Tuesday, December 15, 2009

We're going on a Trip!

From DAUGHTER

We’re going on a trip!

On a whim, I used miles to buy a ticket to Europe to go visit my family in France for the holidays. The closest flight I could get to Paris that worked within my dates was Geneva and who doesn’t want to go to Switzerland, right? What I didn’t realize, is I wouldn’t arrive in Geneva until 27 hours and 47 min later. Yes, that’s over a day of travel. But that’s not even my final destination. Once in Geneva, we have to take a tram which takes us to the train station where we’ll then take a 3 hour train to Paris Gare de Lyon. Once in Paris, we take a cab to a different station, Austerlitz, for the local train which takes us to Voves, where my family will be waiting for us with a baguette, cheese, wine and a bed. I start saying “we”, as somehow, I convinced my mother to join me in DC from Houston. I’m still not sure how, but its definitely going to be an adventure now. I keep thinking of Amazing Race meets Planes, Trains & Automobiles. I cannot wait….

Here’s my ridiculous itinerary courtesy of United Airlines:

  • Leave SAN FRANCISCO at 6:41pm on Monday, December 21 (4h 12 min)
  • Arrive CHICAGO at 12:53 am on Tuesday, December 22 (5h 8 min)
  • Leave CHICAGO at 6:03 am on Tuesday, December 22 (1h 50 min)
  • Arrive WASHINGTON DC at 8:53 am on Tuesday, December 22 (8h 48 min)
  • Leave WASHINGTON DC at 5:41 pm on Tuesday, December 22 (7h 49 min)

Meet mom!!!

Arrive GENEVA at 7:30 am on Wednesday, December 23 (FINALLY!)

But it’s not over!

6 hours and 47 minutes later……

  • Leave GENEVA via train at 1:17 pm on Wednesday, December 23 (3hr 32 min)
  • Arrive PARIS Gare de Lyon at 4:49 pm on Wednesday, December 23 (2hr 5 min)
  • Leave PARIS Austerlitz at 6:54 pm on Wednesday, December 23 (1 hr 6 min)
  • Arrive VOVES at 8:00 pm on Wednesday, December 23 (HOME!!!!) 13 hr 30 min

Total time: 48 hours and 4 minutes later

I hate numbers, so my math might be wrong, but you get the picture.

I’m already tired just writing this all out. But the adrenaline is definitely kicking in. I know my mom has taken over the guest bedroom back home with all her luggage. We bought matching suitcases when I was back home over Thanksgiving, loads of books and cameras are ready. We’re going to keep this blog up and try to post as many pictures and stories as we can. I'm also going to try to keep up with my twitter (bmg514). Being a publicist at heart, I had to brand this, so the blog is called MODA-Adventures, short for MOther DAughter Adventures. This is our first “official” adventure (trust me, it’s always an adventure), and hopefully there will be many more to come in the future.

So far, here are the major "considerations," as we say in our normal corporate life:

  • There are extreme snow storms on the East Coast
  • The train stations are threatening to go on strike in Europe (the RER in Paris has been on strike for about 2 weeks already. Eurostar has confirmed they are going on strike)
  • The people responsible for filling ATM machines are going on strike next week

This is just the beginning. Here we go!

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