PART I - PARIS, FRANCE

We took a direct flight from San Francisco to Paris.  Eleven hours in the air.  I only got a few hours sleep last night, so I was already exhausted when we left San Francisco.  I was too tired to even try to sleep (Dave slept like a baby). So I read and knitted and watched two movies; Maleficent and Noah.   With United you have your own personal screen (touch screen) on the back of the seat in front of you.  I had 264 listed movies to choose from.  Wow.  What to choose? Actually the same movie was listed 3 or four times in different languages.  But that is still a lot to choose from.  The Bears, Spiderman 2, Chef, Winter’s Tale... are a few I haven’t seen yet.  On the return trip.  We will have to go back and forth a few times to see all the movies I want to see.  But wait, we are not using United on the return flight...darn.

We had a nice dinner of plastic chicken and what was supposed to be mashed potato.  Don’t know.  Did not eat it.  Then the lights went off, except for the guy across the isle.  He read the whole flight (for 11 hours).  He actually had a few books on his pull down tray.   Good thing I brought eye covers.  I was able to sleep for about 3 hours. 

The highlight of this flight was seeing the Nothern Lights as we crossed over the southern tip of Greenland.  What a thrill!!  Of all the trips we did in Northern Canada and Alaska, I have never seen the Northern Lights. That’s another item to check off on our Bucket List.

Day 1 – October 2nd

We arrived at our hotel around 11:00am.  Our keys were waiting for us, so we were able to check in right away.  The Le Meridien Etoile hotel is a very nice place.  It is ultra modern with nice but sterile décor.  Our room is small, but very quiet and comfortable.  We overlook the court yard onto a nice garden. 

The Le Meridien Etoile hotel is located near the city center, walking distance to the Arc de Triomphe where the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is (from WWI) and a very long walk to the Museum du Louvre.  In fact as you walk down the Avenue des Champs Elysees (where all the expensive shopping is) you can see the Seine River and the Louvre.  But as you walk towards the Louvre, it seemed to get further away.    We will be visiting that museum tomorrow after the city tour.