news from France, good and bad

My plane ticket, which I finally have in my possession, ended up costing even less than the travel agent told me last week: the final cost was W970,000 which, according to the UCC as of thirty seconds ago (I love that succinct URL), means the ticket has set me back $1,044.09.

I emailed a reminder to my French family that I would be bumbling over to Europe in early December. My "brother" Dominique wrote me back within a matter of minutes to express his delight at my imminent arrival, and to convey the sad news that his grandmother has passed away at the ripe old age of 101. She was a great little woman; I remember meeting her when I was whisked up to Dominique's uncle's farm in Cherbourg (where I spent ten days busting my ass doing farm work) in 1986, back when I could barely speak any French. She was also there at Domi's wedding to the beautiful Véronique, and I spent some time talking with her about the family and her hopes for Domi's future. May she rest in peace.

On the bright side, Domi says the kids have been alerted and are now impatient for my arrival. They'll be seeing the newer, huger Kevin this time around, but so be it. Perhaps if I meet my French family again at the end of 2008, I'll be able to surprise them by being slimmer than ever after my trans-America walk.


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