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From Abu Dhabi, a very Merry Christmas!

First, an apology. For my very long silence.

To say the last few weeks have been a blur would be a gross understatement, so I won't go there. I will say, however, that the frenzy leading up to the departure? Nutso.

But here we are. Via Providence. And Paris. And now the Middle East.

I bought and have been noting impressions of our experience in a journal...and there have been many, so I'll share over the next few weeks.

We left Albuquerque on the 14th, Wednesday, and headed to Providence. Where we were gathered up by our daughter in a borrowed car. Can we just say, thank you so much Miss J.D. for entrusting our girl with your super cute Honda. Thank you thank you.

We met the roommates, super sweet girls that are also soccer players and dedicated students. We met the neighbors, super cute boys that clearly adore our girl and her roommates..and with whom the girls have a really nice give and take relationship. This made us happy in a parental way....

We saw the training room, met the bevy of professionals that support our daughter in her endeavors, and were once again pleased. She's in good hands, period.

We shopped at the bookstore for more schtuff...G.G. found a cool new hat that he wore golfing in Abu Dhabi with son's colleagues...

And then we went to dinner at Mediterraneo and enjoyed a wonderful seafood assortment sauteed in lemon butter..yum, accompanied by a yummy deep, spicy red Italian wine...mmmm...G.G. enjoyed a nice pasta in a fresh sauce with seafood too...another yum, and a most delicious culinary experience.

From there we regrouped, then slept...as one would expect at the end of a very very long day.

After a leisurely morning we had a bite of lunch, then met daughter at the train station..where we boarded our NY bound train and enjoyed a scenic ride..the landscape and houses there blow me away. They're so...East Coast, no?

Once we got to JFK, things began to get a little dicey and went all the way into the abyss of Hell before we finally retired to a hotel in Long Island (don't get me started, but all the closer ones were full of other jilted Delta travelers..ahem) for the night. After which we returned to the airport, prayed that our luggage had indeed been transferred from Delta to American (our replacement airline aka British Airways).  And we enjoyed a really nice lunch courtesy of the handful of vouchers Delta dished out at 330 a.m....in an attempt to calm and soothe our frazzled nerves. It mostly worked, but not totally.

At last, long long long long last and a 24 hour delay that meant our stay in Paris was only to be 24 hours now...after a sleepless transatlantic flight..which didn't bode well but we decided to press on no matter what.

So we did. Press on. In spite of absofuckinglutely NO sleep...on an absolufuckinglutely full flight with a burned out reading light over my seat. Really? But of course...

We arrived in Paris at 540 a.m., where we collected our bags that magically had indeed made the flight! And went through the most cursory immigration queue EVER. Thank you France. Right then if we'd been subjected to too much scrutiny? We'd have fallen apart. Just sayin.

So in France...we had our very first cappuccino that was enough, to set off off right...and we had a great cab driver that was charming and funny and in very good spirits. Who dropped us off at our hotel, the Hotel de  la Bordennaise..and declared 'Voila!' when we pulled into the teeny tiny driveway next to the hotel. Voila! We're here...

We checked in, showered, and headed out. Found a great brasserie with the boldest cappuccino I'd ever encountered, that helped us face the day with style and aplomb. And their quiche L'orraine? OMG. I'm changing my recipe.

Anyway, in what must certainly be the fastest ever tour of the gorgeous, charming, historical city that is Paris, we saw what we could. We spent a few hours at the Musee d'Orsay. What a most amazing collection of impressionist art. I could go back every day for a year and never get my fill...the texture, the colors, the comparison of pieces against others in the same school...amazing.

We then trekked to the L'ouvre. Dear Lord. The contrasts...modern, old, statuary, cherubim, the pools..the setting..so beautiful.

After there, daughter and I both hit a wall. Big time.

We made our way back to the hotel for a nap, which took us almost a half hour...of fast walking in very cold weather. But our mouths were open the entire time as we took in the charm and sights that comprise Paris..and then we crashed. For several hours, while G.G. went on to the Notre Dame. And completed the big loop. Which was also amazing, he assured us.

Dinner was late and delicious, on a side street decorated with beautiful blue lit holiday arches over the street...we had croque monsieur, a roast beef sandwich, and I had the daily special of coquille st Jacques...with a nice French wine (Bordeaux). Ummm..Oh, and creme brulee for dessert, of course.

The following morning we had breakfast in the hotel, then headed for the airport..to find that the French TSA group was on strike..big time. And nothing was moving. So we checked our luggage in and stood in an interminable line...that eventually was shifted to another part of the building which scared us, because we really did not want to miss our flight. Really didn't.

But somehow it all worked out. The airlines were holding flights. They knew we were all having a very hard time getting to and through security. They got it.

When we finally boarded we were all stressed out. Totally. But Air France gets that, and served us champagne..then a nice dinner with wine, then dessert and cognac. Bada bing bada boom. I fell asleep. I know! On a plane! For the four hours remaining until we landed in Abu Dhabi.

Where our son was waiting for us.

And everything slowed down, got surreal in a way I can only begin to describe, and became the holiday we had been anticipating for months.

It's all been good. And I have new tan lines that I got on Christmas Eve. No kidding. While enjoying a falafel lunch on the beach to boot. Really.

More later. I'm about to fall asleep again but wow. This place is astonishing and cool and a contradiction in terms.

Merry Christmas, and stay tuned for more updates!

Hugs, Stevie.

Comments

  1. Abu Dhabi! Tan lines on Christmas - envy, envy. Enjoy the sun and the warmth and your family! How wonderful!

    ReplyDelete
  2. The whole entire thing was surreal. In a most fabulous way. Happy Holidays (late) LG!

    ReplyDelete

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