It feels like a long time since we left the promise of travel in April 2020. The planning and time and money and anticipation and excitement were just inconsequential in a pandemic world as travel quit simply disappeared.
There was a certain nervousness met with qa sera sera when planning this one. The few remaining credits from patient hosts, who over two years later had nearly lost their patience, had to be utilised. The only feeling I did not want was de ja Vue. We booked some the same and some different.
Different of course was that there would be no cruise to St Petersburg, no summer lights, no Moscow underground. We centred the trip around the cottage in Avignon which had had my mind begging for us to visit since I first saw it nearly three years ago. From the moment the patient host confirmed its availability I was going and I must admit that now I am a day out from getting there I am worried that I have built my expectations up to a point that it cannot possibly meet them. So I try hard to damper my enthusiasm. Aside from the cottage there is Paris and Ville-france Sur Mer with two of the kids and grandkids. There is Sorrento and Rome. Busy times ahead.
As I write this we have already landed. Touched down in Paris and transferred to Versailles. The drag of long haul flying is already behind us. I will not dwell on the trials of travel as I feel to grateful to simply be here so I will keep it short. I am not sure which feeling is worse , when you hop of the plane after an11 hours flight and know that you have to get back on to do another 13 , or when you finally fall asleep on the thirteen hour flight and wake a few hours later and realise you still have 8 to go. There is not a spare seat on either of our flights and whilst Auckland airport definitely had the residual of pandemic overhanging it, Singapore had it masked literally, and Paris it was no where to be seen.
So here we are in Versailles and we wander with our jet laggy minds and our unmasked mouths and we are amongst others who do the same. Today is my birthday and I am indeed a lucky girl to be here in this time and place. The privilege still sometimes makes me pinch my own skin.
