Time in the US

After 18+ months not seeing family (including 10 months in France), we were finally able to return to the US for a visit with family.

Our travel story😞:

The trip to the US was more complicated than I'd imagined, but things ran on time. No real delays. We were asked multiple times for our passports, proof of residence, negative COVID tests, airline attestation, vaccination proof, etc. We took a train from here to Paris ( ~ 4 hrs), stayed overnight at a hotel at the Paris airport, did the 2 flights, arrived and picked up our rental car. Ta da! 

Part of the reason for the train was that the local airport here was closed for a month for "maintenance." There were other options, but we went with this one. Mask wearing was fair in the airports in general, better at gates and even better on planes. We did hear repeated announcements to properly wear your mask while on the planes but we were not aware of any major altercations over mask wearing. 

Returning to France was more of an issue. On initial check-in at the airport we were asked all the same questions again (minus the negative COVID test because it wasn't required to return to France), but we also needed a French government attestation). We moved through security and went to the gate. At first all seemed OK. The inbound flight was on time so the plane was there. We were supposed to depart at 1:01 pm. We weren't really looking forward to a 6 hour layover at the Atlanta, GA airport, but after booking our flights the airline had changed the schedule. We were basically stuck with it. At about 12:45 pm they announced a slight delay. At 12:50 pm the pilots came back off the plane and walked away. At 1:00 pm they posted a 1:20 pm departure time. The pilots returned. We thought, "Oh, good," but it was not to be. At 1:30 pm they posted a 2:00 pm departure. Passengers were starting to queue up to ask questions and try to get rebooked because of missed connections. 

What was the problem? A bad windshield wiper and there was rain between point A and point B. Would you believe airlines don't stock these types of parts or have some way to switch out something? We think they ended up having to have the necessary part driven from downstate. Wow!

Then they posted a 4:00 pm departure time. The queue line was growing. Even at this point, though our actual layover was shrinking, we would still be OK. At 1:50 pm they posted a 6:30 pm departure time. 

With the queue already very long at the gate counter, we decided to leave the secure area and went back to the check-in counter where there was no queue—yet!  It looked certain we'd miss our connection. Pretty much everyone on board who was in transit would miss their connections. [The actual departure? 7:59 pm - we would have missed our connection by one hour!]

After 1 hr and 15 minutes at the check-in counter, we had finally gotten rebooked for our flights back to France— we would leave 2 DAYS LATER! We picked up another rental car and drove back to stay with family for another couple of days. We were whipped at this point. We'd been at the airport about 8 hours. The next morning, B worked to change our return train tickets from Paris. Not easy. He could cancel our original tickets but to rebook, he had a friend help out. We'd left our French debit card in France and it was required to buy the new tickets. We'd also pre-arranged a ride from the train station to home so we had to change that, too!

So, 2 days later we were all set to travel back to France. Our tickets indicated "travel interrupted," so I was mildly hopeful we would not have to redo all of the attestations and paperwork. I was wrong. Full paperwork presentation was required again. On the return, most things went well with the exception of the train. For some reason, our train car was changed and we were no longer sitting anywhere near each other. Really weird but....  

One thing changed between our trip out of France and our return. Prior to our return, a new rule required passengers for the intercity trains in France to provide proof of vaccination or a negative COVID test. How'd this work? It didn't. No one asked for proof. When we tried to show our vaccination proof, the conductor simply said that was done already. This made no sense at all. Making regulations isn't the same thing as actually putting them into practice. The COVID proof isn't required on metros in Paris because "it is too difficult." This statement came from the government.

A few mentions from visits with family😊: 

Though we weren't able to see everyone, we were able to see family in NY, PA and MA. 

In NY we had quality time with family, did some errands, and even assisted with construction of a new throw cover for the living room sofa!  

In MA, we had a stunning weather- moderate temps and blue skies. We spent the our time enjoying family and a lovely garden and lake view. 

In PA, with COVID being ever-present, there were not a lot of outings, but our terrific time with family included a couple of hours at the Longwood Gardens, Kennett Square, PA as part of our visit.

Here's just a few interesting tidbits about Longwood Gardens: A family named Peirce owned a part of the Longwood grounds as a farm for a long time. During the late 1800s into the early 1900s, the family farm changed hands away from the Peirce family. In 1906, Pierre du Pont purchased the farm in large part to protect the trees. A lumber mill was planning on harvesting them. The purchase included the Peirce family 18th century farmhouse.

In 1907, du Pont laid out his first garden on what he called Longwood. It was a place to entertain family and friends. A conservatory eventually connected the farmhouse to a newer building. (You can walk through it today!) In 1921, Longwood opened to the public. By the 1930s, Longwood had grown from 202 acres to 926 acres. Today the grounds cover 1077 acres. There are plant gardens, water fountains, woodlands and even meadows. If I lived near this place, I would become a member for unlimited access!

It was a very hot day so we didn't see the entire place but it was so pretty we had to take some photos. There were red gardens, yellow gardens, orange gardens and so much more.

Water garden.

Meadow. It was too hot to tackle the meadow trail.

There is so much to see at Longwood.

Our drive back from near Philadelphia began as a gorgeous day...  and then the clouds formed...

and then the skies opened up. At one point we were driving through this: 

(Yuck, but we made it back ok.)

Also, while in the US, I got my hair cut (!!!!!) My last haircut was February, 2020, so 18 months had elapsed. My hair hadn't been this long in several decades. Feeling like me again. No more hair bands, clips, pins or claws needed and it dries so much faster.