France Begins – The Director’s Cut…

Saturday, September 2, 2023. I depart The Milan for France at 8 AM. Seattle’s LightRail has been unpredictable for the past few weeks so I hail a cab. The cab was new, the fare system even newer, and the driver was a Luddite like me who couldn’t get his Square to work. I gave him all the cash I had which was enough to cover the fare but not much of a tip. I’m not sure if he continued to pick up fares the rest of the day.

The security checkpoint at SeaTac Airport was 10 minutes which I think is a record. My travel laptop is not holding a charge which is going to make blogging difficult. It also made for a long 2.5 hour wait for my flight, which was delayed. I literally walked off the plane in Vancouver BC and onto the next for my connection to Dublin. Nothing makes your heart race faster than hearing your name announced over the loudspeaker as you are running to the gate.

I arrive in Dublin the next morning. I had attempted to learn a smattering of French but did not factor in Gaelic. I noted areas dedicated to U.S. Customs Pre-Clearance which I haven’t seen in any other country outside of the U.S. I was disappointed that the Dublin airport did not have a bar, but it was way too early for a whiskey anyway.

I got a kick out of the “True Legends” car advertisements along one of the corridors…

I had booked the flight from Dublin to Nantes in Business Class, which was pretty cool. Real food on real china with linen napkins, a roomy seat and a swag bag. I arrive in Nantes and hail a cab to the Sozo, a 4 star boutique hotel in a converted 19th century chapel. I had booked a premium room and was not disappointed. It’s everything I had hoped for, with a stained glass window and vaulted ceiling. Biscuits, bottled water and a coffeemaker, and I even found a personal welcome note on the bed. I admired the room for awhile before heading out to a nearby brasserie for dinner. I made a note of the Yasso Couture sign which was my landmark for finding my way back home.

I returned to find that my laptop has completely died, killing my ability to blog in any detail, do research while I am here, or access the pdfs I had saved to my desktop for my evening reading. I also can’t get my gmail synced. Tech is our friend until it hates us.

My French has also taken a hit. I told a French beggar kid today that -he- did not speak French, although he gave me a chance to correct myself and tried not to laugh as I continued to stumble. It seems I will be adding French to the list of languages I have not been able to master.

My plans for this week include visiting Les Machines where I have a ticket to ride the mechanical elephant, and visit the Jules Verne museum. I hope to visit the Chateau d’Angers to view the Apocalypse Tapestry, and pay homage at the tombs of Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine in the Abbey in Fontevraud. Both sites are about 1.5 hours out of town but I haven’t figured out those logistics yet. I will try to work on that tomorrow.