it was around 2pm local time by the time we picked up our luggage and cleared custom), drove us onto the hotel (about an hour drive), and another representative met with us (I was surprised - I was expecting to meet him the next day) and showed us the ropes for another hour. We were tired by then, and slept for an hour, showered, before heading out to Arc de Triomphe, a 10 minutes walk. Last time I was there I couldn’t go up the stairs because it was under repair, so I was happy I got to go up this time. While we were up there the sun was setting, so that made for very nice viewing.

La Professeure was still tired though, so when we headed to Champs Elysees, she picked up a pair of sunglasses and declared that was enough shopping for the day. I was glad to hear it. We headed back to the hotel and relaxed.

Tomorrow we should be better-rested and we’ll have a full day.

Last updated October 24, 2015