Post #40: So This Was a Happy Surprise

Guess where we had our next family gathering

After our busy and fun-filled Florida visit from our Fiji family in June, I was a fully satiated Nana. But even so, with no specific future plans in place for connecting with our distant family, I already wondered when we would be all together again. When grandson Cooper had started kindergarten in January, 2022 (southern hemisphere calendar), his mother had announced that they would likely be observing his school calendar, which would limit our mutual vacation options. Admittedly, that didn’t seem so important to me for kindergarten, but I’m just the grandparent, not the parent.

So I was quite pleasantly surprised when Stacy offered her next get-together suggestion.

“Are you free in November?” Stacy asked in the summer. “I’ve been invited to a meeting in Montpellier, France, that I’d like to attend. So maybe Jason and Cooper can come, and you and dad can join us too.” So much for adhering to the school calendar. In fact, Stacy had more recently noticed that her ex-pat Fiji parent friends were prone to leaving the island for up to a month at a time regardless of the school calendar. Furthermore, chef Jason, who had originally apprenticed in a French restaurant in his native country Australia, had never been to Europe.

“Oui, oui, bien sur, nous sommes libre en Novembre pour voyager en France.” We were certainly available and I was already practicing my French. This sounded like a win-win situation, planning the next family get-together with a continental flair.

By early September we started working out all the details and moving parts of a two-week European family vacation, following Stacy’s outline of plans and my filling in accommodation and transportation reservations at her request. With Stacy’s Montpellier environmental workshop scheduled to start on Monday, November 14, Stacy booked their airline tickets to arrive in Paris on Saturday, November 12, to give her one unscheduled day of settling in and jet lag recovery.

I looked into the same day arrival for me and Jesse at Charles de Gaulle airport, with my usual comprehensive review to locate the “least expensive” business class tickets, using any of our accumulated airline points and credit card perks. I found time to complete the plans when I accompanied Jesse to an orthopaedic meeting in Boston in late September. He was an invited professor, accorded a large, lovely suite at the (very non-Boston) Encore hotel, and I was somewhat hotel-bound due to feeling unwell, but not Covid positive.

Encore Hotel, Boston, MA

That reminded me that hopefully everyone would remain healthy, especially Covid-wise, for this next family trip. For this itinerary, I found our best deal using the American Express Platinum card international airline program, offering selected discounted business class airfares, further discounted by paying with a large amount of American Express points (many accumulated through the rarely travelled Covid period). Fortunately, we would all arrive in the same CDG terminal, as the Fiji contingent were flying Air France from Los Angeles, and we were flying from Atlanta on Delta, an Air France partner.

Stacy would arrange through the meeting coordinator to book our Montpellier accommodations at the hotel suggested for the attendants to their small-group, 5-day meeting. She sent me a link to the hotel details, the Odalys Apart’hotel Les Occitaines, conveniently located near the historic center and train station. Stacy asked to book a “superior suite for 4/6 people all tastefully decorated in a modern, simple style, with kitchenette,” etc. From the online photos, the exterior of the building seemed to be vintage and architecturally attractive, while the interiors were updated but plain.

Odalys Apart’hotel Les Occitaines, Montpellier, France

I liked the idea of all being together with kitchen facilities, but I could not tell the number of bathrooms in the suite, my preference being 2 for our group of 5. This was somewhat worrisome to me, but there was no way of knowing without direct contact with the hotel. However, I didn’t want to upset or override Stacy and her coordinator about the booking. I would just have to be hopeful about my bathroom preference.

Determining that we should continue traveling on our Paris arrival day directly to Montpellier by TGV (Train de Grande Vitesse, high speed train), Stacy asked me to book the train based on our international flight arrivals, about 11:30 am for them and 1:30 pm for us. Well, I tried … but being unfamiliar with the French train system and different stations in each city, I found the website confusing enough to be hesitant to book online. I couldn’t even confidently figure out where to board the TGV and how to get there from the airport. Plan B: I apologetically emailed the travel agent who has often been involved in our prior, more luxurious trips. Fortunately, Mollie of Frontiers Travel was very willing to help me with this train booking, and later on, other parts of the trip that I found too complex to self-book. And with the advantage of working with an experienced travel agent, Mollie had a great suggestion that appealed to both me and Stacy.

