Saturday, April 15, 2006

Arrived and on the move!

So ... my recommendation for THIS year is AIR FRANCE. We boarded our flight in Delhirium at 1.00 a.m. and were greeted at the aircraft's entrance by airhostesses wishing us "Bon Soir Madame/M'sieur!" -- it was a great start for any Francophile -- and the rest of the flight confirmed that first impression. Yep. By the end of it, E and I were chattering away in French, like a pair of parrots that have been taught a series of stock phrases, and are eager to try them all out!! I don't know what it is about the french language, but being immersed in it makes the immersee feel supercool, elegant, sophisticated, pleasantly perfumed and even (at a stretch) slender.

The result of this was that we wafted out at Boston's Logan airport in a haze of gaulic good-humour, buoyed up by TOTALLY OUTSTANDING FOOD (are you reading this, Amro?) -- not too much, not too little, but fresh and tasty and even the trays weren't too fussy or the little packets impossibly difficult to break into. Red wine both meals, and a nice, smooth dry one it was. There was a scheduled six hour wait at Paris' Charles de Gaulle and that was a bore, but the flight after it was just as good as the one that preceded it so ... like I said, we arrived in very good humour. We were out in the mild spring sunshine within minutes -- literally, I think it took about 20 minutes from the time we left the aircraft -- and that even includes the surreal 15 minute wait between the aircraft and the interior of the Immigration Hall, with all 300+ passengers backed up in one long, bewildered line in front of a locked glass door, coz SOMEBODY forgot to open it and let us in. My niece's partner L collected us in his car and took us to my niece D's sweet, pretty and pleasant-scented apartment in Arlington.

And yes, Amro, we had a GREAT dinner, cooked by my niece, of angel-hair pasta and excellent salmon. Delicately herbed and very tasty. MMMmmm.

I am not going to extend this much longer coz I actually have a life that I need to get back to right about ... NOW. But before I go, I need to say a word about two books I've been reading: one is Irwin Allen Sealy's RED -- which I found so charming, unusual and mind-tickling that I gave it away to D before I'd finished reading it, so keen was I to share it with someone else! More about it in my next post. And the second book is one that I read about in Zig's post about the BLOOKER awards -- it's called JULIE & JULIA by Julie Powell and I'm enjoying it thoroughly. I would've preferred it to have included every single recipe that the author talks about, but even without them it IS, as the backcover blurb promises, a delicious read. All about the joys of cooking -- something I know nothing about, but am constantly hoping to just acquire someday without REALLY TRYING. (If you're reading this, Hurree, I hope you're feeling pleasantly jealous!! I promise to lend you my copy if you haven't got your own by the time I return ... chucklechuckle)

6 comments:

sharanya said...

Very odd. How is it that reading your post has made me hunger for airplane food, when I'm afraid of flying to begin with? *grin*

Unknown said...

Which meal, specifically, Generally Speaking (uhhh ... maybe there's a reason why u chose that name, huh?) -- there were two Air France meals and one niece dinner. However, they were ALL delicious so I suppose that's one way of answering.

Amro, PLEEZE! not drop ULYSSES!!! It's ferocious to read, but bizarrely funny/brilliant too. I didn't understand more than one word per page. But by the end of the book I believed I had got something weirdly profound out of it. Mind you -- this is after realizing that the book left me feeling dimmer than a 0 Watt light-bulb. Mostly, I detest books like that. Maybe you should read it out loud?? If you get very stuck, write to Hurree at Kitabkhana (see link to the right) and she will sort you out (after all, I bet she understood all of it, unlike moi)(she's that kinda bird)(annoyingly bright -- and even more annoyingly, very likeable).

Sharanya M -- I have only two pieces of advice for those who are afraid to fly: (1) Learn French (2) take a round the world trip on Air France.

Another option is to avoid the French lessons and just fly Virgin Atlantic. Drink all the free wine they offer you. The rest will be easy!

Unknown said...

Amro -- no e-messages from thee! None that I've seen, anyway. Hmmm. Most msyterium.

murali v -- ooooh, something tells me Sealy is NOT given to random fits of numerology! I would rather expect he made the change coz there's been too much difficulty with that initial "I" appearing in his name -- too easily mistaken for other things -- typos, or capital "J" or the first person singular ... That's how I interpreted the change -- pure speculation -- I haven't been in touch for a very long time.

arvindh said...

Pleasantly surprised to find that you have a blog. I enjoyed reading your "Getting There" a few years ago.

Wow! What a great description of your engaging in Frenchspeak and the food cooked by your Niece!

Loved going though your blog - will visit often.

arvindh said...

Pleasantly surprised to find that you have a blog. I enjoyed reading your "Getting There" a few years ago.

Wow! What a great description of your engaging in Frenchspeak and the food cooked by your Niece!

Loved going though your blog - will visit often.

Unknown said...

Ah -- thanx for visiting, arvindh! Yes, I maintain my little patch of the blogiverse sporadically ... if it were a garden, it would be the kind that is always overgrown with weeds, but has a couple of hardy potted plants that put out new leaves every week or so ...