Travelogue – Oh, Those Crowds

Quick note – 

There was a story the other day that Friday was going to be the latest in a series of “the busiest travel days” of the year.

I’m here to tell you… it’s true.

After two weeks mostly in southern France, it’s true what everybody says: It’s crowded out there.

Regardless of what the economy may be doing, people are traveling... en masse.

We take international vacations once or twice a year and have been doing so for years… including during Covid.

Arriving in Hell

On this last one, the flights were packed both ways on British Airways out of San Diego, where there are two nonstops to London every day. Ditto for our puddle jumps to Paris, and then from Lyon to London ... and back home.

Transferring through Heathrow was as intense as always and remains the international version of that old joke about the Atlanta airport – you know, the one that went: "Whether you go to heaven or hell, you have to change planes in Atlanta." Except with security lines when you make that change, even airside and in the same terminal, Heathrow is more like you’ve already arrived in hell.

The river boat that took us down the Rhône was at capacity, with 81 people. It looked like the boats with bigger capacity were packed, as well.

Pre-Olympics Paris

With one month to go before the Olympics, the crowds in Paris were what you would expect. (We escaped the madness in the peaceful Latin Quarter.)

But it wasn’t just Paris...

I took the photo below during a casual stroll along the main shopping street last Saturday in Lyon, a two-hour train ride south of Paris...

And this one, a bit later, on the street most famous for its restaurants...

It didn’t hurt that Cold Play had three sold-out nearly back-to-back concerts over the weekend at the 59,000-seat Groupama Stadium in Lyon, where the rack rate for tickets ranged well into hundreds of euros. (You do the math.)

It also didn’t hurt that Lyon, with its bouchons and Lyonesse cuisine, is known as the gastronomy capital of France.

Lasting Reminder

The best news, cheese and wine and baguettes and pastries notwithstanding... I didn’t gain a pound.

Along with a few souvenirs, the only other thing my wife and I brought back – as it seems is commonplace these days – was a mild case of Covid. There was so much hacking and sneezing everywhere we went that we were bound to catch something, as we did on our last international trip in November.

Was it a cold or Covid? We tested for the fun of it and because we had a big family event coming up this weekend. The red lines on both of our tests flashed boldly the second the liquid hit them.

The good news: Thanks to jet lag, we would have been feeling crummy regardless. When my wife asks, “Is this Covid or jet lag?” I answer: “Doesn’t matter.”

What matters is that we’re back. I’ve already got a backlog of things to work on. Stay tuned.

P.S.: If you want to follow our trip, make sure to check out my wife’s travel blog and labor of love, The Modern Postcard, where she chronicles all of our trips.

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