The small fountain in the middle of the large pond at the Jardin de Luxembourg is home to fleet of small wooden sailboats available for rent. We signed one out for 30 minutes and enjoyed watching it traverse the pond several times.
While there are a few people who bring their own remote controlled power boats, most of the traffic is made up of these simple wind-powered sail boats that perform much like their full-sized cousins. While you don't get to control where they are going, fortunately it seems that they rarely capsize and always make it to the other side eventually.
Saturday, June 12, 2010
Not exactly our first day - by Rhiannon
It's our first day on our trip - well not exactly our first day. We were still waiting at the airport in Detroit at 8:05 PM today.
We found this cool fountain in the Detroit airport. It was a very big airport. The fountain looked like dolphins at one point.
We're about to get on a jet with two aisles - 2 seats on each side and 4 seats in the middle. I'm really excited for our actual first day.
We found this cool fountain in the Detroit airport. It was a very big airport. The fountain looked like dolphins at one point.
We're about to get on a jet with two aisles - 2 seats on each side and 4 seats in the middle. I'm really excited for our actual first day.
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Day 1 Addendum - New vacation planning strategy
Nearly ever time we leave the house on a long-distance family vacation, we get about 30 minutes from home and begin to remember all the things we wish we had brought. Only rarely are these things important enough to turn around for - once it was a wallet! So usually we make do - do without, find a substitute, buy a replacement. But today, thanks to Delta Airlines, we had the rare opportunity to return home and collect the things on our list. I hope we remembered all the things that we had identified as forgotten.
While not necessarily efficient, it is certainly effective and one wonders if this is a way to approach each of these trips. Simply build in an extra 90 min of travel time, leave home and start driving, realize what is missing and make a list, then turn around and go home after 30 min and collect everything that is missing.
I'll let you know how it goes the next time we try it!
While not necessarily efficient, it is certainly effective and one wonders if this is a way to approach each of these trips. Simply build in an extra 90 min of travel time, leave home and start driving, realize what is missing and make a list, then turn around and go home after 30 min and collect everything that is missing.
I'll let you know how it goes the next time we try it!
Day 1 - Off to a Roaring Start
The first day of our vacation was just as you might imagine... We all piled into a cab from the airport, dumped our bags, changed clothes and headed out to explore. We found a nice little restaurant for lunch, and then wandered up the street popping into this store and that. Finally, after picking up a few groceries, we strolled home.
The only problem was that it happened in Madison and not in Paris! Before boarding our flight in Madison, just as we should have been taking off, we were told there would be a 2-3 hour delay for a mechanical issue (the records show that it ended up 5h20m late!). That would have guaranteed that we miss our connection in Minneapolis. I immediately got on the phone to Delta who were unable to rebook us today - as you may imagine, getting 4 seats on a flight to Paris at the beginning of June is challenging. I am glad they were able to get us 4 seats on a flight the next day! At least I got Delta to pay for the cab to home and back to the airport the next day - we didn't want to impose on wonderful Amanda and her tightly packed Honda any further.
One of our biggest concerns was where to stay since we had just signed our house over, contractually, to our house sitter. Fortunately, she was going to spend this first night away as well so were able to avoid stepping on each other's toes. After a brief disappointment, we all took it in stride and were able to see the benefits:
The only problem was that it happened in Madison and not in Paris! Before boarding our flight in Madison, just as we should have been taking off, we were told there would be a 2-3 hour delay for a mechanical issue (the records show that it ended up 5h20m late!). That would have guaranteed that we miss our connection in Minneapolis. I immediately got on the phone to Delta who were unable to rebook us today - as you may imagine, getting 4 seats on a flight to Paris at the beginning of June is challenging. I am glad they were able to get us 4 seats on a flight the next day! At least I got Delta to pay for the cab to home and back to the airport the next day - we didn't want to impose on wonderful Amanda and her tightly packed Honda any further.
One of our biggest concerns was where to stay since we had just signed our house over, contractually, to our house sitter. Fortunately, she was going to spend this first night away as well so were able to avoid stepping on each other's toes. After a brief disappointment, we all took it in stride and were able to see the benefits:
- picking up the list of forgotten items - the annoying ones that aren't quite important enough to go back for
- better seats on a better plane at a better time for the transatlantic leg
- a relaxing afternoon in our home town pretending to be car-less visitors
Wish us luck tomorrow!
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