Every trip I plan has a theme. And I feel like I told you that the theme of this trip is stained glass, World War II, and cars.
As is often the case when I tell you something, it turns out to be wrong.
The theme of this trip, I think, is going to be Ron’s cell phone.
Our initial problem arose at SeaTac when Ron approached security and failed to remove his phone from his pocket. Flustered by the oversight, he then threw his passport onto the conveyer belt all by itself and walked off and it was only saved by a quick grab by me.
The TSA folk, observing all of this, yelled out “You Two! Over here for additional inspection.” And first they inspected us and then they confiscated Ron’s bag and went through it.
I made my usual snide comments about having to travel with Airport Ron, unpredictable and hazardous as ever and then and… this is where I think I’m really to blame…I sat back in my Delta seat to watch the 1992 smash movie Beethoven and by the time we got to Paris the memory of the SeaTac chaos had been wiped from my mind and my vigilance had waned.
And so, of course, as we sat in the cab, Ron turned to me and said I think I left my iPhone on the plane. And sure enough, he did! So now, he is on the loose in Europe with me for an entire month and I don’t have any way to keep track of him or find him when he inevitably wanders off, which should make you blog readers/relishers of our travel errors pretty happy but might be kind of exhausting for me.
At any rate, we are here in Paris! The picture above is just our requisite quick visit to Saint Chappelle, with my favorite 13th century stained glass panels. Tomorrow we start touring in earnest – it’s the day I finally get into those Paris sewers that have eluded me for years. And there’s an irony here in my finally getting in – because this trip I don’t need to go into the sewer at all to see Parisian waste – it’s everywhere!
The garbage strike that you might be seeing on CNN continues. I’m not going to put a picture in here to memorialize the garbage piles – but they are significant. The clerk at our hotel said that the piles – often 15 feet long and 5 feet high – are a vast improvement from last week when they were about 10 feet high.
Travels with Valerie 
Please write a hypothetical side story concerning what would have happened if Ron had kept his iphone and left you on the plane 😉
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Dear Gern, Delta would surely load me over to the baggage claim area and then, hopefully, someone would claim me.
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Raising a glass of wine to you both-French wine of course! I had a case sent home from my favorite vineyard in Provence last fall. I will think of you and sympathize with your dilemma of how to keep track of a spouse who often wanders off when he has misplaced his “tracker”.. Been there, done that! Sorry this has happened and good luck getting it back. In the meantime, you COULD buy him a cheap phone. They do have them in France😉. Have a great trip and I’m following you with lots of anticipation! If you run into any of those guys from “Les Miz” in the sewers, please do let me know. We didn’t…….
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That’s exactly what the phone is – my tracker!!!! But we made it through today with no dual phones and he’s right here in the hotel with me!!!!!!!
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Win/win for both of you!
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Add the Apple Store to your list of must see sights and buy him a 14 – fabulous camera!
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On the list! There’s nothing like an added shopping errand! Last time we spent countless hours looking for a heating pad with no luck. A phone should be simple!
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Valerie, there is a post on the RS forum by Lola about her DH leaving his ipad on a plane and yes, they got it back. Please check with the airline and lost and found, so hopefully you/Ron can get it back. I hope so, that is not a good way to start off!
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I had seen that! But three weeks later:( We filed with Delta way back in the cab from the airport – nothing found yet:(
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The stain glass is so beautiful and I’m still laughing about all your dilemmas at Sea tac thinking of you every day
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Thank you! I love stained glass so much – we’re seeing a cathedral in a few days that I’ve wanted to see for years that has amazing stained glass!
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sounds like you are off to a great start!!
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Have you been to Chartres
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Yep – we were there on this trip!! I loved it!
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I love the town of Chartes . affordable and manageable and the best Cathedral and stained glass
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