joeandwallyseuropeanvacation.docVIP

Joe and Wally’s European Vacation My old friend Wally and I always said that we should do something really special for our 50th birthday. In fact we both share the same birthday, July 18. In March I received a call from Wal, and he presented a generous proposal that I couldn’t refuse. I could accompany him on a tour of France and Italy if I pay my own airfare and buy my own meals. For the meals I would pay him a lump sum up front, and then not have to worry about splitting up all of our meals and drinks. I ran the scheduled dates past Loretta and she gave her blessing. We would depart on May 16 and return on May 31. These dates proceeded the busy season and the weather wouldn’t be too hot or humid. Another huge positive was that Wally had accumulated many frequent flier miles so we could both be upgraded to first class. I decided to keep a running journal of our adventure to share with the family and here it is! May 17 We arrived at Charles DeGaul airport at 0700 after a very quick flight in 1st class. Then we took the shuttle bus to the other side of Paris, and then grabbed a cab to our hotel. This was not the original hotel that Wally had booked online, for the day before our trip he received an email stating that they were canceling our reservation. He had to decide quickly whether he wanted their suggested backup. Not having much of a choice he agreed. The hotel room was extremely tiny and not very clean. In fact, a dog had peed in the lobby and nobody had yet cleaned it up. Wally immediately phoned his friend in Paris, Marie Claire, so she could find us more suitable lodging since we would be in Paris for three nights. Within thirty minutes she found us a room at the Hotel Ocean on Rue Malron near the Opera House. The room was adequate although we noticed that there was no shower curtain, a strange French occurrence that we would see in other hotels. It was now around 11:00 Paris time and only 0500 NJ time, but since we slept a couple of hours on the pl