Our Northwest Europe adventure has begun. We flew on no frills airline WOW out of Baltimore Washington International Airport. Well, northern Virginia & Maryland sent us off in style. The traffic was awful at 2:40 pm on a weekday. Despite daughter Lauren’s best efforts it took us 2 hours to get to the airport. Check in & security were easy. But WOW really means no frills. They charged us to reserve seats ahead of the flight, luggage was 3 x cost we expected to pay, they charged for everything on the plane including water and there was no entertainment of any kind (movies or radio). On the plus side staff was friendly and efficient. Peggy wishes all airlines strictly enforced carry on luggage size the way WOW does.
Customs was simple with our connecting flight in Iceland. After a sleepless night (well, Peggy slept, but I can’t sleep on airplanes) we picked up our leased car at Chas de Gaulle airport. The hardest part of that process was finding the right exit at the airport to meet the driver who was to deliver us to the rental agency. We have a brand new Peugeot that drives very nicely. We did our usual tour of the airport (meaning every back road on the airport while trying to find the exit) and after about 20 minutes we were on the right road to take us to Reims – a small city about 2 hours east of Paris. (Our first day/nite overseas we prefer to be outside a big city while we get acclimated.) Peggy was surprised how well she remembered street & road signs.
No photos today as the view from the airplane wasn’t worth burning electrons and by the time we got here we were totally wiped out. We stopped for a snack along the way but otherwise went straight to our hotel, bypassing several vineyards along the way. Given how exhausted we were, we were afraid to stop and sample any of the local Champaign. There will be plenty of opportunities for that in our travels over the next 2 months.
We took a short nap before dinner and plotting our route to Brussels. We will be staying there with friends for a couple of days. Stay tuned for more adventures. Hmmm Belgian chocolate and Belgian beer, wine, castles and river day cruises – all tough duty but someone has to do it.
Wayne and Peggy
PS
We decided to do a little exploring for dinner. We ran across a shopping mall near the hotel and an absolutely delightful brasserie called the Le Cercle 3 Brasseurs where the food was wonderful and the beer, made on site, was terrific. It was a lovely evening for eating outdoors with no bugs, no humidity, clear sky, great food and drink and, of course, wonderful companionship. Who could ask for more?