In Which We Survive

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In Which We Are Sick as a Sick Dog

 

So, mrpeenee, what adorable souvenir did you bring back from your trip to London and Paris?  Two of them actually: a bookmark from Air France and a bad head cold from London.  The very nice flight attendant in our cabin gave the little bookmark to Diane and she gave it to me; I don't know why I didn't get one directly, maybe I just don't look literate.  I can see how that could happen.  Coincidentally, R Man and I used to collect bookmarks on our travels.  They're easy to transport, and the gift shops in museums would often have very cool ones as a memento. We wound up with several leather ones or fancy graphics ones and I still have the world's largest collection of them in private hands.

The collection, in situ, marked and ready to rock

As for the cold, I suspect it got an early foothold from the vent in my hotel room in London blowing directly into my face.  Then, not one, but two days stuck in the massive petri dish that is Heathrow Airport just sealed the deal.  When I finally tottered back into my apartment on Thursday evening, I felt pretty knackered, but I thought that was just the traveling catching up with me.  By Saturday, I threw in the towel and admitted I was sick.  I have spent the week since then dealing with every symptom you can conceive of.  The volume and range of excrescence my body is generating has been genuinely impressive and my coughing has become less of a symptom and more a way of life now. 

Whenever I'm sick, my voice drops several octaves.  My timbre these days is very similar to that of the fine American actress Miss Kathleen Turner, if Kathleen Turner were in the last stages of the Black Death.  I'm not even convinced my voice is audible to humans anymore, it probably just shows up on some Richter scale reading somewhere.

The cats remain very attentive, I think they can sense there is something wrong with me, more so even than usual.  Although I suppose it's possible they're just trying to get first dibs on eating my corpse.  I'm feeling better today, but just remember if they find my cat mangled dead body, I request a non-denominational funeral at sea with a military band playing the classic "Funkytown." 

Guys who could make me feel better:

Asstastic

Snuglly.  I looked up that spelling twice and I am still not convinced of it.

Cheese it, the cops.

Gotta love them gingers.

Getting this post up used up all my energy allotment for the day, I'm going back to bed.

In Which We Wander

Diane von Austinburg and I both remarked at times on this trip to Paris and London how very easy it has been.  And it truly was, right up to the point when it wasn't. The last day of our trip, we left the hotel with plenty of time, I fumbled through check-in, said goodbye to Diane, who was on a separate flight, and settled into the very fancy first class lounge, because I am a fancy boy.  It was all very nice, quiet and well appointed. 

The problem was it was just a little too comfortable.  After I found my fabulously cozy chair and started reading a very interesting book I had saved for this very purpose, I sort of lost track of time.  Actually "sort of" is an understatement; I completely lost track of time.  That's what reading will do to you.  When I finally looked up I realized I was in real trouble.  I had to scramble out of the rarified atmosphere of first class and down through a train ride to another terminal where I found the gate had closed at 2:55.  The time was 2:58.  Oops.

So then I had to drag myself off to customer service (everybody's favorite department) with my tail between my legs and admit that I had missed my flight for no better reason than that I am an idiot.  The lady at the desk was very nice and refrained from passing along to the ticketing agent the insight I had shared about my absolute lack of mental ability, and got me a ticket for the next day.  And how much did that cost you, mrpeenee?  Let us not dwell on such sordid details and just file that under the heading of A Lot.

Diane had mentioned that Terminal 5 of Heathrow Airport is the largest freestanding building in Great Britain, and I am here to confirm that, having dragged myself across every square fucking inch of that fucking building.  Of course the gate where I missed my flight was on the other side of the airport from where I needed to go to rebook my ticket which was then back across from where I needed to go to be "escorted out" since having gone through security I couldn't just wander off into the wild world. Heathrow airport is actually a very large shopping mall with various airport functions scattered in hither and yon.  All the directions I got for where I needed to go were couched in terms of consumerist landmarks, "Customer services is next to Starbucks," "Have a seat across from Chanel and we'll call your name." By the time I had crossed and recrossed the whole damn place my feet hurt, I was sweaty, and all too glad to collapse in the Heathrow Sheraton.  I can recommend their spaghetti bolognese.

