Global Travel in the World of Covid

Paris, wine and song...

I travelled this year during the Christmas and New Year holiday celebrations, together with my new bride, Krista, to Paris for our honeymoon. We got married the week before Christmas and immediately jetted off to what is arguably the most romantic city in the world. Despite our past life excursions, neither one of us had ever been there before so we thought it would be quite “apropos” for us to go. Did you notice what I did there…?

I have travelled throughout the world over the years and feel as though I am a seasoned global traveller. However, this Covid thing is a game changer. I consider myself to be a patient man. This is a mantra of mine, that I am a patient man. Covid puts this and most other mantras to the test indeed. No matter what, in order to travel one must have at least a negative Antigen test 24 hours before getting on the plane. Or, the CDC changes the rules every day, but that was what we needed to leave.

Prior to our departure from San Francisco, we had created a schedule of events that we had put together in order for us to know that we would get the highlights yet also leave us time to have to wing it. One of Krista’s mantras is prepared spontaneity and I enjoy winging it. So, we were able to create a travel schedule that made us both happy.

First, let’s get something straight right out the gate. What ever your political ideologies are if you are not vaccinated, you are not going to leave your country. If you are not vaccinated, in many areas around the United States you are not going to be able to go out to dinner. There are plenty of businesses that check your vax card for verification to enter at this point.

When we knew that we were going to be getting married we decided then that it would probably come down to a point in this whole Covid mess that if you hadn’t been vaccinated you would not be leaving the country. I was right on that one. We got our vaccines and booster all prior to our departure. And I am glad that we had done so.

The town car came to pick us up with enough time for us to have no travel stress prior to our exit. When we got to SFO we needed to show verification to get on the plane. When we got to Ireland, we needed to show verification to have a beer. Even before we got to Ireland there were travel forms we had to fill out with vax verification or we would have been sent back. When we got to France we had to show vax verification in order to get out of Charles DeGalle airport.

We caught an Uber to our flat we had rented in the 3rd Arrondissement of Marais.

By the time we got our bags up the stairs and into the loft it was 11:00PM GMT+1. We had been on the plane or in transit for the past 18 hours and we were burnt and hungry. So, we immediately went out to find a spot for something to eat. We ended up at LaFavorite, which was just around the corner from us. In order to get into the restaurant we needed to show our vax verification. After having a bottle of Medoc with some cheese and meats we headed back to attempt to sleep.

Sleep didn’t work so we thought we would binge watch Game of Thrones. For some reason it seemed right to use some of our awake time in Paris to reminisce of the world of castles and conquering Kings and Queens.

We had heard prior to our leaving the United States that France was having some issues. Being in such a historic city with a past that had gone through the plague it was a bit eerie at times walking the streets. But, we walked a lot. Paris is an amazing city to walk in. And Paris in the rain…sweet.

Wherever we went to eat we needed to show our proof of vaccination. Whenever we went into a castle we needed to show proof of vaccination. Whenever we went into a museum we needed to show proof of vaccination.

We now live in a world where if you are unable to show proof of vaccination, you will not be paricipating in much of the world. Despite your feelings to this or your political and health beliefs one way or the other, that is the way it is.

We went into the Catacombes of underground Paris, we had to show proof of vaccination. The Catacombs of Paris are underground ossuaries in Paris, France, which hold the remains of more than six million people in a small part of a tunnel network built to consolidate Paris' ancient stone quarries. Extending south from the Barrière d'Enfer former city gate, this ossuary was created as part of the effort to eliminate the city's overflowing cemeteries.

We took a day trip to the Loire valley to see the Chateau de Chenonceau. The beauty and history of this medieval castle is nothing but extrordinary. The historic Medici family from Florence, Italy, combined with the aristocracy of King Henry I of France make this estate one of a kind indeed. We were able to partake in a private wine tasting of the castle’s private vineyard. The Sancerre was one of my favorites and we bought some bottles to go as they do not sell outside of the estate. So we were able to enjoy a few bottles of their wines in our flat as we would find moments to watch Game of Thrones.

Our Christmas eve dinner was set for Moulin Rouge. But, we didn’t get the memo. Due to Covid, they decided to close their doors for a few weeks. It just happened to begin the night before, so we left there and walked through the evening mist of Paris in the Montmartre district of the 18th Arrondissement and found the perfect spot to create a dinner memory nonetheless.

We took a stroll up the hill and around the corner from Moulin Roughe to find the wonderful restuarant called Le Sancerre. I must say that it would turn out to be one of the most incredible meals of my life. We began with a glass of Champagne and a bit of cheese. We ordered the Chateaubriand and the Haddock to share. For the wine we ordered a bottle of the Château Petit-Village Pomerol.

