Days 9-10: Last French Meal & Flying Out

We'd had an awesome experience our night before at this restaurant and wanted to go again for our last supper in France.

We started with a cheese plate. We knew that it was usually not served until after the main meal, but we requested it as an appetizer. Our waitress was quite polite and only questioned us once if that's really what we'd said. It was soooooooo delicious!!!! I've had dreams since of that cheese plate! I even really liked the bleu cheese, which I'd always before thought was disgusting, but mainly only because of its coloring.

I ordered the salmon special - it was the absolutely best salmon I've ever eaten! Grilled and served on a bed of thinly-sliced zucchini & baked tomato and swimming in a lemon sauce. I got to eat half, since Kendra really liked it too!

However, Kendra was having other certain food cravings, and although they didn't have "french fries" or green beans or spaghetti actually on their menu, she was determined to have these 3 things for her last meal in France! I guess either her determination paid off, or she just got lucky! It turned out the restaurant served all 3 of these items as side dishes at 5 euro a piece. So - that's exactly what she got! Kendra really liked the fish, too, so it became a shared meal between the two of us and was simply one of the tastiest meals I've ever eaten! (Carmen's meal rates right up there with this one!)

After taking our dear, sweet time with the meal (I think we would have done Audrey proud!), we finally ordered dessert...Crème Brûlée to share and hot chocolate. I apologize for the belated picture, but it was so good we nearly had it finished before I remembered the camera!

And then, it was back to the hotel for packing. Kendra had brought stuff from the U.S. that I was supposed to fit in with everything else I'd gotten in France. The weight restrictions are more limited within Europe & Asia, so I could not take everything. :( So began the process of sacrifice and elimination. Kendra ended up taking quite a chunk back to the U.S. again, even though I wore nearly 5 layers in clothes in order to have more room packing. Good thing it was winter! (although I was right in figuring I'd probably be drenched in sweat anyway by the time I reached home.)

A little tired early the next morning - we were scheduled to catch a taxi to the airport at 6am.

He did not come til 6:35 and then made more stops on the way, so we arrived an hour late. I had 50 minutes to catch my flight. Plus, I had to be dropped off separately from Kendra, so we only got to say a quick, hurried, and unexpected good-bye before I was left on the platform with the taxi driving off. I put my disappointment and tears away for the flight back and hurried inside to be met with chaos. I was sent to one line, then another before I finally got through. Then, I had 20 minutes before take-off. I went running through the corridors of the concourses until I got to my terminal with 15 minutes to spare. But next there was a security line which I waited in for 10 minutes until I'd thought I'd finally got to the front...only to look in despair as the line wound around again in a direction I hadn't seen. In desperation I did what I've never had to do before: I asked the person at the front of the line if I could cut. I was so thankful when he waved me through! I rushed to shed myself of a few of my extra layers (with the pockets filled!) in order to get through the metal detector in record time. However, I failed to remove my watch, so I still got frisked down. With 1 minute till takeoff, I was sure I'd missed my flight. But I came skidding to a halt when I encountered a long boarding line at my gate. When I questioned the passenger in line ahead of me, he said that the boarding seems to be delayed. Hhhhh! Sweating? Did I think before I'd be a sweat-bucket before I got home??? I was a drenched mess before I left! We stood in that line 30 minutes, only to board and sit another 90 minutes on the tarmac. The plane had to be de-iced. After that, the runway had to be cleared and tested from the snow. We finally left at 10:30am (original time 8:50). Good-bye Audrey, Paris, & France!!!

My connecting flight in Munich was to leave at 11:15am and we had an hour flight to get there. I figured there was no possibility catching that flight, so I prepared myself for a long layover til the next available flight. However, as I disembarked, a woman was holding a sign for "Seoul." I didn't know if it was meant for me, but just in case I went over and told her that I had a flight to Seoul that I'd missed. Apparently I was the last one she was waiting on, for she said, "Follow me!" The 5 of us scurried after her the best we could with our luggage. We were escorted directly to immigrations, then on to the awaiting flight. On the way, our names were being called over the loudspeaker. I'd never had that happen before, either!!! When I finally plopped in my seat, I found myself beside a Korean from DaeJon (within the same main area that SeoSan is in). He said they'd been holding the plane for a good 30 minutes for us. Wow, did I feel privileged! Now I hoped the plane made up time to get everyone else to their connecting flights! As with most long international flights, we did make up the time and arrived on schedule in 10 hours. Finally! Arrival time after all that was 6:15Am! Tired, but happy to back "home," I hurried out to find a bus to SeoSan. But, I was surprised when I saw Kyeong Hee and AeRan and another friend waiting for me. John had asked them to come pick me up. That was such a nice surprise! I was able to relax and enjoy the ride home without juggling luggage on the buses.

