A Comedy of Errors

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"What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us." -Morrow
"Take care of the minutes, and the hours and years will take care of themselves." -Anonymous
"Love doesn't make the world go round. Love is what makes the ride worthwhile." -F.P. Jones

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2003-12-24
See the world in a grain of sand | Heaven in a flower | Hold infinity in the palm of your hand | and eternity in an hour

4:24 p.m.

Didn't think I'd have access to a computer, but I do, so here's a quick update.

Mark, Will, and I successfully left Strasbourg Sunday night and arrived in Paris Monday morning at 6:30 AM after a somewhat sleepless night. The seats, at least, reclined, but the noise that people made getting on and off at each stop kept us awake for most of the night.

We took the metro to Will's hotel, which was near the Louvre, and then wandered around for a while - grabbed breakfast, walked by the glass pyramid in front of the Louvre, around the park, past Notre Dame - and then went to CTS, the student travel agency in Paris, so that Mark could pick up his tickets to go to Toronto...in three hours. Then back to the hotel where Mark picked up his luggage and headed off to the airport; we received a text around noon saying that he had just made it. One down, one to go.

Will's family was arriving around 2:30ish, so we had a couple hours to kill and headed to H�tel des Invalides, where Napolean is buried. We went into the St. Louis cathedral - very impressive, several monuments to soldiers - and then over to the gold dome. It was about 6 Euros to get in, and neither of us wanted to spend that much for a quick gander at the tomb, so we walked in up to where they took the tickets, had about a 30 second look, and then turned around and went out. I defy even Nick to be more frugal. =)

Then, we walked under the Eiffel Tower for no other reason than because we could, over to the Arc de Triumphe, down the Champs Elys�es, and back to the hotel. We met up with his family, and headed across the street to the Angelina Caf� for their renown hot chocolate. It cost 6 Euros but was worth it! Really. It was straight out of Chocolat when Juliette Binoche pours Jonny Depp the hot chocolate. Mmm...

Then, his family (dad Jim, stepmom Mary, brother Drew, and brother's girlfriend Andrea) decided it was naptime so Will and I went to Montmarche where the Basilique du Sacre-Coeur is located. It's the highest point in Paris and you can see the entire city spread out below. It was really beautiful!

We met back up with his now-refreshed family and went to dinner at a nice restaurant. His family was really nice and friendly and I liked them a lot, espically Andrea. We both agreed that Will and Drew dropped about 10 years of maturity the minute that they were back together.

The bathroom of the hotel had a bathtub with a shower hose and no curtain so the result of my "shower" was a very wet bathroom.

Tuesday morning, I left the hotel around 8, and after walking to the metro, taking it two stops, then taking the train to Charles de Gaulle, and finally the bus to the right terminal, it was already almost 10 AM, and my flight was scheduled for 10:50. Trouble! I still hadn't made it through security at 11, and was really nervous despite the fact that I'd been assured that they'd come get me before the gate closed if I was still in line. It ended up being almost two hours late in taking off, but the winds were better and it looked to be an almost on-time arrival in Miami. That was until about three hours prior to landing when the captain came on - he had previously asked if there was a physician onboard - and announced that there was a medical emergency and we diverting to Boston. Wow.

So, we landed in Boston, refuled, and took off; it was fairly quick, only about 40 minutes on the ground. On the way to Miami, he told us the whole story - it was an elderly woman showing definite symptoms of a heart attack and a consultation with the physician onboard and another in Boston placed via a satellite call, the best decision was to land. We ended up arriving in Miami about two hours late, which for me wasn't a big deal since Becca wasn't arriving until 10:30, but a lot of people missed their connections.

I hung out in the airport, bought The Hunchback of Notre Dame in the airport bookstore, ate at Chili's, and then when Becca arrived, her mom's boyfriend took us home. By the time I went to bed about 1 AM, I had been up for 24 hours.

Today, it's errands and then dinner at Morton's Steakhouse. Yum! Tomorrow late afternoon/evening, I'll meet up with my family, and then on Friday, it's off to Central America! Woo hoo!

So much for a quick update. You didn't really want a short entry, now did you? =)

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