Trip to France

 Joel had plan to travel to France for work in late Jan and early Feb. We thought it was a good opportunity for me to tag along and have a little 10 year anniversary trip together before #4 arrived. Joel's mom, Kathy, was able to come and stay with Emery, Lucy, and Andy while we were away. Joel left first since he had work for about 2 weeks. I left 9 days later to arrive for the last few days he worked. Then we planned to stay in Clermont, France a few days then travel to Paris, France for a few days.

My trip began a little rocky. I flew from Greenville, SC to Atlanta, GA on Monday Jan. 27th in the evening. My connecting flight to Paris was a red-eye flight. But, at 10pm after sitting on the plane for over an hour we were informed they couldn't get the air conditioning working and the flight was cancelled. It was a very large flight and it was quite an ordeal getting a few hundred people hotels and food vouchers for the night. Once I finally got to the hotel and in bed it was around 12:30am. I slept ok once I got to sleep, but had to get up early to eat breakfast and make it back to the airport for our re-scheduled flight. At the time it was supposed to leave (around 9am) we were told that over 20 people were missing from the flight and their luggage needed to be removed from the plane. We did finally take off, just as a few snow flurries began to fall. The weather had been predicting snow for Atlanta and I was a little worried we wouldn't make it out before flight started be shut down! But, we did make it! We got to Paris at 1:30am their time. I had a train ticket for the connection down to Clermont, but had missed it with the delayed flight. I did buy a new ticket the night before while waiting for my hotel and food vouchers, but it wasn't until 1pm that day. I stood in line again for a hotel and food voucher. I had been quite upbeat despite all the delays. I was excited for my trip and just glad I didn't have the kids with me through it all! But, by the time I got to Paris I was very tired! When they told me I couldn't get a hotel and food since I didn't have a connecting flight, I couldn't hold back the tears. I think the guy felt bad for the emotional pregnant lady and asked his manager if they could do anything. And luckily they were kind and gave me the hotel and food anyways! Hooray! Again, I only got a little sleep though since I had to get up and have breakfast and shower before taking a cab to the train station. I took the (about) 4  hour ride to Clermont. Joel was still working when I arrived, but the hotel was only a few blocks away. So, I pulled my luggage and made it at the hotel after about 20 minutes of walking. But, I was very exhausted from pulling my heavy suitcases! It was nice to have finally arrived though and met up with Joel! I had a difficult time adjusting to the time change but enjoyed some time in Clermont shopping while Joel finished up work. We also were invited over to dinner by a co-worker friend of Joel's. We had some excellent duck and cheesy potatoes! It was fun to visit with them too. We planned to take the train back to Paris on Saturday afternoon. In the morning we drove around a little bit and also went to a large store similar to our Walmart. After we walked around and picked out some toys and candy for the kids I didn't feel well. It was difficult for me to stand in line while we were waiting to pay. I ended up finding a wall to sit down next to on the floor since I couldn't find a seat. I was close to fainting but luckily I didn't. After that I didn't feel up do doing anything else so we went back to the hotel and packed up. The train ride to Paris was ok, but long. I was still tired from the time change so I rested (but couldn't sleep) most of the time.

When we got to Paris we took a (crazy and stressful) cab ride to our Hotel. It ended up being right next to a train station which proved to be very convenient! We got dinner at a place around the corner and had crepes! Then we enjoyed a raspberry creme brulee for dessert. It was delicious!