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When I started my retirement travels in 2009, I wanted a way to share it with family and friends as it was happening. Hence, "My Travel Journal". However I realized I wouldn't always be on a trip and wondered what to do with the blog in between times. My daughter pointed out, wisely, that travels can also include trips to the kitchen to try a new recipe, trips to visit family, trips to my neighborhood Starbucks, or a fun day trip with a friend. You're welcome to join me on any of these journeys! I've set up individual pages for each of my major trips (see tabs above).

Also, I have an Etsy shop where my current needlework resides. The last pieces I posted here were in 2013! So if you'd like to see what I have accomplished recently, go to (and I apologize for having to copy and paste):

www.etsy.com/shop/thedollhouseneedle

I recently added an "Italian Word a Day" thingie which shows up at the bottom of every page. You see the word and can click to hear it pronounced. I've been enjoying it and I think my accent is improving as time goes by.

May 10, 2012

Pretend I posted this Wednesday night...

I typed it up while flying to Nice and then discovered I couldn't get on line on an international flight.  So here it is now (having just landed in Nice).

I know I said no more posts til I was in France, but, hey - I've got 7 hours to kill!

I've had some stressful moments because of 45 minute connection time I had.  The DC to NYC flight got in the air later than the departure time and then when we got to NYC we had to wait out on the runways cause there were no gates.  Then I had to go from the terminal we came into to the next terminal over.  I fell rushing up a flight of stairs and skinned up my knee but things finally began to look up.  When I got to my terminal, I saw signs for gates 1-16 and my gate was 15 and I thought "oh great - I will be way down there at the end of the terminal!"  Then came a sign directing gates 1-4 to branch off to the right and believe it or not, the next gate was 15!!!  So I even had time to get to the restroom and get a bandaid for my knee and once on my flight  I decided from here on out it was no more worries.  And my Dove dark wrapper agreed.  Incredibly enough this was the message on it:

"At this moment, you are exactly where you are meant to be."

How neat is that?  And the seat beside me stayed empty and stayed empty and I kept thinking "close the doors, close the doors" and they did!!!  So I now have the two seats to myself.  A very auspicious beginning.

We left probably 30 minutes or more later than scheduled but I don't care about that either because when I DO arrive in Nice, I have to waste time waiting until check-in time for  my room. 

Right now it says we are 7 hours away from our destination.  Tried watching a movie and listening to music and don't know how people can stand it.  The plane noise is so overpowering that even though you can hear what's coming through the earphones it's more annoying than pleasant.  Plus which of course, in economy, the screen for the movie is about 12 - 15 inches in front of your face.

I'm waiting for food and a nice glass of wine now and then will probably read for a bit and maybe play some solitaire on my new, 10-hour battery life netbook.  I brought a cross-word puzzle book and a pencil and went to make some notes for my first post and my pencil is out of lead.

Wow,my nifty flight data screen tells me it's -51 degrees outside (probably about -10 inside!!) and we're flying at 33,006 feet which is, what?  about 6 miles, maybe?  Oh, and we're flying at 588 mph, have a 64 mph tail wind (which should sure help get us there on time) and have now gone 302 miles with 3,679 more to go.

And that's all from Mary Lynne in the sky without diamonds. :)

5 comments:

Christopher said...

So glad to see a post, and know the trip is officially started... And glad that your knee wasn't badly hurt either. Enjoy! Have a great 3 weeks, and I look forward to the posts & pics.

Chinch said...

Too bad about the skinned knee but LUCKY, LUCKY you for the two seats to yourself. Can't wait to hear how your digs are in Nice and do home that someday you'll remember to let me know where you're going to be. :) Here's hoping the entire rest of your trip is filled with "here's where you're meant to be" moments. xoxo

Mary Lynne said...

And just so my poor family doesn't feel like they're the only ones who post comments, here are several e-mails I received this evening (which I was very happy to see - I seem to really want that contact when I'm overseas!)

Heather (my daughter) said:
Glad you made it safely. Looking forward to seeing you there soon. Love you. ...

DI from Arizona said:
Have an awesome trip Mary Lynne. I'm looking forward to all your pics and stuff.


SARAH from Etsy said:
You're now in France! YAY! YOU ARE A LUCKY DUCK:)) I'm serious---would love to be there, too! Hope the flight was good and you get adjusted fairly quickly from any jet lag. Rest up and then have a blast---can't wait to hear about the adventures!

à bientôt,
Sarah

Jamie said...

So glad the first "leg" went pretty smoothly. Can't wait to see pics of Nice and hear about it. Be safe.

January said...

WOW! Extra seat on an international flight!? That is spectacular :) So glad you arrived safely! xoxox

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