HOME AGAIN, HOME AGAIN

Well, our last few days are here.  Montse, Grandpa, Ryan and Isabella went into Lyon to look at the beautiful city and interesting and historic buildings.  GG stayed home with the younger boys.

When they returned from Lyon, Montse offered to take us all out to lunch.  It was a bit late, about 2:30, but we decided to try anyway.  Our hosts had a recommendation in their book, so we went down to the riverside to Au Columbier.  The maitre d' was dubious when we inquired about the possibility of lunch, but he scuttled back to check with the chef and returned to tell us it was possible, but we would all have to have the beef special.

We happily, and yes, I'll admit it, gratefully, agreed and sat down to our appetizer of a cup of gazpacho.  Our beef came and it was delicious, tender sliced beef in gravy with mushrooms and mashed potatoes.  We all cleaned our plates and licked our chops.  We really enjoyed the excellent beef, the best we have had in France.  After our meal Grandpa took us home and then took Montse to the airport.

            

The next day we spent cleaning and packing.  The kids had a last swim in the pool while GG washed 95 loads of sheets and towels.  Then we had a bite to eat and as evening gathered our nice neighbor, Damien, took us to our budget hotel near the Lyon airport.

We went to our hotel fairly late because we knew there would not be much to do there and we were right!  Our rooms were tiny boxes with two twin beds and an upper berth and about 18 inches to walk around.  GG hit here head on the upper bunk 3 times!  The three boys had a room and then Isabella shared a room with GG and Grandpa.

We ate up leftovers before we left the house and GG brought along some snacks and bread. The boys came in and got rations of snacks and orange juice during the evening and most of the food was gone before we went to bed.  GG kept two loaves of bread and some jam for breakfast.

The boys vowed to stay up all night so they could sleep on the airplane, but GG and Grandpa and Isabella went right to sleep and slept pretty well.  The boys were fairly quiet, so we don't know if they really did stay up.  They say they did, but I am doubtful.

We had to get up at 3:30am to catch our 4am shuttle to the airport for our 6:30am flight to Amsterdam.  It was dark and quiet as we waited in the parking lot, hoping our navette would show up.  GG was dreading having to use the French telephone system to call and check if it didn't show.  But, good luck, it was right on time and we got to the terminal without a hitch.  Grandpa got our boarding passes at the self-serve check-in terminal and also printed out his luggage tag, but he didn't know where to put the checked bag.

We all got through the security while grandpa went in search of someone who could help him with his checked bag.  GG fed the kids bread and jam and after awhile Grandpa showed up after waiting until 5am for personnel to help him.  

The flight to Amsterdam went well, with a bit of turbulence due to stormy weather.  They gave us a breakfast sandwich to tide us over.

We made our connecting flight with no problem and then we were off on the looooong trip home.  The airplane again had seatback monitors so each of us could watch the movies or tv shows that we were interested in.  The boys did sleep some on the flight, but they all swear that they didn't.

Our flight attendant was an older fellow who looked at us all as if we were naughty children.  His service was speedy, frequent and efficient though, so I guess we should not complain.

When we got to SFO the line through passport control was huge.  It took about 45 minutes to get through.  Thank goodness Yvonne was there to pick us up and take us home.  

We are grateful to our two exchanges for sharing their nice homes.  Our Paris apartment was convenient and spacious and our Anse house was very large and met all of our needs (well, except for some decent knives), so we say thank you to the Delas Family and the Delamare Family for the exchanges.

And finally, it is so nice to be home in our own comfy beddie.

Thanks for following along this year on our blog "Myrah Kids Go to France 2014".  As of today, 8/16/2014, 1065 page views.

Geralynn & Don Myrah Sr