Paris and home -- Oct 22

 It's our day to fly back. Luckily both our flights leave around 4pm so we have the morning. We head out for breakfast and attempt to get a crepe, something still on our bucket list. We find a nearby bistro, Le Franc-Tireur, that has crepes for Ryan and me - a jam crepe and a nutella. Steve gets a smoked salmon and toast dish that looks amazing. So with a little breakfast we are ready to head out. I buy a baguette and take it home to make up some small sandwiches with the meat and cheese we have left in the frig. They turn out to be pretty tasty. We all get one. Our last delicious baguette. It was warm when I bought it!



9bis Rue de Pierre Demours

Greg has us worried about the airport and so we decide to head out early. They have had our street closed for construction but it is now reopened and we think the Uber will find us. He does but not without some searching. He fits all 3 of us and our luggage into his car and off we go. He drops us all at Terminal 2A. Steve and I check in lickity split. Ryan stands in line to turn in his VAT refund papers and then we say goodbye to him as he heads to his terminal. He also gets checked in and is at his gate with no problems. So we have a little time to kill but the terminal is pleasant and our sandwiches, along with some sodas, fit the bill. The American Airlines plane is full and we chose a window and aisle hoping for an empty seat but it is not to be and so off we go. It's a 9 hour+ flight to Chicago. There are two meals, both really terrible, but lots of movies to watch and so the time passes. We land in Chicago with our 1 1/2 layover and get thru passport control, then collect our bags, which takes a while, go through customs after a dog sniffs out the last of our sandwich in the backpack, recheck our bag and dash to our next Terminal. We think we are doing well but have not realized we have to go through security again. We don't see TSA Precheck and so wait in a somewhat slow line. By the time we get through it is 7:25 and the plane is due to leave at 7:40. We dash toward the gate which is at the very end of the concourse. We know we won't make this plane but do our best to get there. Lo and behold! The plane is 25 minutes late and hasn't started boarding. It's a miracle. So on to flight #10 of this journey and we are on our way to Denver. Two and a half hour flight is not bad, and Jim is there to pick up home. Home again. Glad to see our kitty who now has no voice again. But otherwise all is well. We will catch up with Luci tomorrow. Ryan is back at home and we are happy to be back in Colorado where the fall colors are still spectacular. 

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