According to Mollie, our optimal TGV departure for Montpellier was at 5:15 pm from the Paris train station Gare de Lyon, about a 45 minute drive from the airport, to which we had to somehow transport 5 jet-lagged travelers and our luggage. With expectation of leaving CDG about 2:30 pm, Mollie suggested a private driver/guide in one large vehicle who would give us a leisurely drive-by tour of Paris on our way to Gare de Lyon. I was fine with financially supporting this pricey but hassle-free arrangement for the onset of our trip. And we also booked TGV first class, although rather reasonably priced, for the travel-weary to comfortably relax on the 3 & 1/2 hour train ride to the south of France.

TGV at Gare de Lyon

At least after all that long distance traveling, especially for the Fiji family, we would be situated in the same place for the next 6 nights in Montpellier, giving us ample time to catch up on sleep and ease into the European time zone, before we ventured elsewhere.

Flights to France, check! Transportation from airport to train station, check! Train tickets to Montpellier, check! accommodations in Montpellier, check!

So where to go after Stacy’s meeting? We had all booked return flights to depart Paris for our respective homes on November 26, which gave us a full week to fill in the blanks. Well actually, Stacy did all the filling with regard to locations.

“Following the meeting,” Stacy emailed me, “I am thinking that we may spend a few days around Perpignan area (where my friend Jeanine lives), then a few days around Barcelona (where Cooper’s friend Milan and her parents live) and then maybe finish the trip in Paris. Would that work for you?”

Of course, it would. I was just happy to be with them, and anywhere in Europe was a bonus. Jesse and I had never been to Montpellier or Perpignan, which would be novel for us. We had been many times to Paris and twice to Barcelona, but would be happy to re-visit those famous cities, this time the kid-friendly way. But then came more travel assignments.

Stacy, as the Regional Director of Melanesia for Wildlife Conservation Society, emailed from her “jam-packed” work trip in Papua New Guinea, “Would you be able to look into transportation options between locations? We might want to have a car for exploring around Montpellier (you guys while I am at the meeting) and then we could drive to the Perpignan area (not too far). We might have to return it back to Montpellier and then train it from there to Barcelona. Can you see if there are trains from Barcelona to Paris? Or other options?”

Well, that was going to be a lot to figure out. The easy part seemed the Barcelona to Paris transportation for which I focused on flights (rather than trains) and went first online. There were lots of non-stop flights with short flying times and reasonable prices, but too many options due to many different airlines and departure times to both Paris airports, CDG and Orly. Again more complicated than anticipated. So once more with Mollie’s assistance, and Stacy’s preference for an early afternoon departure, we purchased flights on a 12:30 pm Barcelona departure on (unfamiliar to me) Vueling Airlines to Orly (closer to central Paris).

But I also had to tease out, with Mollie’s help, the car rental and train transportation from Montpellier to Perpignan to Barcelona. Comparing train and car prices and our overall transportation needs, we eventually settled on the somewhat costly but flexible option of picking up a rental car with child booster seat to accommodate 5 passengers, and eventually luggage, at the Montpellier train station on Wednesday, Nov. 16 (to have car use for a few days while still in Montpelier) and returning the car on Monday, Nov. 21, after Jeanine visit, to the Perpignan train station. Then we could proceed by train further west along the Mediterranean to Barcelona, Spain. However, the city of Barcelona was not exactly our final destination as Stacy’s friends actually live in the seaside town of Sitges, about 40 minutes southwest of Barcelona. But there appeared to be frequent daily train service that we could access upon arrival without prior reservations. To be determined on arrival.

So I now had transportation organized to the best extent possible, but we also needed accommodations for our three planned, post-meeting locales. First destination after Montpellier would be the Perpignan area where Jeanine thought we would enjoy staying in the nearby Mediterranean town called Collioure. For Stacy’s planned two-night stay, I searched online and found Les Roches Brunes, a charming-looking seaside hotel which was quite reasonably priced during their off-season.

