Sophie and Kelly at dinner tonight
Our friend Sophie arrived today to spend several days with us. Sophie is the assistant manager of the B&B where we stay in Provence and has become a very good friend. Last spring she invited us to be her guests and stay in an apartment on the lower level of her parents farmhouse in Bonnieux, and biw we are happy to have her as our guest. Sophie speaks English fluently after living in Glasgow for a few years when she was younger. She loves visiting America.
On this month-long trip she's seeing a lot of our country, mostly visiting with American friends she's met through the B&B. Before coming to see us, she stayed with a friend in Princeton, New Jersey. During that time, she went into New York City on her own for four nights. (She found a budget accommodation near Penn Station where she paid only $200 total for the four nights!) She spent yesterday in Philadelphia before flying from there this morning. After leaving us, she'll fly to Chicago and take a bus to Buffalo and Niagra Falls (apparently a place she's always wanted to see), and from there will fly to Santa Fe to stay with another friend. She got a wonderful fare for all these flights in the USA.
I drove to Chattanooga this morning to pick Sophie up at the airport there. Originally she planned to take a Greyhound bus from New Jersey to Knoxville, an idea that had us a little concerned. The airfare to Knoxville was just very expensive. I posted about this on Slow Travel, and got some great input as usual and some other ideas for her travel. It turned out that a ticket to Chattanooga (an hour and a half away) was much cheaper, and we told Sophie that we would pick her up there. It is an easy drive down I-75 to Chattanooga. I've never been to the Chattanooga airport before, but it's north of the city, five minutes off the interstate, a small airport with parking just outside the door. Her flight from Charlotte was ten minutes early and Sophie was already at the top of the stairs as I was getting off the escalator. Her bag arrived in baggage claim in maybe five minutes. I didn't even have to pay for parking, since my car was in the parking lot for less than 15 minutes.
We are interested to see what Sophie will think about our home, our city, and our life here in Knoxville. It is so different than our little village of Bonnieux in Provence where Sophie has lived most of her life. She is eager to experience more of America and really likes the lifestyle here. She says she isn't very interested to see too much of France and I don't think she has ever been to Paris. On the other hand, we love France and have seen more of her country than she has. (Likewise, I've never been to Princeton, Niagra Falls or Buffalo... and was only in Sante Fe for two days long ago.)
So we will try to share something of Tennessee with Sophie over the next several days. (Right now she's gone to Kroger with Charley and Kelly and to take a look at Kelly's school.) Charley will fix dinner at home tonight. Tomorrow I have to work, but Charley will take Sophie to the Smoky Mountains, about an hour away, maybe spend some time in Gatlinburg. He and Kelly plan to take her to a Mexican restaurant for dinner. On Thursday she and I will do some shopping and check out the university and downtown Knoxville. We'll meet up with Charley and Kelly at a barbeque restaurant for dinner, and then they're going to a UT Lady Vols game, hopefully to see Pat Head Summit win her 1000th game as a coach. (We need to buy Sophie an orange t-shirt for what will hopefully be a big celebration.) Friday we're having friends to dinner-- four couples who have been with us in Provence and stayed at Sophie's B&B.
On Saturday morning we're going to Nashville for the weekend! I booked two rooms at the Marriott Courtyard near the Opryland Hotel with my Marriott points, and I bought tickets to the Grand Ole Opry for Saturday night. Our family hasn't done much in Nashville and we've never been to the Grand Ole Opry, even though we only live 2-1/2 hours away. So this will be a chance for us to see more of our own state and through the eyes of a friend from France. Sophie flies out of Nashville on Sunday evening, continuing her journey in America.
We don't have many out-of-town guests, and have been especially looking forward to having a friend from France visit. We will even try to speak some French together. One side benefit: we've also done some extremely thorough housecleaning!
Comments (1)
Cool to read this excerpt and glad the flight worked out well. Wow, she was practically in my backyard - hope she enjoyed her time in Princeton and the City.
Posted by Kim | February 4, 2009 5:46 PM
Posted on February 4, 2009 17:46