I made it to Paris.

This is likely going to be a short post today. I've been awake since 6am yesterday.  I figure that is close to 38 hours. I am one tired puppy!

I'll figure out why my pictures are posting sideways later. 

Wore my mask in the flying tin cans. There ain't no bugs in me, I hope. 

My Airbus A350 900. It's HUGE!

Las Vegas to Los Angeles to Charles de Gaulle Airport followed by a long taxi ride (there's a taxi strike today that jammed up traffic really bad) to my hostel...The St Christopher's Inn. 

Home far away from home

My cocoon, complete with locking storage below. I may have as many as 9 roommates. 

I did take some time to familiarize myself with the 2 nearby train stations to make sure I would know which one to go to when I leave for Switzerland on the 25th. 

Not this one. 

This is the one! 

There's no high speed rail from Paris to Zurich, but i do think these will be faster than the ones I rode in 1976. 

Sleek! 

During the day I often hear a police car or police motorcycle go by. If you've ever watched a movie about Ann Frank then you know exactly what the sirens sound like. It's a little creepy at first!

It's supposed to stop raining tonight. I plan to use the city bikes to get around and see the sites of Paris during my time here. 

Here's some random shots I took around the neighborhood.

This train will take you through the Chunnel to England 

McDonald's, Burger King, and KFC are also nearby

A free piano for anyone to play. He was good. 

Cool art on this building

Impressive Smash burger and a pint of Heineken

Enough panic for the day!

Had a panic moment when I got out of the car with my bags, patted my pocket, and realized my phone was still in the car! Fortunately my beautiful wife was panicking about my phone too and was still waiting in the departure lane. Whew! Got my phone, waded through TSA, and made it to my gate with plenty of time. Departing for LA in about 1.5 hour. Hope that was the last bit of terror for the day. 

Checked in and printed my tickets. It's getting real!

Checked in online for my flight tomorrow to Paris! 

Per Tim's excellent suggestion, I will buy a helmet when I buy my bike. That made packing much easier. I've strapped my 2 panniers together and they are within the limited size for carryon. One pannier is almost empty and the other one has everything else. Total weight: 17.5 lbs! Once I'm in Paris I will repack them so the items are more evenly distributed and easier to carry. 

Packing

When I went to Ireland in 2017, I was able to pack everything in my 2 panniers and strap them together as one carry on item.  Seems they've changed the size allowed for carry on in these last 8 years!  So, I've stuffed one of the panniers with most of what I need and that will be my carry on.  The other pannier will have just a few items and will be my personal item.  Sort of a bright yellow man purse I guess. 😁 I will put my helmet in there in case all of the overhead bins are full and I have to check my carry on pannier. Don't want to take a chance on a cracked helmet before I even start.

The size limit for carry on is a ridiculous 22" x 14" x 9".  The panniers are shorter than 22" but I can't strap them together and squeeze them down to 9 inches!

Departure date is getting close!  5 days from now I will have caught my connecting flight out of Los Angeles and be somewhere on the northern Great Circle route to Paris.  Looks like I'll be flying over the southern tip of Greenland!  I hope Canada and Greenland are still friendly airspace by then.

Got my money

The bank was quick to get some Euros and Swiss Francs for me. I wasn't sure about this but they guaranteed me this is legal tender in Europe.