I forgot to mention ...

On my lovely adventures, I fly first class.


They give you this nice little case with a toothbrush and paste, lip-balm, hand-cream, blindfold, earplugs, socks, folding comb-brush, tissues and a few other things I don't recall ... oh and a wee packet of mints.

About the second week of December my sister in Paris called to find out what I was doing for Christmas. We had plans to fly down to Buenos Aires together to see my brother. But she was tired; she's an accountant and had a lot to do for year-end so she was staying put. It felt like she didn't want to be alone and neither did I, so I checked online at the Continental website (I fly them because my sister works for them, so it's cheap for me) and thinking that the best day given my calendar was Friday the 21st of December, I'd see what's up. It was certainly a popular day to fly home for the holidays, the work-week is done and leaving on Friday means maximizing the time with the loved ones on the other side of the big blue ocean. Economy was full; oversold by 5. My sister said, just fly first class. She gave me a free pass but even if not, it is only $130 for me to fly first class one-way to Paris (1/2 that if economy).

I had flown first class before - short flights to/from Latin American cities - but never on a flight over that big blue ocean. And I must say it was lovely.

I arrived at my seat and there's a thick wooly blanket and the wee case just waiting for me. Plenty of room in the overhead compartment, wide chair to settle into when a delightful person greets me and takes my order for an orange juice and asks if I want ice. He returns to serve me the drink in a real glass and hands me the menu. My sister had recommended that I get the steak, "It's huge!" With shitake mushrooms it was an easy winner. That's right no one pushing a cart asking, "Wo'd ya like 'e chick'n o' 'e beef?" Nope, four course meal plus warmed cashews with an aperitif - I like a nice kir or a red or white porto, this time I felt a bit tired (up early for my last final exam) so I went with a Perrier. I did have red wine with dinner and snuck in a port with the cheese. The ice cream sundae was rich and heavy so I needed a cognac to rinse the palate. Delicious!

I pulled up the screen from the arm rest and saw they have 300 movies to choose from. I was tired but feeling too stuffed for sleep and what the heck!?! I've got Netflix at my finger tips. I didn't want to spend hours looking at what to watch so I picked the first thing of interest - Harry Potter and the Order of Phoenix - and ordered another cognac. Delicious!

I had replied "Yes" to them waking me for breakfast, so I enjoyed an omelette with lots of cute delicacies. After the full meal from the night before, the fresh fruit got the most attention. The other charming slices of cheese and grilled veal mini-steak were a lot yet looked irresistible. I questioned if I should force myself through the trouble of getting stuffed before arrival; where's the pleasure in that? Sacrifice myself with belly aches just to not insult the chef? Oh, in French there is an expression "you have to break some eggs to make an omelette"; I took it upon myself to clear the plate after all it was clear that the chef had cracked fresh eggs to make the omelette. In my own way I returned the compliment.