I Can See for Miles and Miles...

After our horrible start this morning, we got to YVR fairly uneventfully, only a quick detour off Hwy 1 to avoid an accident up ahead. Alison dropped us off at departures, hugs and kisses and tears (my emotions were on overload), we checked our luggage and we killed time till it was time to board. We had the last row of seats at the back of the plane; selected and paid extra for in hopes of more legroom.

My View for the Next 9 1/2 Hours

We left at 2:00, direct flight to Paris with Air France. Even though there were a number of young children around us, they were all well-behaved, if a bit curious of us. Little 3 1/2 year old George, directly in front of us, liked to peek around at us with a big smile and mischief in his eyes. His mom told us as we were disembarking that this trip had gone much, much better than the last one where he had the woman next to him in tears for most of the flight.

Even though I don't enjoy flying, the time actually went by quickly, between reading and watching several movies on my little screen. I didn't sleep but Gord was able to doze for a couple of hours. The crazy thing was that it never got completely dark outside in spite of flying through the night. There was always blue on the horizon, even in the middle of the night.
I love that I can check the little screen at any time and know where we are (although we seemed to be hovering over Reykjavik for a seriously long time!),  our speed and altitude and 'when we will get there'.
Technology is amazing!

Then we were over the English Channel and the shoreline of France with its little fishing villages. Within a few minutes, the lovely patchwork of countless fields of browns and greens of rural France appeared, the seeming randomness of little roads criss-crossing each other. Outside many of the towns, usually set apart in a grove of trees, would be a manor house on acres of manicured lawns and long winding driveway.
As we descended, the scattered villages and towns were now the the suburbs of Paris, along the Seine River, a few with swimming pools. The roads were now highways, busy with commuters on their way to work.