The Adventure of Flying on Points

My dad was so very generous to provide Ty and I with his Air France points. And according to their online system we have just enough to fly from Ottawa to Bordeaux and then Toulouse to Ottawa. The online system, as it turns out, is full of white lies. Why? Well, the number of points for available flights is not really represented on the website fairly. It may say one amount, but it is actually quite a bit higher. And as the very helpful Air France customer service lady told me on the phone, the best thing to do is: check the website and call. Sometimes I feel a bit obsessive about getting the best deal, so her advice is a sure productivity killer. Argh. Fingers crossed.

France!

France. I am hungry just thinking about it. Ty and I are off again on another adventure. We are on the verge of booking all the requisite things, flight, hotels, barge... yes, a barge! What better way to see France than on a barge? Perhaps by bike, but that involves salves and the like.

After much pondering we decided to pass up the see-as-much-as-we-can trip a slow trip. And this trip is going to be slow. Over the course of ten days we will be travelling 250km which is an acceptable distance by Europeans standards but rather farcical in Canadian standards, it is just short of a daily commute for those that live in Carleton Place outside of Ottawa. Anyway, we are going to be popping the check in the mail to join Dianna and Jon Wolferstan on Liquenda. From Moissac to Toulouse we will delight in the fall harvest, a feast for all the senses.

I hope that we can be a little more organized about actually using the blog on this trip and actually putting pictures on it.

Here's a map of places we plan to go. (notice there are no shopping locations listed as places to go -- a major coup on behalf of yours truly)


View New York Trip in a larger map

Our Company

Our company for the trip is called "playmate." Yes, that is really it's name.

The night before

With Peaches tickets near secured, only barring a blind date pick-up at Webster Hall, the New York trip is pretty well on its way to being amazing.

The 5:00am wakey wakey time is a little daunting for me. I like my sleep and without it I am a bit dragonish. Does Tyler know he is driving until we get to Watertown where the McDonald's breakfast will officially start the honeymoon? I never thought that I would ever mention McDonald's and honeymoon in the same sentence, but there we are. Perhaps an indication that I should wrap up the packing and hit the sack.

We are going to have some company with us on the trip, a tiny cooler filled with 2 lbs of cheese left over from Ty's surprise party (which was a raving success). I have images of setting up our cheese lunch on the train, repulsing nearby Americans with our pungent French cheeses. If only I could speak French it would make the whole thing more authentic. And its really about manufacturing authenticity.

7 hours and counting... Will we discover an authentic New York?