Rats in a Cage...

Lisbon, Portugal

November 23, 2007
N38°42.460
W009°08.203

Lucky for us, France’s train strike was temporarily resolved, since we had to catch a flight and had to rely on the trains to get us to Charles de Gaulle for our 11:45 AM flight. We boarded the Metro and transferred at Gare de Nord station. After we navigated our way through some changes to the lines, we boarded the train for the airport with plenty of time to spare.

One small problem… when we switched trains at Gare de Nord we forgot to buy another ticket, half thinking the single trip ticket we just bought would work. When we arrived at the airport, everyone exited thru to turnstiles, but we were stuck inside the Plexiglas walls. There was a sign above the exit turnstiles that said “this ticket not allowed” with a picture of the ticket and a big red slash through it. We looked down at our tickets and knew we were in trouble—they were an exact match!

A little frantic, we went from turnstile to turnstile, and tried our tickets several times, but knew it wouldn’t make any difference. We would somehow have to talk our way out of a fine with the SNCF authorities. The good news for us, I guess, was there wasn’t a single SNCF employee to be found anywhere in the area. Maybe somebody forgot to tell them the strike was over and it was time to get back to work.

As we stood alone in the glassed area like rats in a cage, a nice French man noticed our situation and pointed us to an exit at the far end of the turnstiles. He motioned for us to push a button and move into what appeared to be a handicapped exit gate. I pushed the button and a set of Plexiglas doors opened and we stepped forward into the small space. Once we move forward the doors behind us slammed shut, it now appeared we were going to be trapped in an even smaller area… But the panic was only momentary, the guy pushed the button on the other side, freeing us from the maze and escaping a steep fine from the train authorities. We thanked him profusely and quickly made our way out of the station to hoping to avoid any more attention.

As we descended into Lisbon, Marc noticed a bridge over the Rio Tejo that looks like an exact replica of the Golden Gate Bridge. He turned to me and said, “I think this is going to be a cool city.”

We weaved our way through the hilly cobbled streets of the city; excited to explore a new city after being in familiar territory for the last two weeks. The famous pedestrian street, Augusta, was already lined with lights, bells and garland in anticipation of Christmas. We dodged locals as they zipped from shop to shop, stopped to listen to a trio playing mandolin, accordion and stand-up bass, paused to watch a few street performers attempting to make a couple Euros and finally made our way down to the Arco da Victoria and the waterfront.

When dinnertime came around we choose a local favorite, Uma, known for their rice and seafood soup. The dish was made to order as we heard the chef cracking crab, shucking oysters and cooking shrimp in the nearby kitchen as we snacked on some bread and local cheese. The boiling pot of rice and generous portions of shrimp and crab was brought to our table. We got to work digging through the seafood to find all the good stuff while enjoying the tangy flavor of the rice. The specialidad de casa combined the best flavors of Spanish Paella and Cioppino; however, the sauce didn’t have any saffron, had a slightly spicy tomato flavor and a delicate fish broth married the flavors. It was a lot of fun working our way through the rice to find the pieces of crab, muscle, salmon, oysters and shrimp.

Tomorrow we will try another local specialty—the mini custard pies.

Back in the Mode...

Paris, France

November 21, 2007
N48°51.581
E002°17.512

Our flight back to Paris was much easier than our flight home from Paris. We had better seats, a shorter layover and the entire trip took just a little over 14 hours as compared to 21 hours on the flight back to San Francisco. Yes, we’re back on the road, but this time I think we both have some mixed emotions.

Before we left Sacramento on Monday, Marc turned to me and said he now understood how I felt getting back on the plane for Saigon in early July. The emotions are mixed—we know we have a lot more to see and a lot more to be excited about; however, we just spent 12 days in comfortable surroundings with family and friends. To go back on the road, to more unknown areas, exiting our comfort zone, is hard to do right now. At least we’re coming back to Paris, a beautiful city, instead of Saigon where traffic, scooters and overall chaos reigns. The transition back to “travel mode” should be easier.