The next day I went back through the whole thrilling adventure of getting through the airport and actually boarding the plane.  The only rough patch was the gate where three different flights were boarding simultaneously and a riot seemed imminent.  It was the most chaotic scene in an airport I've ever witnessed, and I've flown Southwest out of New Orleans when everyone, the ticket agents, the crew, the passengers, everybody, was drunk.

But I got home, hooray, and the cats are very glad to see me.  Toby has spent most of the last 24 hours standing on my head to celebrate.  I know every time I leave on a trip when I get back I announce firmly, "I am never leaving San Francisco again," but this time for sure.

There's no place like home, and no guys like naked guys:

How I could have used some of this as I was crying myself to sleep in the Heathrow Sheraton.

It all turned into a very long day of Not Getting Home.

Plus I had to then admit my shame to everyone, Diane, my friends taking care of the cats, the staff at the airport and hotel, that I missed my flight because I wasn't paying attention.

At least the British Airways guys were professionally polite, my "friends" were exactly as supportive as you would expect.  They all laughed.

It makes me realize there is no future in human friends; it's all AI from now on for me.

You think traveling in first class would remove you from the hoi polloi, but I am here to tell you there is no escape.  That mob at the gate I had to fight my way through was the hoi-est polloi you can imagine.

One of the things I'm reminded of whenever I travel is that people smell bad.

Also, I don't know how we managed to travel without phones, back in the dark ages.

In which we get lost

 

As I was struggling to button up my pants last night, I thought "I need to ease up on the old calories," after which I promptly went out for a lavish dinner. I blame those damn croissants; it's all French weight, Paris pounds.  Yes, Diane von Austinburg and I are once again in Gay Paree.

So what's up with this trip to a center of civilization and culture? What have I done while visiting one of the great cities of the world?  I have eaten.  Eaten and eaten and eaten, such delicious foods.  We visited a couple of museums and parks just to give me some plausible deniability that all I did here is stuff my greedy face.  Even when we went to the museums, the cafes there were an important part of the experience.  At the Institute of the Arab World for instance, I had a delicious exotic lunch of a green salad with olives and feta and watermelon in it.  I would like to imply I'm just doing this to keep my strength up, but actually I'm just a pig when it comes to good food.

Last night we had dinner at a joint called the Beef Bar.  That's not a translation, that's it's actual name.  Man, was it a gorgeous room, all Art Nouveau tile

Of course it's not all lavish lunches and dinners, there are also tasty breakfasts to consider.  Come with me as we go out for a little morning pick me up. 

The cafe half a block from the hotel called the Saint Regis.  

Diane and I went out to see Notre Dame and Saint Chappelle yesterday.  Our hotel is only a couple of blocks from there, so we strolled over, la la la, only to be confronted by an enormous line waiting to get in.  It looked like a goddamn Mardi Gras parade.  I would have thought it was a well-behaved mob except everybody was facing in the same direction.  I could tell Diane knew I was immediately ready to flee since I have no patience for standing in line and I also realized once I finally got through the line I would have to be stuck inside with all the people who had formerly been in front of me.  She suggested instead that we try Saint Chappelle and come back to Notre Dame later.  I agreed, we headed over there and guess what we found?  ANOTHER ENORMOUS LINE.  That was when I abandoned my dear friend and came back to the hotel. 

In my defense, I have seen both of them more than once and while I think they're beautiful and interesting and important, I'm just not willing to be herded along with a few hundred strangers.  Diane later told me the line for Saint Chappelle was so slow she eventually gave up on it, but then was able to get into Notre Dame pretty easily and liked it.  So she got to see an important monument to Western Civilization and I got to have more coffee.  It was a win-win. 

We are headed off shortly for the train to London via the tunnel under the English channel.  I'm looking forward to London, and the train ride, but I always am sorry to bid adieu to Paris.  And especially to the shower in this hotel.  Adieu, Mon douche, adieu.