Agony of Jet Lag

Jet lag really sucks...nothing like waking up at 4 am and sleep is elusive. I know I need more; there is no way that 3 1/2 hours is the recommended amount for any life form! Thing is, at home I would just get up and do one of countless things; there is nothing here for me to do but to lie here, listening to my husband breathing the steady cadence of sleep!
Returning to Thursday, we landed at Charles de Gaulle airport and were herded through customs like a bunch of cattle, hundreds of us. The whole process probably took over an hour (but I did get a stamp on my passport which made it all better!) Fortunately, because we've been here before, we have a sense of the transportation system and figured out quickly enough where to go to get the train into Paris. Unfortunately, we had to walk and walk to get to the RER only to stand in line again, this time at an automated ticket booth to purchase our return tickets, 10 euro each, each way (remember this tidbit for the future). Then onwards to find the train and take the ride into the city, another 45 minutes maybe. For anyone who has travelled the Paris metro system, you understand the problem if you are also lugging along a 35 lb suitcase. Some stations are kind enough to have escalators, but many have stairs up and then stairs down, depending on your connecting trains.

Yikes!

It's quite an amazing system and once you've got it figured out, its not quite so daunting.

Paris Metro Map

Needless to say, most of Thursday was a blur. It was a real challenge to find our hotel. Unlike the organization of the Metro, the above ground road system can be way more confusing! The roads crisscross, seemingly with little rhyme or reason. Even using gps on my phone, combined with exhaustion, it just wouldn't make sense to us!

Paris Street Map

After asking several times for directions, we were finally able to locate the lovely Hotel Residence Quintinie Square, set across from a park in a more quiet residential area. Since we arrived early, our room wouldn't be ready for another hour so we left our luggage and walked several blocks to sit outside of a cafe for beers for us and a sandwich for Gord. I had nothing left, tired, in severe pain with my left knee and still reeling from the shocking loss Rugby.

Hotel Residence Quintinie Square

Returning to the hotel an hour later, we both literally fell into bed and slept