young and old

ok, so.....i have so much to blog about our short time in paris, but our trip home is fresh on my mind...and my mind is not so young any more.....for starts, understand that we took the metro from ecole militaire to invalides, and transferred to the RER C line for 2 stops, and got off at st michel-notre-dame expecting to buy RER ticket to charles-de-gaule......and keep in mind that we were inside the system...rather than outside....and thus could find no place to buy actual tickets....and given our time crunch we opted to just get on the RER train to CDG and hopefully pay our way out of the system.....and with time of the essence.....the caisse that sells such passages out of the RER trains was closed....and we had no option but to jump the turnstiles....done with agility i might add......i fully acknowledge that we owe the city of paris 24 euros........we left our hotel at 6:30 for a 9:20 takeoff time....and arrived at the gate with just moments to spare...given that i was the lucky one chosen for the full purse-search and the body pat-down....they even made me send the wallet in my pocket through the xray machine even though it did not send off the bells and whistles......as we stood in the line to board....a retiree just ahead of us started in talking loudly to no one in particular that she could not possibly be expected to stand in this line......but by the time the delta folks had rounded up a wheelchair she had skipped our line for first class....and was already on the plane.....saw nothing of her til we landed.....a story line i will return to..after i deal with the young on our flight.....3 toddlers between the ages of 1 and 2 were within 10 foot of us....and took turns wailing and carrying on....either because they were tired, wanting to walk about, or had ear pressure buildup.....i can forgive the little ones their mania...mostly because i hear the screams and cries on a daily basis at work...and when one of these toddlers was still in our line...and starting to wander past me...i put my hand down about 6 inches in front of her face and said sternly .....'no-go back'.......and this child turned right around and went back.......the folks in back of us commented on how the parents needed to learn the same hand signals.....bless their little hearts.......so let's return to the retiree who could not possibly wait in a line.....she was somehow in back of me when the plane landed.....and was verbally announcing that she had to get to the front because she couldn't possibly walk and a wheelchair was waiting on her and she had another plane to catch.....this was all shouted in my left ear as i was waiting my turn to get my things from the overhead.....but it wasn't until she got really mean and loud that she caught my full attention.....'i think you should move your bag'....she shouted in my ear......'what?' i said....wondering how she could mean me......'i think you should move your bag...it is in my way....' she shouted again....and as i looked down...there was a bag in her way.....but i had only the purse in my hand...and the bag belonged to the person she had crowded in front of.....and being naturally mean....i said firmly that it was not my bag and if she wanted it moved she would have to start asking around.....and that i also had a plane to catch.....she elbowed her way out of the plane anyway...and plunked herself down in the empty wheelchair outside the door.....and then asked loudly to nobody in particular 'who is going to push me to my gate?'......and as we passed by...along with the rest of the passengers she had elbowed her way out the door.....not one person offered to push her to her gate.....but enough of mean old ladies......and young crying babies, and middle aged folks who cannot figure out how to buy RER tickets....we are home, and have clothes in the washer and the dryer...and life is getting back to normal......having had a homecooked supper......wow....much as i love to eat out, it got mighty expensive after 4 days.....and though i enjoyed some of the wine i drank...i enjoy my 5-litre california white in a box at 14.95 a bargain beyond compare.......life is so very good.....