Stacy agreed and we each booked our terrace rooms with sea-facing balconies, with petit-dejeuner (breakfast) add-on. The hotel required Stacy to book a somewhat more expensive suite necessary to accommodate 3 persons, despite Cooper’s frequent habit of sleeping with them anyway.

For Sitges, Stacy planned 3 nights, and said that her friends recommended the MiM hotel, which immediately narrowed my search. Having looked at the MiM Sitges website, I observed a modern, high-rise hotel with attractive interiors a block from the beach, and emailed Stacy my thoughts in early October, “I looked up MiM and liked the the hotel online and their site which offers a direct-booking discount. I think best to book with free cancellation (vs cheaper non-refundable if any plans unfortunately change, covid or who knows what). Also will book with breakfast included. This looks like a part of the trip we can nail down right away.”

We still needed a Paris hotel for the final 2 nights of our trip, which could be overwhelming for me to self-book due to the huge number of unfamiliar choices. So

once again I sought Mollie’s expertise, emailing her on October 10 (as we were quickly closing in on our November trip departure date): “We will spend 2 nights in Paris, arriving November 24th afternoon and departing early morning on 26th for CDG airport for international flights home. Obviously, a short Paris visit but would be nice to show some city highlights to first-timers, Stacy’s husband and son, such as Eiffel Tower, bateau mouches, etc. So we will need a Paris hotel, would like charming and well-located but not too expensive. Is there such a place?”

Efficient Mollie promptly sent back two “cost-effective [for pricey Paris] options that are very centrally located,” but both were found to be unavailable by the time we tried to book them. Once notified by Mollie’s assistant of different options, I expeditiously chose deluxe rooms with breakfast at the Hotel D’Orsay, offering charm, location (near the famous impressionist Musee D’Orsay), and relatively reasonable cost for a high-demand, famous city. Wanting to end our European family trip in style, I offered to Stacy to cover the cost of all of our Paris accommodations. Last hotel booked!

By October 19, I had finally fulfilled all Stacy’s assignments for all our European accommodation and transportation. But in the midst of making travel plans there was still much other preparation on the home front in advance of our trip. Both Stacy and I usually shopped for special and Fiji-unobtainable items for their family when we had in-person get-togethers planned. This time we recognized, however, that we would have to minimize the haul as whatever we brought from the United States would have to be carted around Europe before their return to Fiji. But knowing that 6-year-old Cooper had recently started to lose his baby teeth, it seemed worthwhile to bring him the hardcopy book that our friend Dr. Steve Margles had written about the tooth fairy. The book was based on Steve’s experiences with his two daughters’ tooth fairy letters and encourages others youngsters to pen and save these memorable notes. As I had previously gifted that book to several other young children, I wrote to Steve. And as we would both be at a hand surgery meeting dinner in Boston in late September. Steve kindly agreed to bring me a copy.

Stacy ordered a variety of items to our house, including Spiderman sneakers for Cooper, flip-flops for Jason and lingerie for herself. Confirming Cooper’s current clothing size with Stacy, I went to Target to buy an assortment of cool weather clothes since he would have had few in his current size 7 in Fiji. After meticulously making the clothing selections, I managed to connect by FaceTime to Stacy and Cooper while still in Target to show them the items in advance of purchase. I was pleased to get the mom/grandson seal of approval for all the clothes which included long sleeve shirts, long pants and jeans, red (Cooper’s favorite color) sweater, gray & blue hoodie zip sweatshirt, blue & white striped polo (which Stacy said looked very French), dinosaur T-shirt, and a very special hooded, zipper jacket with Jurassic World raptor design.

Every so often I would come across a small toy to judiciously add to the packing pile, such as a replica train engine in the gift shop of the Flagler Museum in Palm Beach. Considering all our planned train travel, I thought Cooper would especially like this model of the Florida East Coast Railway that Henry Flagler had developed in the early 20th century.

