Wednesday 2 October
2013
After I’d had exactly ½ hour sleep, from 3 AM to 3:30 AM
we were up and at 5 AM in a private
car for the drive to the Aeroport Paris Beauvais Tille. It was to be an hour and one half drive , but
it only took one hour. We arrived at
about 6 AM for a 9:40 flight. The
driver took us right to the door, and assisted us with our bags. Then he drove away.
Once we made our way through the line to the desk we
discovered we’d been delivered to the wrong terminal!
As we sent blessings out to the Universe for the inventor of
the swivel wheels on our cases, we trudged a block away to Terminal 2.
The flight was, for the most part, uneventful.
We had been seated at the escape windows. This was primarily to give Lar more leg room,
but we were also asked if we would cooperate with exiting duties in the event
of an emergency. Of course we said
yes. The lady behind us managed to spend
the entire flight in a constant state of fretting because Lar wasn’t sitting at
the exit window seat. She kept saying he
would be able to get us out and that I wouldn’t. If she only knew how much better she would be
with me with the responsibility than him.
At that point he was still barely able to move, was on tons of meds, and
certainly wouldn’t have been able to get that window out! At certain points I was ready to open the
window and assist her exit…no emergency required!
On the ground, we obviously needed to walk the full lot to
reach our car. I mean, the more pain you
are in, the less sleep you’ve had…it’s a given that proportionately you will
walk more miles!
Lar got used to the mechanics of the car – I got fairly
quickly used to the GPS we’d rented. It
was easy. You just had to discover that
the GPS had absolutely no connection to the road upon which we were
driving. Nothing matched. It might have been from a car rented in Argentina. Might just as well. No use at all!
As we were driving on a long straight away it would suddenly
announce “take the first right turn”. No
right turns available, no left turns available.
No turns whatsoever! Another of
its favorites was “take the round about.”
No, absolutely NO roundabouts!
Nowhere!
Between the GPS and the equally poorly written instructions,
we were quite thoroughly lost, and to top it off, no cell phone connection.
I had Lar pull into a grocery store parking lot, I jumped
positively out and approached a lady emptying her cart into her vehicle. I figured, “what the heck, I shop too, I’m
another mom and wife, we’ll speak the same language.” Using my microscopic amount of Italian – been
using a tape as I exercise for several months, I asked if she spoke English.
Her helpful response, which had not been featured on the
taped possible replies, didn’t really surprise me, but did leave me with no
place to go. It was “No.”
Believe it or not, though, her rapid Italian accompanying
very descriptive hand gestures did, actually, get us on the road in sort of the
right direction.
After many (read Many, not just a few) wrong turnings and
many more GPS errors, we were on an unpaved road, at one point mired in a dirt
lane in a vineyard, and ultimately at Lucciolaia.
Oh, the magnificent views!
Drove up a graveled hill, through the massive gates and we could just
taste a glass of wine, some cheese, some rest.
However, I still had ahead of me a long, graveled walk, almost straight
up hill, with those lovely rolling suitcases that do not roll on gravel! And then up many steps, lovely tiled steps,
turning and steep.
I slept for over an hour!
Note to self, and to all readers.
Find out if there will be porters when you make those reservations. And it turned out Lar could have driven all
the way up to the front steps. We’ll
know “next time!”
We checked in at the office to ask if there would be a
lunch. Christina, the young woman who
became very special to us and who worked as manageress, said that she was no
cook but she would put something together for us. We sat at the pool and the lunch she “put
together” was far more delightful than we had any right to expect!
Our first look at the scenery.
Homemade tiramisu
One tired guy!
Our room, the Sunflower Room
After lunch, we just sort of hung out, talked to Christina about what we would try to see and do while we were there and rested.
Dinner was at 8 PM. When we walked into the dining room, we were greeted by the other diners, as well as the Chef. They had planned a surprise for our 50th Wedding Anniversary. Our table was decorated with candles, a rose, and a scroll with a poem about love. Such a sweet surprise!
We were so tired we had little appetite, but the meal was polenta with a mushroom sauce, salad, spaghetti, potatoes and peas, Italian ham and steak. And of course dessert! With wine, wine and more wine!
After dinner, I sorted out a bit of our bags, and then I lay down and remember nothing else until 6 AM. The sun was just coming up and lighting our sunny room. I dozed a bit longer and then got a quick shower, dressed and we went to breakfast at 9:30 AM.
