What. A. Journey.

On my last morning in Charlottesville, we awoke to 14 degree temperatures and this:

8:00am

The snow was coming down hard. And it just kept coming. Whenever it snows in Charlottesville it means one thing: Will and I have to get somewhere that day. During the last snow we had to get to Staunton to spend the Christmas holiday with his family. Today, we had to get to D.C. so that I could get on a plane to Paris. (I am a very lucky girl and am meeting my best friend, Sybil, in Paris for a week.) The Amtrak was full and the bus was cancelled. So, we set out. I had a plane to catch. My flight was not until 9:50pm leaving from Dulles so we figured we had plenty of time. We left our hotel at 12pm.

Things were going fairly smoothly- creeping along at 18 mph, low visibility, freezing wiper blades, not a snow plow in sight heading in our direction – until we had to take an exit ramp. That led to this:

3:15 pm  

Tow # 1.

3:47 pm

Tow # 2. Thanks to two kindhearted men who stopped to pull is out, we were on our way again.

In this.

5:42pm

Finally, we arrived in Arlington where we had to swap cars with our friend. (Just to complicate the day a little more, we sold our car today to a woman who lives in Connecticut but was in Richmond for one day only. Thus, we picked her up in Richmond – hence the off-ramps – thew her in the backseat, handed off the Volvo to her in D.C., hopped in a truck and headed for Dulles Airport.)

8:05pm

Windshield wiper blades freeze and snap off on the truck. Hmm. Call taxi services only to learn that they are not running “due to the snow.” Call Air France for the twelfth time to again learn that the flight is “On Time.” Grrr. My wonderful husband managed to snap the blades back on. And we were off.

8:07pm

Somehow we made it! Check-In closed at 8:55pm and I sidled up to the counter at 8:42pm. Phew.

Now, here I sit. On the runway. “You see, it is not summer outside,” the flight attendant has just told us. Thus, we must wait for the de-icing crew to come by. No matter to me – we are safe, my best friend, a bottle of wine, and a chewy baguette are awaiting me in Paris. Good night!

Before landing in Paris

1:15pm

Bonjour! I am quickly running out of battery power, but I wanted to post a few pictures of our trip so far. My sister-in-law’s family’s apartment is beautiful and located just a few blocks from the Eiffel Tower. Did I mention that we are lucky?

Bonne Nuit!

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