Honeymoon Adventures Part I
Day One: Packing up the Wedding; Leaving for Paris
Gavin and I stayed in Hotel Indigo on our wedding night. It's only about 15-20 minutes from our venue and we had a limo ride there. One our our coworker's wives got us the presidential suite upgrade for the price of a regular room. It had three rooms, a bathroom the size of our apartment bedroom, a baby grand piano, a living room with flat screen TV, a second entryway bathroom -- in short it was enormous and absolutely ridiculous as we'd only really be spending a few hours there. I actually woke up around 4:00 am, my head abuzz with wedding day emotions, and was only able to fall back asleep as dawn crept into the windows. Around 10:00 am we checked out of the decadent hotel and met up with my dad, step-family, grandma, aunts and uncles for breakfast at their hotel down the street. We also ran into Gavin's dad and stepmother who were also staying at the hotel.
We eventually said our tearful goodbyes and returned to our apartment which had exploded in a chaotic mess of wedding decor. There were presents, cards, boxes of milk glass, bags of uneaten macarons, a trash bag full of flowers from our beautiful table decor. We sat down and began sorting through the mess. We opened cards and presents, broke down large boxes, took out several bags of trash. Our apartment started to return to normal, slowly but surely. Then we had to return to the venue to retrieve a pair of corn hole boards that were left behind (borrowed from a coworker). It was sad and surreal to return to the venue where just hours earlier there had been one big, amazing party held in our honor. I started crying almost immediately! But we go the corn hole boards and returned a giant silver tray someone had left at our house which actually belonged to the caterer. We had a late lunch at Firehouse Subs and finished packing our bags.
We had a late start out the door and as a result barely made it on our 11:00 pm flight to Paris. I think because the flight left so late in the day we kept thinking we had more time than we had in reality. We had to play the sad honeymooners card just to let the ticketing agent let us check in (it was past the hour check in time required for international flights). We also may have left her a $15 cash tip in thanks. Honestly, I couldn't believe she was so nice, as usually us nonrev passengers are treated like scum. The downside is that to make it in time, Gavin had to park in the daily park deck so we are currently paying $16 a day to have his car sit in the parking deck. It was that or miss the flight! We rushed down to the terminal and were the last passengers on. We made it in business class and sitting next to each other -- a rare nonrevenue luxury. I say nonrevenue, but we paid for our plane tickets, just not a lot. The business class seats were a godsend because after waking up so early the previous night (plus all the post-wedding emotions and cleanup) I was absolutely exhausted. We had dinner of some beef short ribs, I had an ice cream Sunday and started watching Les Miserables, which I'd never seen before. I couldn't finish it though as I started to doze off. It was easily the deepest sleep I've ever had on an international flight. Usually I'm excited, nervous, or my brain simply won't shut off long enough to let me rest on a plane. This time I was too tired to care.
Day Two: Arrival in Paris
We woke up, had breakfast on the plane, and landing at CDG (Paris) around 2:00 pm. It was dark, cold, and very rainy -- not the scene you want to see when landing in Paris! Of course, I am terrible and did not pack many warm clothes (a mistake that will haunt me this entire trip, I'm sure). We left a day early for our honeymoon as we were not sure that we would actually make it to Paris on the first try (again, the risk of traveling nonrevenue). But we did! But we didn't have a hotel. We spent about three hours in the airport on the internet (per hour paid wifi) trying to find a hotel that was not $500 a night and not already booked. This turned out to be a pretty tall order, thanks in part to the French Open which we had no idea was taking place at the time. Actually, I'm still not sure if that was the issue, but for some reason every single hotel in Paris was completely full for the night.
After much stress and fretting I finally found a reasonably priced business hotel off the Place d'Italie metro stop in southeast Paris. It was actually the same hotel chain my stepsister Jackie and I stayed in when we were unexpectedly in Paris two summers earlier (Ibis hotels, for the curious). Gavin and I took the bus from the airport into the city center and it took forever because of rush hour traffic. Then, after arriving at the metro stop for the hotel, we walked around for perhaps an hour and half, mostly in circles, trying to find the hotel. In my infinite wisdom I failed to write down the address before leaving the airport, and of course with no phone service or wifi to speak of, we were unable to find it. I asked two different cab drivers, and finally we had a lead! But after arriving at the hotel it turns out we reserved a room in the OTHER hotel (same name and brand) that was 10 minutes away. Exhausted, frustrated, hungry, cold, we dragged our suitcases down the street until we were finally able to check in at the correct hotel. We were on the top floor in I think the only room with a balcony which wrapped around the entire room. We could see the tip of the Eiffel Tower along the skyline, miles away. The room had been a last minute cancellation, hence my ability to book it when everything else was packed. I changed from shorts into some pants and in doing so could finally avoid the unamused stares of Parisians who were still dressed in dark pants, tights, and boots. Boo on the American in her Georgia shorts.
