We wait without patience

Wait for what? Our flight out to bad ol' CDG in Paris. We read, putter around stuffing more stuff into the 4 borderline-too-heavy bags (50lb limit each) and the carry-ons. What DO we bring with us to France after all this time you MUST be wondering, if you are NOT wondering that then you don't know something...we have been doing this exact thing since we bought the cottage in Lignieres in January of 2002. Yes, it's been 7 long and fruitful years. Each time we went and that included the first few when we went 3 months at a time we took "stuff" with us, lots of stuff.
Stuff:
Books, a rare hardback but lots of books for our reading habits.
Jeans, working about the house and yard creates a need for utility clothing.
Kitchen equipment we cannot do without.
Computer parts
Electrical transformers, don't ask.
Certain spices for faking Mexican cuisine
Underwear, French do not have XXL anything!
Misc. clothing for weather conditions we may never experience.
Other clothing

That's the stuff. There are lots of other things that we'll find crammed into the bags that I didn't even know we wanted or needed, medicines for example. Tums for the tummy, 2 bottles of 500 tabs each. It's an array alright. It's ready to go. So are the cats.
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On a dark note, you know we had 4 policemen killed in Oakland, CA last weekend. A parolee decided he didn't want to go back to prison so easily so shot the two cops that stopped him, stood over them and finished the job with bullets to the head in each. Then he holed up in his sister's abode armed with an AK-47 waiting for the next police action near him and he shot two dead through the door. Yes, he too was killed. Awful reading every day in the SF Chronicle. The "community" he came from was that of poor blacks, a rotten neighborhood of druggies, gangs and hostility of all sorts. No place I'd even want to find myself in the daylight even. A pocket of doom in the middle of Oakland's city limits. Thinking about this brought to mind those days of yore when policemen actually WALKED the precincts and were friendly faces to chat with over coffee now and then. Now, they are helmeted SWAT Teams that break into buildings and seek out societies problem citizenry with military precision. Have we gained anything? I think not.
They needed more than helmets and handguns and chest protectors to do battle with this guy.
They needed NEGOTIATION, they needed COMMUNICATION, they needed CALM, they needed SITUATIONAL ASSESSMENT. They needed a whole litany of training (and NOT ON-THE-JOB in a sudden spray of 9mm gunfire!) before they tackled this very angry and very excited parolee. Where, oh where, does the police deparment hide it's training manual and it's humanity? Yes, I'm what you would call a bleeding-heart LIBERAL on most matters but this mess speaks of a great lack of foresight, training and leadership. Who told these police officers to rush in in their SWAT uniforms and 9mm pistols to take on this man and his AK-47? Who? Will the perp please stand up? I don't see anyone standing Mr. Mayor of Oakland, do you? I see families crying, friends sighing, newspapers being read, TV shows explaining but I don't see anyone saying "I told those men to go in", do you? No, I don't think you saw that either. Where IS the leadership to explain all these bodies and the mistakes they made that led up to this, including the ones made by the parole board that turned this hopeless man loose on an unsuspecting society.

Tickets! We have tickets!

The "two weeks" are up! Off to Paris once again, cats in tow, so fun! I do so hate the awful airline reservation search engines and the damned airlines for making the whole stinking project such a drag. The sites and there are many are all hopelessly alike, enter the to and from dates, enter the city, enter how many people (nowhere for special things like cats and the charges for bags, cargo, food and water) preferences...of course I want NON-stop, what's wrong with you!? Days of boring sameness with lies for prices, prices PLUS taxes and licenses, fees, baggage costs, a damned baloney sandwich and a bottle of water! All lies, either they the sites or the damnable airlines need to be honest at least so one could select one's total costs without the sticker shock when you click on the tiny grey out "taxes / fees" box. Awful! I spent hours hunting knowing full well I didn't want to fly into Dulles...it's DULL alright, huge distances to walk, up, down "just follow the signs"
all over the damned place but not ever past a restroom to pee! No watering stations either! What a way to treat 2 paying passengers and their cats! Never again if I can at all help it! A POX on the place! Leave it to the Senators and Congressmen and their consorts and pages.
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There are few airlines that allow pets or don't have flying regulations that virtually prohibit them ( Cats and Dogs must weigh under 4.5 kilograms total including carrier with plastic liner, food and water...what's that a cat skeleton? Or a gerbil? Gads. That's Air France's answer to the problem. Some carry them but only in the hold with the horses and cattle (you think I'm joking!)
Here's a headline for you...CBBC Newsround | ANIMALS | Crocodiles found in aircraft hold_ Yes, not one but 10! Horses! Cows! Rhinoceroses! But cats in the cabin! Impossible! Neighhhh! Here's an article about which I speak: http://www.thehorse.com/ViewArticle.aspx?ID=8012
So United Airlines gets the nod AGAIN, so many years, so many flights and still never an upgrade or free flight and though we travel together always and always have...our Frequent Flier mileage is not equal...I have thousands more miles (useless as they are) than Kelly does! Thanks United, thanks! Just normal in airline travel, nothing surprising. The cats are booked now...200 USD per cat ONE WAY! Highway robbery! They weigh less apiece, in their bags than 4 quarts of Perrier's best. I pee more than they weigh for chrisakes! Our two cats are quiet as church mice, not a whimper after they get out of whatever conveyance brought them there. No pee, no poop, not hunger and Kelly's bottle of drinking water is used to wet their little faces periodically during the flight(s...how many stopovers sir? 5, oh good) which they promptly lick off thus get some water...almost a force feed I think, nice trick for cat travellers. Thus they fly well and have for the last three plus years.
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Awwww heck...who cares, we're back in France soon enough and ready to work our asses to stumps for the next 6 months. Huge Iron gate to hang, walls to repair, roof estimates to cry over, painting by the gallons inside and out, many yards of cloth to sew and hang as curtains and wall coverings (Kelly's favorite!). Dinners with our friends, our favorite activity of all and new people to meet and get to know, it is all such an adventure! It's the BEST thing we ever did for ourselves outside of getting married to each other. I may bitch and complain about the difficulties but down deep in there is a world of satisfaction and pleasure that goes far beyond and complaining I (we) may do time to time. The French treat us exceptionally well and we get along in the language better every time and never has any language difficulty kept us from getting anything we needed or wanted. It's lovely, we like it. Next time...