"Thank you for flying with us today, and we hope the rest of your travels go smoothly."

I made it.
I am now officially in France!

I'm not really sure how long I have spent in those large containers of recycled air we like to call planes - but I'm home with the Jarlaud family and it's around 7 P.M. I believe.

The Sitka-Seattle flight was fairly normal...always see people you know. Like my dad - we flew to Juneau together, and Jackie and Jo DiGennaro were on the Seattle leg too. I was lucky enough to be stuck next to a very opinionated and grumpy elderly couple, who kept yelling at the waitress “I. Want. A. Doughnut! No, a doughnut! What, you don’t have doughnuts? A muffin then. Fine, we’ll take the goddamn snackpack… no ice in that orange juice!”

They were extremely sociable people, as you can see.

When I got into Seattle, the usual stuff ensued. Check-in, security, wait to board. My cross-atlantic flight was 10 hours long, and a bit cramped. The service was really good – I like flying Lufthansa, but I had a faulty tv screen in front of me, so I was only able to watch one in-flight movie. After that, I read, tried to stretch (with little success), and read some more. Every now and then I tried to sleep, and I think I got an hour or two in. The man sitting next to me was really nice – and turned out to be a fish biologist from Germany visiting a friend who works at the NOAA lab in Juneau. (Keith and JoJo, maybe you know her – she had a very German sounding name and was part of and education program, I think? I know she worked at Aukebay). We had a good time talking fish for a while after that, and then we landed in Frankfurt and I rediscovered my legs.

Frankfurt Airport is, essentially, a large shopping mall with airplanes parked outside the perimeter. And throw in some more security and passport checks. Looking for a Hermes scarf? LaCoste? Yves Saint Laurent? Go to Frankfurt. I spent the next 3 hours in a nice waiting lounge in front of my boarding gate, with a coffee shop right behind me playing Alicia Keys the whole time.

I read more.

Then I got on my last flight, to Toulouse - which thankfully, was only 1 hr. and 20 min long. I slept, then we touched down in Toulouse, and you wouldn't believe what I saw there

Blue sky. I know, right? And I had to take my fleece coat off too! The Jarlauds were waiting there for me - Thierry (dad), Cecile (mom), Camille (my age), and Celine (a little younger than Maggie). It was a happy reunion, and then miracle of miracles - BOTH of my bags made it - and in-tact too!

I spent the rest of the day (got home around 3:00 France time) relaxing in the house, unpacking, and eating French food...YUM. Keith, you will be proud, I refrained from seconds, but I tried one of everything. Foie gras is a taste that will take some getting used to...but the mousse au chocolat didn't need any getting used to at all.

Now I have some sleep to catch up on, and I don't think I'll have any trouble doing that.

Gros Bisous! (Fat kisses).