We had dinner at a little cafe down the street from the hotel. I had a huge skirt steak topped with grilled onions, a side of French fries, and a small salad. Gavin had an open-face burger with an egg on top and pint of beer. Exhausted, full, and content, we passed out in our hotel room. Well, until jet lag woke me up two hours later. I was a bad partner and woke Gavin up too. Before we knew it, we were both wide awake and fiddling around on the internet. Such is life. (BTW jet lag is currently fueling this entry)
Day Three: Getting to Malta
Since we had so many issues both getting to the airport in Atlanta (and nearly missing our flight) and getting to our hotel in Paris (and walking in circles with all of our luggage)-- Gavin and I decided that we needed to give ourselves plenty of time to get back to the airport to catch our flight to Malta. The flight was scheduled to leave at 5:00 pm and we were there with plenty of time to spare. We decided to take the RER train instead of the bus, just to avoid any potential traffic issues. Plus it was much cheaper.
But first, we located a small Parisian bakery and stuffed ourselves with croissants, some kind of raisin bread, and a small, square-shaped slices of ham and vegetable pizza. I wish we had time to get to the Champs Elysee or see the Eiffel Tower, even if just for a moment, but we just didn't want to risk being late to the airport, especially since we had bought full price tickets with Air Malta. But we did finally make it to CDG and get to the correct terminal, which is a feat in that hellish airport.
We got on the plane and two hours later landed in MALTA - a little island just south of Sicily out in the Mediterranean. From the airport we took a crazy, bumpy bus ride to Valletta, the capital and location of our hotel. The main street was dark and lifeless at 9:00 pm. I was surprised how quiet and utterly closed up it appeared! Most Europeans like to eat dinner late, like 9:00 pm late (which I love). This place was obviously much different. We found our hotel, but not after another exhausting strut around the city with all of our luggage as we struggled with locating our hotel (this will become a honeymoon theme, unfortunately). It really makes you love and appreciate your phone and data plans as at home we could have just pulled up Google Maps and been done with the business in seconds. We stayed at the Hotel Osbourne which was a converted palace -- a very cool place and with decent sized rooms. We only really had time to change and step out for a quick dinner before passing out in the room. We were bad and had a plate of American-like fried foods at the only open restaurant in the city -- but man was it delicious! It had cheese sticks, onion rings, and French fries. Truly a majestic dinner, all washed down with two glasses of sangria.
Gavin and I stayed in Hotel Indigo on our wedding night. It's only about 15-20 minutes from our venue and we had a limo ride there. One our our coworker's wives got us the presidential suite upgrade for the price of a regular room. It had three rooms, a bathroom the size of our apartment bedroom, a baby grand piano, a living room with flat screen TV, a second entryway bathroom -- in short it was enormous and absolutely ridiculous as we'd only really be spending a few hours there. I actually woke up around 4:00 am, my head abuzz with wedding day emotions, and was only able to fall back asleep as dawn crept into the windows. Around 10:00 am we checked out of the decadent hotel and met up with my dad, step-family, grandma, aunts and uncles for breakfast at their hotel down the street. We also ran into Gavin's dad and stepmother who were also staying at the hotel.
We eventually said our tearful goodbyes and returned to our apartment which had exploded in a chaotic mess of wedding decor. There were presents, cards, boxes of milk glass, bags of uneaten macarons, a trash bag full of flowers from our beautiful table decor. We sat down and began sorting through the mess. We opened cards and presents, broke down large boxes, took out several bags of trash. Our apartment started to return to normal, slowly but surely. Then we had to return to the venue to retrieve a pair of corn hole boards that were left behind (borrowed from a coworker). It was sad and surreal to return to the venue where just hours earlier there had been one big, amazing party held in our honor. I started crying almost immediately! But we go the corn hole boards and returned a giant silver tray someone had left at our house which actually belonged to the caterer. We had a late lunch at Firehouse Subs and finished packing our bags.
We had a late start out the door and as a result barely made it on our 11:00 pm flight to Paris. I think because the flight left so late in the day we kept thinking we had more time than we had in reality. We had to play the sad honeymooners card just to let the ticketing agent let us check in (it was past the hour check in time required for international flights). We also may have left her a $15 cash tip in thanks. Honestly, I couldn't believe she was so nice, as usually us nonrev passengers are treated like scum. The downside is that to make it in time, Gavin had to park in the daily park deck so we are currently paying $16 a day to have his car sit in the parking deck. It was that or miss the flight! We rushed down to the terminal and were the last passengers on. We made it in business class and sitting next to each other -- a rare nonrevenue luxury. I say nonrevenue, but we paid for our plane tickets, just not a lot. The business class seats were a godsend because after waking up so early the previous night (plus all the post-wedding emotions and cleanup) I was absolutely exhausted. We had dinner of some beef short ribs, I had an ice cream Sunday and started watching Les Miserables, which I'd never seen before. I couldn't finish it though as I started to doze off. It was easily the deepest sleep I've ever had on an international flight. Usually I'm excited, nervous, or my brain simply won't shut off long enough to let me rest on a plane. This time I was too tired to care.