Agreeing that we needed to travel light, not an easy task for a self-recognized schlepper like myself, I decided to look for a new piece of smaller luggage, while still anticipating my checking it on the plane. Traveling with only carry-on was not even a consideration for all my clothing and toiletry needs for a two-week trip, but a smaller valise would limit my total volume. I went to Macy’s in the Palm Beach Gardens mall for the closest, most varied and sale-priced luggage selection. After checking out all the options, I bought an attractively designed, London Fog, soft-sided, 25 inch, 4-wheeled, expandable spinner bag.

Thinking that I could also use a new winter tote-style handbag for the trip, I wandered over to Macy’s adjacent handbag department, and happily found, also on sale, an attractive and functional black leather tote that looked ideal for all my travel carting needs.

And in the same general area of Macy’s as the luggage and handbag departments just happened to be their new Toys R Us department, where I was very excited to notice a dinosaur toy that I had seen advertised but was hesitant to order without direct viewing. And here it was, right in front of me in Macy’s: Jurassic World Dominion Uncaged Pyroraptor, that I was sure Cooper would love, given his interest in all the Jurassic World movies and our prior summer trip to Universal’s Jurassic World amusement area. This remote controlled dinosaur could be trained to respond to certain commands. How cool! And I would love to bring this special toy to Cooper, especially as we would not be with him over the year-end holidays to directly give presents.

My one concern, however, was for the toy’s fairly large size in its coordinated cardboard packaging. But I would likely need to pack an extra duffel bag anyway for all the items Stacy and I had accumulated to bring to France, despite our original intention of traveling light. So I bought the trainable pyroraptor, hoping I would not be admonished for bringing such a large toy.

One more pre-trip task: obtaining an international calling plan so we could readily and economically communicate with our family in Europe. I called my mobile carrier Verizon and had the options explained to me. The best deal was to add a one-month unlimited European calling plan for $100. All trip prep done … I had thought …

By early November I felt fairly organized for our upcoming European family vacation. But after visiting the Flagler Museum on November 2, Jesse and I went to the nearby but unfamiliar Royal Poinciana plaza for lunch. After we parked the car, I was walking toward the shopping plaza while looking up at a sign to determine where to enter Toojay’s deli, and smacked a foot into a low concrete parking barrier, which sent me unexpectedly tumbling onto the pavement. Big ouch! Having broken my fall with both hands, I had scraped both palms. I also had arm and leg bruises. But the worst injury was a very achy left foot, which had presumably bashed into the barrier on the way down. We still went to lunch where I ordered extra ice to apply to my foot, and kept icing for the rest of the day. By the next morning, my foot was significantly swollen. Jesse, my in-house orthopaedist, was certain I needed medical attention and arranged a local foot doctor appointment with Dr. John Schilero of the Palm Beach Orthopedic Institute. As Jesse suspected, examination diagnosed torn ligaments and x-rays exposed a broken mid-foot bone. Dr. Schilero provided a mid-calf boot which would be my primary left footwear for an indeterminate number of weeks, but certainly throughout the trip to Europe.

According to both doctors, this type of injury would likely be slow to heal. What bad timing for this random accident! I couldn’t believe I would have to be traipsing through France and Spain in an orthopaedic boot. On the only slightly positive side, I would certainly be packing a lot less shoes.

The injury presented even more trip tasks. I contacted Delta airlines to request wheelchair assistance at airports on our flight itinerary, a first time for me as a handicapped traveler. And thanks to cousin Claudia’s knowledgeable suggestion, I also sought disability assistance at our anticipated train station departures and arrivals, enlisting Mollie’s help once more to make those requests. This untimely broken foot would not deter my meeting the Fiji family in Europe. Maybe you even noticed the boot in the heading photo of this blog.

So I thank you for reading this rather long planning post to the end, but once again, it shows how far a Nana will go to make extraordinary plans to be together with her distant grandson. Of course, the next blog post will tell how the trip actually progressed. My working title: The Playground and Pizza Tour of Europe, featuring Cooper and his sidekick “Oo Lala” That's Nana's French trip nickname for Cooper's soother monkey that he carries "tout le monde" (everywhere)!