Roaming Rogue

After months of planning, it was finally time for our next big trip: France, Switzerland, Germany, Italy, and the UK. We arrived at O’Hare ready to go and quite prepared after planning the trip since March. We headed to the American Airlines Flagship lounge to take advantage of our access before the flight. We were long overdue for some celebratory drinks and food. I loved having access to the Flagship lounge for our flight. It’s always a great way to start an adventure. The dessert was pretty tasty and added some sweetness to our excitement for taking off. 

Our plans for the trip included Paris, Dijon, Zurich, Munich, Venice, and London. Why had this trip taken almost six months to plan? This itinerary was quite a change from our original plans, in which we were supposed to take two weeks and enjoy quite a bit of France, including the Burgundy region, Montpellier, Avignon, and Mont Saint Michele. However, for work purposes, we had to cut the trip short, so we decided to stick to highlights versus taking our time in one country. Not sure the logic tracks, but I ended up loving our itinerary. 

In addition to the change in plans, we were originally supposed to fly into Paris directly from Chicago, but American Airlines cut the nonstop route suddenly in September, so our flight was changed, and we had a layover in London. The nice part of the flight though was that we were able to fly business, which was quite a treat! 

We started our flight off with some champagne. After taking off, getting comfy, and starting a movie, it was dinner service.

First was a glass of red wine and hot nuts- my favorite! The first course for dinner was a spiced chicken, followed by a garden salad. My main course was roasted chicken, vegetables, and mashed potatoes. I went that route as it was the recommended entree by many frequent travelers. It wasn’t my favorite, but it was tasty overall. Judging by the photo, it also did not look as appealing as I remember. Noted to not order this in the future. The showstopper, as always, was the hot fudge sundae for dessert. It is pretty incredible having an ice cream sundae at 36K feet above the Atlantic Ocean. The flight was smooth and we got some rest. Before landing, we were served an arrival breakfast of an omelette, roasted potatoes, and fruit. 

Once we landed, we spent some time in the arrivals lounge to shower and have coffee. It’s become my secret tip when traveling overseas and taking a red eye. There is nothing worse than landing at 8am in a foreign country feeling gross. With certain tickets, or a small cost (usually not much more than $20), you can get access to an arrivals lounge for a hot shower. It is game changing- I would highly recommend if you haven’t tried. It leaves you feeling refreshed and ready to go. 

After the showers, we had to head to our connecting flight for Paris. It was a nightmare if I’m being honest. The flight was in another terminal, and to get to the terminal we had to take the Tube, but there were backups causing substantial delays. I would imagine many people missed their flight that day. How the developers of the airport thought that not having a separate train system between terminals made sense is beyond me. 

When we got to our terminal, we found out that British Airways actually didn’t have baggage drop there. There are no customer service agents or desks in that terminal for British Airways. Thankfully, because of our status, they allowed us to use the business security line and drop our bags there. We also got access to the British Airways flagship lounge. We spent quite a few hours there because our flight ended up being delayed to Paris. At one point, we even considered leaving to take the train into Paris instead. While the lounge is nice, it was extremely crowded and after flying overnight, we just wanted to relax. 

Once we finally boarded, the captain of the flight came on the PA to announce that because of the delays, they had staffed the flight with flight attendants that were timing out soon and working overtime. Because of this, they were unable serve beverages “for safety reasons”. We were thankful we at least took off. Given our short stay in Paris, we would have been extremely disappointed missing our flight that night. 

We landed in Paris pretty late. By the time we finally got to our hotel, it was nearly 10pm. We stayed near the Louvre, in the central part of Paris. The hotel was so nice! When we arrived, there were fresh juices and pastries waiting for us, despite the late time. We saved those for later, unpacked a bit, and then headed out to dinner. 

We found a traditional French restaurant nearby that was rated well, called La Fresque. We were sat outside, the night slightly chilly but nice after a long 24+ hours of traveling. Most of the people at the restaurant were locals, enjoying a late night out. The restaurant had a tasting menu. I decided to order the honey roasted duck for my entree and molten chocolate cake for dessert. The food did not disappoint! It honestly may have been one of my best meals in Paris that I’ve ever had. 

After dinner, we decided to take a quick walk along the Seine. We made sure to watch the light show at the Eiffel Tower, and just in general, enjoyed spending an evening in Paris. Afterwards, we headed back to the hotel to get some much needed sleep. Stay tuned to read more about the adventures we took the next day!