Friday. At 12:00 noon, after packing our bags, we went down to the lobby where the shuttle turned up about twenty minutes earlier than expected. We climbed right into this mini-van, already containing two of the eventual four extremely courteous Asian men with whom we shared the ride to Charles de Gaulle airport. Our 4:00PM departure was delayed an hour, and after a 10 1/2 hour direct flight, we landed in San Francisco. We couldn't get a direct flight from LA, and so going to and from SF to "bookend" our clandestine journey to Paris, was the best strategy we could come up with to get there fast.
Well, you know what it's like crawling off a plane after 10 1/2 hours. We got our luggage, staggered out to the hotel shuttle curb, and we were almost too numb to realize that our Marriott Waterfront (Burlingame) shuttle was right there dropping off passengers. Our weary, jet-lagged thought process was something like “……the sign on the bus says "Marriott Waterfront" .... that's our hotel, isn't it? Do you suppose we should get on........?.
Well, you know what it's like crawling off a plane after 10 1/2 hours. We got our luggage, staggered out to the hotel shuttle curb, and we were almost too numb to realize that our Marriott Waterfront (Burlingame) shuttle was right there dropping off passengers. Our weary, jet-lagged thought process was something like “……the sign on the bus says "Marriott Waterfront" .... that's our hotel, isn't it? Do you suppose we should get on........?.
Groggily, we got aboard the shuttle, and ten minutes later were delivered to the hotel. Since we were flying “against” the eastward rotation of the earth, it was still Friday. Friday night. We were very weary. When we walked through the front door, there was raucous shouting from the open TV bar area, like a prize fight was going on--of course it was the SF fans jeering at the Dodgers as the Cardinals beat them in St. Louis. Now that they are back in LA, too, we are hoping the beleaguered Dodgers will rally also on Monday.
Saturday The next morning, after 10 hours of sleep, we felt much better. We walked along the waterfront, admiring the large yellow and white pumpkins which had been arranged outside to decorate the hotel landscape. Our shuttle took barely 10 minutes to get to SFO. When Eli heard our Virgin Air flight would be delayed, she lured pup into a Vino Velo wine bar, where she had a “Harvest Flight” of white and rose wines—a total of 3. Pup opted for a single pouring of a New Zealand Pinot Noir based rose that was exceptionally good. We ordered 5 pieces of Tuna Tartare—thins slices of Ahi tuna on a bed of finely minced crab on a crisp cracker. When we finished the wine and food, we strolled back to our gate and discovered the delayed flight had already landed and we were the last to board. We hat good seats, Eli had a window, so we enjoyed looking at the California terrain as we flew the 1 hour back to Los Angeles.
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