Bonjour et Bises from Paris!

This born-and-raised Vermonter has finally busted out of life in the states and has seen two whole new countries. Well, the capital cities at least. Before diving into the details about the time spent in Paris, I would like to share a little bit about the actual trip. Turns out, each leg was special in its own way.

1st Leg: Burlington to New York City

The actual flight was pretty run-of-the-mill, but I did learn that whatever the flight attendant says goes. A man from the back of the plane wanted to check on his son (about 5 or 6) in the front of the plane. This would’ve been okay had he not done it while the plane was taxing around on the ground, waiting for a gate to free up. Both he, along with the rest of the plane, learned that if you piss of the flight attendant than the air marshals will be waiting to personally escort you to another part of the airport.

2nd Leg: New York City to London

This was a pretty interesting part of the trip made possible by Air India. The good news about this trip was making friends with a cool woman, Philippa, from the UK, who was on her way back from a 3-month stint at a Jewish sport’s camp in Pennsylvania. Now the reason we got to become buddy-buddy was because we had the time to. Our lovely carrier was delayed 5 hours (2 a.m.). So, with 8 hours to kill, a new friend was made.

On a side note, Phillipa and I almost saw a riot go down, as a portion of the 800 or so passengers rushed the gate when the huge effing plane arrived. Philippa seconds that statement. Cheers.

(Picture 1: Phillipa and I, post-Atlantic flight. Picture 2: People rushing the gate when the plane finally arrived. Picture 3: The huge effing plane.)


3rd Leg: London to Paris

This leg was cool because I got to go through the chunnel on one of the high-speed trains and I got to sit next to another cool person. It turns out that his name is Owen Slot and he’s a famous sports writer in London, with a couple of books under his belt. He was on his way to cover the upcoming Rugby World Cup, so we had plenty to talk about.

P.S. After hearing about the games and matches that he’s covered, I’ve now begun to entertain the idea of learning how write articulately about big, burly men knocking the crap out of each other with every ruck.


Hours traveling: ~33
Air Marshals: 2
Near riots: 1
Duty-free items consumed before reaching destination: 1
Baggage lost: 0
Finally passing out on a bed: Priceless