Last week we landed in Paris after a 22 hour trip from San Francisco. The extra fun-time was spent changing airports in London during a 4 hour layover, taking a packed train through Paris' less glamorous neighborhoods and finishing off with a taxi ride to Sophies' cousins' apartment. 
We had a wonderful welcome "chez les Tallepieds" who have a beautiful apartment with a close-up view of the Eiffel Tower.We spent the next 3 days holding court to a steady stream of family and friends, some of whom came from quite far away to see us during our short stay. We even got to meet the newest member of the family: Ivan Riou!
I was hit with the worst jet lag I've ever had and spent most of my days nodding off impolitely, and my nights wide awake in bed, trying not to move or breathe too loudly so as not to incur Sophie's wrath, as she was sleeping soundly.
One night we had a particularly eclectic gathering in the Tallepied's living room which included a fashion agent, aerospace engineer, IT consultant, photographer and lighting designer, fashion strategist/guru, and the two of us straight out of the sub-tropics. 
At some point in the evening we realized that Sophie would be the first woman to receive the IMO's award for Exceptional Bravery at Sea, and the notion took off like wildfire. It was still early and the number of empty wine bottles didn't yet outnumber the people in the 
room, but suddenly everyone was yelling and fussing about the best way to get this important news out. 
Within minutes the French wire services were on the phone, press releases were being typed and finessed, and personal networks were being worked. Not sure anything came of the effort, but it was a lot of fun and a bit impressive to see all of these professionals, a couple of them at the top of their game in the Paris creative/fashion scene, go to work on a problem. Almost made me want to go back to work.
On Saturday morning we took the Eurostar to London. What a way to travel! Much more comfortable than a plane, and door-to-door, much faster.Update on London will be next...
