Doha to Adelaide

Having finally got to the Oryx Hotel in the airport after last evening's debacle, we sleep late and transfer to the lounge shortly after noon.

CJ enjoys a selection of dishes from the Asian buffet and his lounge favorite: Laksha soup. Carol orders a sushi selection from the menu.

After lunch, we transfer to the quiet room adjacent to the business center for our five hour wait. As airport waits go, this is as good as it gets.

The flight is under 13 hours. The food is good. Carol actually uses the bathroom which we did not expect.

Not knowing how much luggage we have, Bronwyn and Neil retrieve us from the airport in the Tesla and Lexus. We catch up over a bottle of bubbly.

Carol decides to try for the second floor (first in AU or FR). She climbs them on her bum (butt in the US). She spends her first night home in her own bed.

We are allowed to bring in 3 bottles of alcohol per person. We have a total of 9. We have two bottles of personalized bottles of Don Julio tequila. These are the anejo. We left the personalized bottles of blanco at Pam's home.

We tasted with Yves Gras at Domaine Santa Duc years ago and purchased his wines forever. We found this at a restaurant in Brest and its divine even if being made by his son now. The Domaine Brusset comes from the same village. We taste with Laurent Brusset the same day and have a long history with his wines. Beaucastel is our all-time favorite Chateauneuf du Pape.

Epilogue - France/USA 2024

France/USA 2024 was a trip in four parts. The first quarter was sublime. Valerie's wine and cheese tasting with France's famous cheese monger in Paris was sublime. Two weeks with Didier and Jocelyne cannot be described. It was like visiting a brother and his children. It simply could not get any better.

The second quarter was meant to be a relaxing week in Florida with Pam and a short return to our old neighborhood to reconnect with friends. Our first night in the US Carol suffered a fall, fractured her pelvis and our world turned upside down. 

The relaxing week by the pool became a time in hospital and then a parade of physical therapists. The third quarter reconnecting with mom's friends in Atlanta, visiting the US Air Force Museum in Dayton and the Henry Ford Museum in Detroit and enjoying sometime with CJ's cousin got wiped out. The spectacular cruise down the Snake and Columbia Rivers didn't happen. Thankfully, Lindblad allowed us to transfer our booking and Carol's brother found a deserving US veteran amputee to enjoy in our place.

We're back in Adelaide. Carol survived the long trip home, with a night in Doha. She is progressing well. The fracture appears healed and now she suffers only from back pains resulting from too much inactivity and sitting. 

Even with the setbacks, the Brittany part of the trip makes for a wholly successful venture into the Northern Hemisphere.