And then, I was home!!! John & the kids came spilling out of the house to meet me. Once we got all the luggage carried in, it was like Christmas tearing them open! (All that work we'd gone to packing it up just hours before - reversed in just minutes!!!)

The kids were estatic with their belated-arriving Christmas presents from my Mom and their souvenirs from me.

John was eagerly awaiting his cheese, but I had none to give him. (EEEEK!) But I must say in self-defense, I was waiting til the last day to buy it so it wouldn't go bad. But on our last shopping night the cheese shop was closed when we arrived! :( :( And yes, in case you're wondering, he did let me back in the house without it! I weaseled my way back into his good graces with a chocolate Eiffel Tower. He just couldn't resist! :D Doesn't it look fabulous? I took several pictures of this Eiffel Tower, too, before it ate it all gone!

Audrey's mother, Carmen, had bought the kids some wonderful chocolate from Lindt's on the Champs-Élysées. Those morsels were slowly savored!!!

Something Kendra and I realized about our time in Paris, was that we'd ridden on 5 modes of transportation during the 5 days there: car, subway, train, taxi, and airplane! Pretty neat, we thought!

In closing for my France trip, I'd like to share the last entry from the diary I kept:

"France was so nice because for the first time in a very long time, I was able to completely relax. I don't think I've ever had such a wonderful vacation or appreciated one so much! I simply loved every minute of it, enjoying every thing we did to the fullest. I know part of it was the lack of responsibility or freedom I felt just by myself, and not needing to worry about the kids or family or anything. Most of the time, I did not even have to pay attention to directions or anything. In that sense, it was like being carefree and young again. It was such a privilege and special time for me. I was free to simply be a friend and sister. It's an experience that I don't think can ever be repeated again in my lifetime, which makes me cherish it all the more. I don't know that I've ever had such a fuller 10 days filled with so many remarkable experiences. Meeting Audrey's family, shopping with them, experiencing Carmen's home-cooked meals & family life; then the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, the restaurants, the cruise, the shopping in Paris with Audrey & Matthieu...even the "almost-castle"! Nothing was a disappointment. I loved it all! The only thing that could come close to this again would be to return to Paris with John for a special anniversary ~ maybe 25th?"

My most-frequently spoken French word I learned and loved to say was "Merci Beaucoup!" - "Thank you very much!" I felt quite high praise from Audrey when she commented that I was starting to say it pretty well and also starting to catch onto the French "r." For some reason my French made her smile....because of my funny accent? Not sure, but it was so much fun!

Thank You!

Thank you Patrick & Carmen for welcoming us into your heart & home! Thank you, Carmen for those absolutely mouth-watering meals! Thank you, Viv, for your humor and the entertainment! Thank you, Mattieu and Audrey for being our personal tour guides in Paris! And thank you, thank you, Audrey for everything! For organizing the trip for us, providing for my first night in France, for reserving the hotel for us in Paris, for giving up your room to us, for showing us your apartment, for being our translator, and for many, many more things I don't have room to mention here! Most of all, thank you for being such a wonderful friend! Someday, I hope you and your family can all come to visit us once we are back on American soil. And from my pictures & stories, the kids now each have a dream to come visit you in France as well, so be watching out for them in the future! Thanks again for everything! It was an experience I will always fondly remember. ...And I'm not forgetting! -- thank you, Kendra for inviting me to go in the first place! At first I didn't think it could work out. Thank you for everything you did to make it possible! Thank you, John for sacrificing and being Mr. Mom again so I could go. I can't express just how much I appreciated the opportunity! I think you know, though! I love you!

And finally, thank you, my blog readers, for your patience! I was so excited and so wanted to share it all with you, but it took a bit more time than I thought in actually getting it done! So this now finishes my trip to France, all 10 days of it. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did posting it and remembering it all again. Thank you for reading and following our blog, and for your comments!