And Down the Stretch They Come

Friday, 4/11 saw our departure from Disneyland Paris after the girls had a morning swim at our lovely hotel.  The ride back on the RER (French train service) and Metro system took about an hour total so we got to the apartment about 1 p.m.  

After a brief unpacking, Cheryl and I walked to E. Dehillerin, a magnificent cooking supply store where we were on the hunt for a couple of paring knives desired by niece Ashley.  The man who helped us there asked us if we were practicing our French when, after greeting him with the standard "Bonjour", I asked him "Parlez Anglais?"  We stumbled through a few sentences and words and he was happy.  When we consummated the deal, I mumbled "Je apprécier votre assistance!" (I appreciate your assistance) and he beamed back at me, proud of my efforts to speak his native tongue.  I'm pretty sure if we were here long enough it would become second nature.

The weather was stunning, again, and we sat at the adjacent cafe for a Coke Zero and Tonic Water to quench our thirsts after the 15-minute walk there from the apartment.  After half an hour or so, we paid the bill and re-engaged Google Maps for the return trip, with an eye on finding some replacement flowers.  And, in fact, we walked right by a small, tucked-in little shop near our apartment that we hadn't seen before and its owner, Elenio, engaged in small talk about Ohio and the Black Keys once he found out we were from there (as well as Jack White seemed to enthrall him, too).  Cheryl picked some beautiful peonies and they adorn our counter in preparation for the change of shift.

Tomorrow is Jenny et al's last full day here, and the arrival in the early a.m. of son Aaron, wife Melissa, and granddaughter Chloe.  While we were out walking, Jenny took the girls to a park near the Louvre and we await their return.  Dave had an evening appointment at the Louvre so he's probably knee-deep in paintings and sculpts right now.

Jenny had signaled that the girls were eating with Dave near the Louvre before his appointment, so it meant that Cheryl and I were on our own for dinner.  Across the Grand Boulevard we walked and into a KFC thinking how great it'd be to have a KCF thigh and leg.  Mais non!  There were no chicken parts on their menu, only wings and strips to go along with about 42 types of hamburgers.  But, alas, Chipotle, another American favorite, was right next door so we gathered up a couple of salads and just finished them off for our dinner.  They were virtually indistinguishable from what we get in Pickerington.

One small snafu today in our apartment . .  . some of the lights aren't working.  We tried a solution with Airbnb over the internet but it didn't work. They sent an Airbnb rep who couldn't make it work either so we await an electrician tomorrow at 10 a.m.

More tomorrow on the arrival of Aaron et al and what we plan to do with the combined lot of people.  Bon soir.