Paris - Getting there!

We were all pretty excited to begin the trip we'd been planning for almost a year.  We were packed and ready to go early on the morning we left.  Our flight didn't leave until almost 3 pm, but because security at airports had tightened since Christmas Day, we decided to get to the airport early. 

We met Melinda and Brad at the airport just as they were getting the tickets for our flight....first to DC, then to Paris.  It didn't take long, so we moved on through security and headed to the bar!  Time for Bloody Mary's and a couple of post trip pics!

The trip to DC was pretty uneventful....I mean, how much can happen during a trip that lasts less than an hour!?  We were a little concerned about making our connecting flight because there wasn't much time to get from the domestic terminal to the international terminal, but we were worried for nothing....piece of cake!

The trip from DC to Paris was....uhhh.....it was looooong!  There were several movies to watch, but none that really interested me.  We were in the "economy" section, which meant our knees were right up at the seats in front of us.

I'll go ahead and tell you now that we were lucky enough to get Economy Plus seats on the way home....5 inches more room and it was WORTH IT!!!

We arrived in Paris at 6:30 AM Paris time....Brad had no problem getting his "snooze on"....Melinda "snoozed" a little and Dennis and I "snoozed" not at all.  Dennis was seated by himself four rows in front of us....had a great seat, but not so great a seat mate.  But once we landed, there was plenty of adrenaline to keep us all going.

We had arranged a taxi with the company that rented us the apartment and were happy to see him when we arrived.  He loaded up our luggage....

....and we headed into the city......just in time to miss the traffic rush hour! 
But we were a little earlier than we were expected, so our "greeter" was about 30 minutes behind us.  The taxi driver dropped us (and our luggage) off at a cafe down the street from our apartment where we tasted our first cafe au lait!!!  Ummm........ div="">

It was raining and it was cold......the cafe hit the spot!  But before we were finished our "greeter" came through the doors to "greet" us.  He went ahead of us to make sure the heat was on in the apartment while we finished our warm drinks, then joined him.

The apartment looked just as we'd expected......it was actually a little larger than I'd thought it would be, but just as special!  I was soooo excited, especially once I had a minute to go through the wonderful kitchen!

We unpacked our bags and then decided to hit the streets of Paris?  Sleep?  Who needs sleep????

Next up.....our first day on the streets of Paris!