On board now for our Delta flight to Newark airport by way of the Detroit airport. We should reach Newark with plenty of time to enjoy the La Compagnie Air lounge.
The free food and drinks are better than on the plane so we take full advantage of the perk. Hopefully we will be there in time to watch some of the World Cup soccer semifinal game between England and Argentina. My money is on Argentina to upset the Limeys. Every four years Janet and I become avid futbol fans during the Cup. After that, not so much except the Olympics. We have really become seasoned travelers. We work off of packing lists so we don’t forget anything. I have a lot of time to plan and do research and there is soooo much information on the internet. We have learned to travel light, carry-on suitcases and small back packs, to avoid checking luggage and dragging large suitcases on cobblestone streets and trains. We have booked rooms without elevators or elevators that barely fit two people without luggage. Our dog Evie gets anxious when the suitcases come out ahead of packing. It is a great benefit to be able to leave her at our daughter, Weslie’s house with Ben, Leah and their dogs Blu and Lucy.
We have found La Compagnie to be a good way to reach Europe. It is a French, all business seat class, airline that travels from Newark to Paris, Nice or Milan and back. The prices are reasonable and it is nice to arrive rested and relaxed. If all goes well, we will be arriving Thursday morning at 8:40 AM after a seven hour, forty minute flight to Orly airport. We will take a taxi to our hotel, Hotel les Dames de Pantheon located across from the Paris Pantheon. Taxi fares in Paris are regulated so at 35 euros from Orly airport, it’s cheaper than Uber. We always like staying in the older areas on the “other” side of the river in European cities, Otra Arno in Florence, Travestere in Rome and the Left Bank or Latin Quarter in Paris, to name a few. In European cities “across the river” is where the best restaurants and bars are located. These areas that didn’t get developed and retained the narrow streets with character and older buildings and Jewish ghettos, the areas where young people and locals gravitate to have happy hour, apero or apertivo in the early evening before a late dinner and then party on into the night. It is nice because we can visit the rest of the cities then take a rest before our apertivo and dinner. We won’t be up late so he short walk back to our hotel or B&B is a real plus. It’s July so air conditioning is a requirement, a “luxury” not always available in Europe.
I’m not sure if we will visit the Parisian Pantheon, which was built as a church, Sainte-Genevieve, then converted into a secular burial place for dignitaries and prominent government officials, after the Revolution of 1791 . I doubt it will be nearly as interesting as the Pantheon in Rome which was originally a Pagan temple built around 100 AD and only survived demolition by being converted into a church. We probably wouldn’t bother if it weren’t across the street from our hotel. It was converted from a church to burial site for famous, politicians, artists and writers after the Revolution while the Roman Pantheon only survived demolition by being converted from a Pagan temple to a church. This seems to sum up the difference between France and Italy when it comes to religion. I suppose we may have to venture to Greece to see the original Pantheon to complete the circle. We once drove by the Pantheon in Nashville so that will suffice.
I haven’t made any plans for tomorrow. We’ll head downhill towards the Seine for some lunch and site seeing. We may take the Bato bus which is a hop on, hop off boat that cruises the Seine. We can get on and off at different sites along the way on your own schedule. It runs from a little past Notre Dame down to the Eiffel Tower and back. We have learned to take it easy the first day and not plan a lot. We need to see the Eiffel Tower lit up at night, if not this trip then the next one in September for sure.
I had originally made reservations at La Petit Perigourdine, a lively Bistro near our hotel but decided to change and instead visit La Closerie des Lilas, which translates as the Closet of the Lilys. We can take a nice stroll through the beautiful Luxembourg Gardens, before dinner, to the restaurant. It is located about .7 of a mile from the hotel. The restaurant is mentioned in Ernest Hemingway’s “A Movable Feast” as one of the hang-outs where he dined, drank and did a lot of writing as did several other noteworthy writers and artists and ex pats of that period. It is divided into a formal restaurant and a more casual brasserie plus a bar with a stool with Papa’s name plaque on it and a picture over the bar. The menu also has more to choose from than La Petit Perigourdine and the walk up and back is a plus.
Well it’s almost time for our flight so enough for now. Getting to the La Compagnie lounge in Newark airport is an adventure, good thing it’s not our first time finding our way around Newark Liberty, it can be stressful.
