In Paris

Or more accurately at Charles De Gaulle Airport (after saying goodbye to Sydney :-(). Staying overnight at the Hilton (with points -- supposedly our room is $860 Euros a night --but you'd have to be a total idiot to pay that). It is a very nice room though -- gorgeous bathroom. Of course I cannot post any photos. Because Mark decided to "downsize" and neglected to pack all sorts of stuff. He actually unpacked my cold medicine. And even though I gave him all the camera cables he decided the 1 oz for the cable to download photos to the laptop was just too much for him to carry. I suppose this is offset by the amusement he has provided with his wardrobe. He actually brought only button down shirts to wear -- and not that many. Of course most everything is "disposable" -- meaning he will leave clothes behind. Which I thought was quite an innovation till my yoga teacher said she does that when she goes to India. Quite a yogic thing to do. So now I do it too. Sooner or later I will have some pictures to post. Maybe someone in the group has a cable I can borrow. Or I can pick something up at the airport.

My aircard works great in France but it may not work at all in Africa. We shall see. I hope it does.

Got to the hotel around 8 AM and they gave us a room (an upgrade even though it was free). Woke up once and thought about going into the city. But then went back to sleep and finally woke up at 4 PM. Went to the gym and jogged 5k. Took a nice bubble bath -- used an SKII mask -- which makes you good as new. We did go to the station but it was really all too complicated -- Paris' underground is so confusing after the order of DC Metro. So we walked to Terminal 3 and got sandwiches for dinner. I had a nice cappuccino in the Hotel bar - which cost almost as much as dinner. But it was nice.

I'm trying not to be mad at Mark -- surely he could not have left anything else behind ........ :-). He better save me from any snakes though -- he is after all an Eagle Scout. Sometimes I do not really trust all the Scout laws etc -- I think only Dr. Bob actually believes them. And Dr. Bob is nowhere in sight.

Hope I can sleep tonight. Meeting Akos -- our Hungarian guide -- at Terminal 2C at 7:30 in the morning. It will be like being a child again ... once we find him he will be our parent until Oct 18. I guess here we go -- should definitely be an adventure. Better keep an open mind -- will not be in Kansas by a long shot!