Paris to New York..............

Well, today is the final day of this outrageous five week journey. It is so hard for me to believe that the trip is over and I am headed home today. I got up early, went out for some coffee and a croissant and was off to get the Roissy Bus, which goes from central Paris near the Opera to Charles de Gaulle airport. I arrived at the airport by 12:00 noon, checked in, went through security and was at the gate waiting for my 2:30 PM flight to JFK, in New York.  Everyone boarded the flight early and we took off promptly at 2:30 PM. The flight was uneventful, a bit bumpy at times and we landed in New York after about 8 1/2 hours of flying time, by 6 PM local New York time.  I went through passport control and immigration, and headed over to Hertz to pick up my rental car for the drive home to Rhinebeck.  I arrived in Rhinebeck about 9:15 PM local time, and was quite tired and exhausted, considering the six hour time difference.

Now that I am home, I have to thank my wife Gail for "allowing" me and understanding my "need" to go away for the past five weeks.  After getting up at 6 AM and going to work diligently for the past 37 years,  I definitely needed a trip like this to begin my retirement, and she kindly understood this.  I could go on and on about all my thoughts and experiences regarding the past five weeks in Europe, but I will save that for any of you that I happen to see and chat with personally. I also want to thank the Giger family in Switzerland for hosting me for a week, and making all the arrangements to make my life long desire to attend the Oktoberfest a reality.  I cannot thank them enough for this. Additionally, I must thank my friend Peter in Germany, who also hosted me for a week and put together a wonderful itinerary of places to visit and things to do while I spent time with him.  Thank you so much Peter, it was great.

In conclusion, I must say to everyone, that world travel is a wonderful thing for the body and mind.  It helps people grow as you have the opportunity to meet new people and have different experiences daily. Travel allows and helps people to learn, grow and appreciate the world around them. Let me conclude my latest travel blog with a few quotes:

 “The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page.” – St. Augustine

“Like all great travelers, I have seen more than I remember, and remember more than I have seen.” – Benjamin Disraeli

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” – Mark Twain