We made it!

At long last, we have finally arrived in Nantes. What a trip! After arriving this morning in London we thought for sure 2.5 hour layover would be plenty of time to make it to our connecting flight. It was enough, but just barely. Compared to the super awesome tram at Dallas Fort Worth, London Heathrow had a cramped bus that drove quite carelessly on very sharp curves. Took forever to get to the next terminal. Then through England's version of TSA. One bag search later, we finally made it to our terminal. The flight to Paris was short and uneventful. Then we had to catch another bus to the airport train station. I think it took at least 30 minutes, including a 10 minute employee smoke break for the driver. Everybody smokes here! Everywhere. Right in front of the train doors. Everywhere. Guess I've gotten used to our nice non smoking culture in the US. So then I had to figure out how to print out our new train tickets since we missed the early train we had originally scheduled. Luckily the French have invested in some good automated technology so that wasn't so hard after I figured out which kiosk to go to. The tricky part is doing this and not looking like a tourist. I'd say mission accomplished since people have asked me things in French along the way, and I successfully shooed a squatter out of our assigned seats. The train ride was fast (speed) but very long. These weary travelers just want to be in a room with a bed. At the Nantes train station I had to figure out how to get some Euro coins to buy tram tickets from the machine that didnt take bills, and didnt like our credit cards. Phew! We're now in our hotel room and ever so thankful for a bed to lay on and a shower. Our plan tonight is refresh, find food, then to bed for our first real nights sleep in I don't know how many hours. This is going to be a fun trip, but man did it ever take an effort to get here! Good thing is, so far i speak good enough French to fool people into thinking I know more than i do. If only I could understand their responses! Hotel lady spoke to me entirely in French, and I understood most of it. We are getting by ok in that sense. Goodnight for now. Got some relaxing to do.

Made it to London

We're at London Heathrow waiting for our connecting flight to Paris.
We're just a bit tired. Our patience level is rather low at the moment. It's 4 am our time I have not slept a wink. Packed like sardines in the new 777-300 and the lady next to me kept shifting all night long. Nice plane, though! Brand new. Amazing 1st class if you can afford it. Got some coffee so I think we'll survive the rest of the trip to Nantes. Looking forward to a shower!

We're going to London!

Our flight to Boston was cancelled due to a brake issue mechanics could not fix. We missed our connecting flight to Paris, so we're headed to London instead... And then on to Paris. A very nice AA employee set us up on our new flights. So the airline isn't all bad, just mostly. Next it on the agenda, get new rail reservations for 5 hours later. We're still going to make it to the wedding with time to spare!
Next item after that, a cold beer perhaps.
Next check in hopefully we'll be in London or Paris!

Never flying American again.

Ever.

Oh the joys of traveling

At Dallas airport waiting in standby list for oversold earlier flight to Boston. Our flight is delayed and we might not make our connection to Paris. Hoping and praying we make it on time to catch our train to Nantes! The joys of traveling!

Packing!

I did it! One carry on bag here I come!
Packing light this time and I mean it. :)

Getting ready to go!

Today I've got a list a mile long of things I need to organize and wrap up before we leave Wednesday morning. I'm working on getting our rail passed in order by date do they are easy to find.
Next up, picking my outfits (we're packing very light!) and cramming as many 1oz bottles in a quart sized bag as possible. Should be a good challenge! Check in later for more prep updates.
Keep in touch!
Love,
Nat