Thursday, 25 September 2025, Paris to Tallahassee, with swag

Written 5 February 2026

Our flight wasn't until 2 pm, so we had a last leisurely breakfast at the hotel before heading to Charles De Gaulle airport by taxi.

At CDG, they won't let you check in for your flight until a couple of hours before take-off, so our lunch options were limited to places outside security. I'm pretty sure we went back to Maison Pradier for sandwiches and pastries.

Our Delta flight was actually on Air France equipment—always a plus—so we had seats with with this handy little cupboard, which came preloaded with a bottle of water and a set of noise-cancelling earphones. In addition, on the inside of the door were a mirror and a red-fronted bin for phones and other small electronics. Just below the door were two charging ports. A small sign specified that the door must remain open while devices were charging (because of overheading, I guess).

The cupboard's best feature was that it could be closed and latched (if nothing inside was charging), so the water bottle, my phone, my crossword pencil, my Kindle, etc. could be shut up inside while I napped and not go skittering off across the cabin during taxi or at every bit of rough air.

The amuse-bouche we were served before dinner was listed on the menu as "declension of artichoke and ashed goat cheese," though I'd never have guessed without the hint. I thought it was pretty good; David not so much.

It came with a little single-serve box of cheese Gavottes, a small, crispy rolled cookie filled with cheese—sort of the French equivalent of Nabs.

The first course was "green vegetables with herbaceous sauce" and "filet of salmon trout with horseradish cream." It came with a small baguette, good quality (if annoyingly packaged) butter, a small green salad, and a tiny glass bottle of vinaigette.

The main course I chose was braised beef with tangy juice spiced carrot flan, and mushrooms. Compared to the other choices (chicken with rice pilaf, salmon with bulgur, and ratatouille), it seemed the least likely to be messed up by the ordeal of being cooked in advance and served on a plane.

The cheese course was lovely: Comté, Selles-sur-Cher, and Fourme de Montbrison.

The red-topped rectangle was translated on the menu as "Dreamy raspberry and lemon dessert."

I must have watched movies—I always do—but I don't seem to have kept a record of which ones . . . .

Before landing, we had a choice of Basque style Guinea fowl with rice or penne pasta with lemon, pistachio, parsley juice, soy beans, and baby spinach. Guinea fowl is dry enough without being cooked by an airline (even Air France), so I went with the pasta, which was very good. It came with a bun, a madeleine, and mixed citrus segments.

We got home without serious incident.

SWAG

At the left here are the Savoy's amenities, which the turn-down service leaves for guests in lieu of chocolates on the pillow. The first night a tiny tin of foot cream, the second, one of "calm balm," and the third, bath salts. (When the maid came around one evening, and I declined turn-down, she said, "Well, at least let me give you the amenity" and presented me with the "calm balm.").

At the right is the collection of stuff Tauck gave us (aside from a few things that we ate at the time). Left to right across the top: two blue-and-pink cylinders of shortbread cookies, the official guidebook to Holyroodhouse Palace, a Blenheim Palace tea towel, two pink-handled burlap tote bags from the Swan hotel, a round tin of mixed-fruit hard candy (souvenir of the steam train ride), a Fatso chocolate bar (with cornflakes in it), two wonderfully soft tartan scarves from Edinburgh, and the official program from Back to the Future, the Musical. Then left to right across the bottom: a large black tote bag from the Quay Hotel and Spa, an Oxford University tote bag plus a leather coaster and leatherbound note pad from Oxford University, Taffy Thomas's book Taffy's Coat Tales, and Carolyn Robb's book Tea at the Palace.

Now for the little circle you can see resting on the lower left corner of the Oxford tote bag. Here are closer views of its front and back.

It's a commemorative medallion marking Tauck's 100th year of operation.

If you have streaming access to the works of Ken Burns (for example, through PBS Passport), you might look for the short documentary on Tauck produced by Burns and his studio. I think it's only an hour, and we found it interesting and entertaining.

And last of all, here are the two whiskey glasses we were given as souvenirs of our whiskey tasting in Edinburgh. They're a little small for iced tea, but I'm sure orange juice will taste just fine served in them.