My last trip to Paris was memorable mostly for the recommendations of my concierge whom, when I said I was looking for good vegetarian meals, made me reservations at some ‘70s throwbacks where I dined on soy and wheat gluten. Tempeh in Paris. Ugh. I’d read that Paris’ top chefs were now offering vegetarian menus so I was eager to return, but this time I would do my homework and arrive armed with restaurant reservations. I turned to the experts for advice - I got Charlie Trotter’s opinion and read Gourmet but mostly relied on my most trusted advisors - the denizens of FlyerTalk. I left for Paris with reservations at Pierre Gagnaire, Spoon, L’Angle du Faubourg and Maceo.

From home, it was a quick mid-day trip into the city and down 101. We stopped first at a deli for some sandwiches before heading to the ParkSFO garage. The sandwiches have become insurance policies for Rod and me - if we come with food, UA offers a vegetarian entrée on the menu. If we don’t have the sandwiches, it’s a salad, roll and hot fudge sundae or cheesecake for us. (I don’t order veg meals because I’ve never been served a good one in any class of service.) There was no line at UA 1K check-in and Rod and I received our boarding passes and headed off to security. I pretty much try and strip at security to avoid the wand, but I forgot about my bracelet and it set off the machine.

The RCC was pretty empty. I sipped a lemon drop and Rod had a beer while we made a few phone calls and waited for our flight to be called.

We boarded the plane and just as Rod was stashing our luggage I realized I left the sandwiches in the gate area when I set them down to get out my passport. I had to get those sandwiches - not only did our meals depend on them, but they were now in, gasp, an unattended bag. If I didn’t get it quick no doubt they’d be evacuating the airport and calling in the bomb squad to blow up our veggies on sourdough. I hurried out and told the agent I’d left a bag behind, forgetting that it had now been out of my control. She quizzed me about where it was and I kept saying it’s right there, six feet away. She let me retrieve the sandwiches and save who knows how many people from being stuck at SFO due to a suspicious deli bag.

The sandwich insurance worked and we had some nice pastas in-flight. The sandwiches hit the trash. I can’t remember much of the flight. Despite years of stubbornly resisting certain pharmaceuticals, I decided to take the better-living-through-science approach. I took a mild sedative and slept soundly.

CDG’s immigration area looks like a zoo – there are about two agents working – but it moves quickly as they simply collect landing cards.

We took the airport bus to the train and the train to Versailles (about $10 each). The Westin Trianon Palace was about five minutes by cab from the station ($8). This hotel had so many favorable reviews on FT that we booked two nights there before moving to Paris.

The hotel is on property adjacent to the palace. It’s set back out of town a bit, but is easy walking distance from most everything. The lobby is small - nonexistent really - but there’s a nice indoor pool and spa. We booked our room using a 50-percent-off coupon and paid $269 a night – rack was $540 and the cheapest I found it for without a coupon was $350ish. The room was small, but nice and overlooked the park. We received a box of caramels as a thank you.

I suspect most visitors to Versailles never step foot beyond the palace, which is too bad because it’s very charming.

Next: Visiting Versailles



[This message has been edited by letiole (edited 11-24-2002).]