I think the lesson we have to take away from our trip back home is how important family and friends really are in our lives. We knew this before, but sometimes we take them for granted.

As I sit in our room in Paris, unable to sleep, our families are busy preparing for Thanksgiving dinner. We had ours early, on Sunday, with my Mom, sister and nephew, but today as we sit down to our Thanksgiving/Anniversary dinner in Paris we'll have to give special thanks to our terrific extended family and friends—you are all very important in our lives and we thank you.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Love,
Marc and Laura

A Fast Drive Through the Valley...

Hughson, California, USA

November 13-19, 2007
N 37°35.815
W 120°51.450

After a week in the Central Valley we put over 700 miles on our car, almost all of them on Highway 99. We shuffled back and forth between Hughson, Modesto, Turlock, Selma and Oakdale. At times I drove alone, navigating the unfamiliar country roads like a pro; picking up last minute items for the wedding and running errands.

The time went by quickly and Saturday, the wedding day, was upon us in no time. I spent the day with the bride, maid of honor, bridesmaids and mother of the bride as Lisa beautified herself for her special day. Meanwhile, Marc was with his brother and some of his buddies watching football, relaxing, and drinking beer, as Joel mentally prepared for the big day.

As we always say, “a little planning goes a long way.” The well planned wedding went off without a hitch. The bride was beautiful. The well written vows were thought provoking and even caused me to tear up a little and Mike T. did an excellent job as the ordained minister (from the Internet church).

Fun was had by all. The kids danced until 10:30 PM, two ladies took sexy pictures as they ate their chocolate covered strawberries in front of the chocolate fondue fountain and the speeches and toasts were fairly short and the crowd got into them.

Overall, the whirlwind trip home was well worth witnessing the union between Joel and Lisa, and we were honored to be an integral part of the festivities. We wish the best for Mr. and Mrs. Joel and Lisa Heckman. Plus, we can all spend our anniversaries together.

Now we need to get back to Paris and get a little rest!

Fall in the Valley...

Hughson America

November 14, 2007

N 37°35.815
W 120°51.450

Note: We were able to recover the majority of the data from our laptop with the help of Moses Rogers from CST (Computers, Software, & Training) in Modesto, CA. Here’s a story that was in the works when the computer decided to poop its pants.

Highway 99 was originally built to aid the small towns of the central valley with the transportation of agriculture, keeping Interstate 5 available for through traffic from Sacramento to LA. Today the small towns are now big cities and the two lane highway is packed with traffic at all times of the day, and the agricultural trucks chug along in the slow lane as cars zip in between. We timed our drive along the busy thoroughfare between Sacramento and Hughson perfectly—the traffic flowed the whole way.

As we exited Highway 99 in Ceres we immediately noticed the fall colors on both sides of the rural road to Hughson. The peach trees, empty of fruit, proudly displayed leaves of crimson red, burnt orange and sunshine yellow, knowing it is only a matter of days before they are completely barren. We realized we haven’t been to the Central Valley this time of year in awhile—we always come for Christmas and miss the fall colors.

I pulled over on the side of the road for Marc to snap a few pictures of his childhood stomping grounds and summer employment—the peach and almond fields. The sun shined brightly on us as we continued our short trip to Dad and Pat’s house.

When we arrived, Dad and Pat weren’t home, but there was a note on the door inviting us inside and to make ourselves at home. We felt like we stepped back in time, a time when it was safe to leave your doors unlocked when you weren’t home, and there were no problems. It was very refreshing.

As we relaxed in the backyard, on an unusually hot day for November, we looked at each other knowing it would be one of our last opportunities to enjoy the valley sun. The wedding festivities would keep us busy through Saturday night and, most likely, into the wee hours of Sunday morning.

We wish the best for Joel and Lisa on their wedding day!