We flew from the Dulles International airport just west of Washington, D.C. on Monday afternoon. I must say that it was a wonderful experience going to and leaving from this airport (unlike, say, LA International). Quite beautiful, very relaxed and quiet, uncrowded (at noon), way out in the country, easy long term parking, quite easy to get to using the beltway around DC from Ridgely, Maryland. Very good service from Lufthansa who took my hang glider (and $210 fee) without complaint (I had made a reservation for it earlier).

We flew into Munich arriving at 5:30 AM, with little to no sleep. I had to rent a car there so that I could drive the hang glider to Grasse, France on the Mediterranean. Belinda got to fly to Nice, but Lufthansa had said earlier that they couldn't get the glider on the plane. We later talked to a ticket agent there and they said that they thought that they could get it on a later flight, but I already had the rental car and had the glider tied on top of it.

It took me fifteen hours to drive to Grasse, France (which is why I missed an issue of the Oz Report) taking two very short naps in rest areas along the way. The hot sun woke me up twice while I was hoping for a bit more rest. We are staying in a flat at a farm house outside Grasse, an area formerly (like hundreds of years ago) dedicated to growing flowers for perfume (they import them now, no doubt from Africa), but now dedicated to tourism, art, and the manufacturing and selling of perfume.

Finding the farm was a bit tough, and apparently Belinda and I were the only guests to have ever found it without calling them (thanks to Google Maps). I finally figured out at 2:30 AM that I had to put two zeros, not just one before Belinda's phone number in my cell phone to call her cell phone. Luckily it was easy to awaken her and she walked out to the road to guide me. Otherwise I would have been sleeping in the car.

We're still jet lagged, and it will take a few days to adjust. It's nice to get here early to be prepared for the upcoming pre-Worlds.

I have found a local internet service spot, but haven't found open wireless yet. I have a map to the FON spots. I'll check them out when I get a chance.

Our "flat" in Grasse.

There is a local hang gliding site near here. The farmer's wife has gone tandem there.