This is a Bordeaux wine from the winery located on the Right Bank of the Bordeaux wine region, in the commune of Pomerol in the department Gironde. Chateau Petit Village has a long history in the Pomerol appellation that dates back to at least 1785. The wines of Petit Village first began gaining acclaim in 1831, when the estate was owned by the Dufresne family. At one point in time, the estate was owned by the De Seguin family who also owned Clos Fourtet in St. Emilion. As all wine produced in this appellation, Château Petit-Village is unclassified, but the estate is estimated among the great growths of the region.  Château Petit-Village produces classic lush Pomerol wines that sell for a fraction of the prices that are commanded by some of its more fashionable neighbours. If you are familiar with wine you may have heard of Petrus. The Chateau of Petrus is a stones throw away from Chateau Petit-Village. Same grape, same dirt, different price. It was amazing!

While we were travelling the CDC was making changes frequently. France and the UK were having their own issues between the two and their means of Covid management. It is interesting walking the streets of Paris and seeing homes that were originally built and are still lived in that date back to the 1400’s. It was a different kind of knowing with these cobblestoned streets we were meandering down that had been filled with bodies in the years of the Black Death of Pestilence in the mid 1300’s, with all of this history and the current situation of Covid made it all the more real.

It has alway been a dream of mine to stumbled upon an “underground” jazz club in Paris and find some amazing jazz being played by some up and coming stars. One night we did actually do just that as we sauntered the streets of our hood and what we found was a place called 38Riv, just off of Rue de Rivoli. We ventured down the narrow stairs that took us to a small underground cavern that likened the ancient wine cellars of Chateau de Chenonceau where we had our private wine tasting. We found a few vacant seats opposite the piano in the small capacity filled space. The music was already in full swing. There were musicians abound as it was jam night. As we sipped on our Manhattans we watched a cadre of musicians. There were a few different piano players, drummers, saxophonists, a flugelhorn, trombone, and an incredible jazz guitarist/vocalist. The mix of the styles of jazz and various styles of world class players made it for a night to remember. Dreams do come true indeed.

The streets of Paris were always bustling and busy. Perhaps it was the holidays, perhaps it was just Paris. People were out and about all of the time, masked and making their daily wine and vegetable purchases for the night’s meal. The restaurants and sidewalk cafes were packed with patrons sitting under the heaters enjoying the evening’s aperatif. It was certainly our kind of lifestyle.

Then reality set in. I felt it in the back of my throat. Just a tickle. It could have been someone from the plane. It could have been the woman who coughed when she walked by me while we were at the Louve outside at the Christmas Faire. I don’t know, but I had something.

We went down to the corner pharmacy and got a test. It is an easy thing to do in Paris. There are pharmacies and testing tents all over with people going in and out all day long getting their tests to see if they are negative or not. This time I was not.

This put a damper on things for a spell. Our honeymoon and I come down with Covid. We had been double vaxxed and got the booster so things were not too bad. I had a few nights of sweats, but my symptoms remained manageable. So, we dove a bit further in to our binge of Games of Thrones and I doused my system with Garlic tablets at 5000ppm of allicin, grapefruit seed extract, Vitamin D, and Vitamin B, and prune juice to help rid the toxins.

Krista and I kept our distance from eachother as best we could given the circumstance of our honeymoon in Paris and all. But, we managed. We had to manage. We now were under the pressure of the timing of coming home. We spent hours monitering the changes the CDC was under on a near daily basis. We layed low enough to test out for a doctor note to travel back to the United States. These were the directions of the CDC that after a certain amount of time of having symptoms to not having symptons and no fever a doctor could issue a Documentation of Recovery in order to be released to travel. We were able to acquire this the day before we had to get back on the plane to the states. Things were getting a bit concerning and we didn’t know if we would get the doctor permission or not. We needed to get back to Smooth, our cat. 

Some of the documents that were necessary to travel out of the country on the way to and fro were Passenger locater forms, Disclosures and Attestations, Antigen test. There is a lot to deal with one way or the other. Adding in to the fact of having these health issues in a country where I can only speak enough of the language that can get me a nice meal, a good bottle of wine, an Uber with directions to the Eiffel Tower and perhaps a Happy New Year greeting it was a bit of a challenge to travel abroad this time.

However, I will say that all went well despite and alls well that ends well.

So, “Bonne Annee” and I bid Paris Adieu. Till we meet again.

Merci, Paris.