Day Two: Arrival in Paris
We woke up, had breakfast on the plane, and landing at CDG (Paris) around 2:00 pm. It was dark, cold, and very rainy -- not the scene you want to see when landing in Paris! Of course, I am terrible and did not pack many warm clothes (a mistake that will haunt me this entire trip, I'm sure). We left a day early for our honeymoon as we were not sure that we would actually make it to Paris on the first try (again, the risk of traveling nonrevenue). But we did! But we didn't have a hotel. We spent about three hours in the airport on the internet (per hour paid wifi) trying to find a hotel that was not $500 a night and not already booked. This turned out to be a pretty tall order, thanks in part to the French Open which we had no idea was taking place at the time. Actually, I'm still not sure if that was the issue, but for some reason every single hotel in Paris was completely full for the night.
After much stress and fretting I finally found a reasonably priced business hotel off the Place d'Italie metro stop in southeast Paris. It was actually the same hotel chain my stepsister Jackie and I stayed in when we were unexpectedly in Paris two summers earlier (Ibis hotels, for the curious). Gavin and I took the bus from the airport into the city center and it took forever because of rush hour traffic. Then, after arriving at the metro stop for the hotel, we walked around for perhaps an hour and half, mostly in circles, trying to find the hotel. In my infinite wisdom I failed to write down the address before leaving the airport, and of course with no phone service or wifi to speak of, we were unable to find it. I asked two different cab drivers, and finally we had a lead! But after arriving at the hotel it turns out we reserved a room in the OTHER hotel (same name and brand) that was 10 minutes away. Exhausted, frustrated, hungry, cold, we dragged our suitcases down the street until we were finally able to check in at the correct hotel. We were on the top floor in I think the only room with a balcony which wrapped around the entire room. We could see the tip of the Eiffel Tower along the skyline, miles away. The room had been a last minute cancellation, hence my ability to book it when everything else was packed. I changed from shorts into some pants and in doing so could finally avoid the unamused stares of Parisians who were still dressed in dark pants, tights, and boots. Boo on the American in her Georgia shorts.
We had dinner at a little cafe down the street from the hotel. I had a huge skirt steak topped with grilled onions, a side of French fries, and a small salad. Gavin had an open-face burger with an egg on top and pint of beer. Exhausted, full, and content, we passed out in our hotel room. Well, until jet lag woke me up two hours later. I was a bad partner and woke Gavin up too. Before we knew it, we were both wide awake and fiddling around on the internet. Such is life. (BTW jet lag is currently fueling this entry)
Day Three: Getting to Malta
Since we had so many issues both getting to the airport in Atlanta (and nearly missing our flight) and getting to our hotel in Paris (and walking in circles with all of our luggage)-- Gavin and I decided that we needed to give ourselves plenty of time to get back to the airport to catch our flight to Malta. The flight was scheduled to leave at 5:00 pm and we were there with plenty of time to spare. We decided to take the RER train instead of the bus, just to avoid any potential traffic issues. Plus it was much cheaper.
But first, we located a small Parisian bakery and stuffed ourselves with croissants, some kind of raisin bread, and a small, square-shaped slices of ham and vegetable pizza. I wish we had time to get to the Champs Elysee or see the Eiffel Tower, even if just for a moment, but we just didn't want to risk being late to the airport, especially since we had bought full price tickets with Air Malta. But we did finally make it to CDG and get to the correct terminal, which is a feat in that hellish airport.
We got on the plane and two hours later landed in MALTA - a little island just south of Sicily out in the Mediterranean. From the airport we took a crazy, bumpy bus ride to Valletta, the capital and location of our hotel. The main street was dark and lifeless at 9:00 pm. I was surprised how quiet and utterly closed up it appeared! Most Europeans like to eat dinner late, like 9:00 pm late (which I love). This place was obviously much different. We found our hotel, but not after another exhausting strut around the city with all of our luggage as we struggled with locating our hotel (this will become a honeymoon theme, unfortunately). It really makes you love and appreciate your phone and data plans as at home we could have just pulled up Google Maps and been done with the business in seconds. We stayed at the Hotel Osbourne which was a converted palace -- a very cool place and with decent sized rooms. We only really had time to change and step out for a quick dinner before passing out in the room. We were bad and had a plate of American-like fried foods at the only open restaurant in the city -- but man was it delicious! It had cheese sticks, onion rings, and French fries. Truly a majestic dinner, all washed down with two glasses of sangria.