the french have a word for it

Several of you have reminded me during this last month of travel that I am a fortunate man.  I am indeed.

There were a few disappointments on this last trip, but none that did not turn out well in the end.  In fact, most of my cancelled plans led to far better adventures.  The Matisse museum and the Guggenheim collection top that list.

At times, I think my life is a script.  I had just written the above sentences when the flight steward very subtly placed the day's menu on my flight table.

Oh, I guess I should tell you where we are.  I am on an Air France flight from Paris to Mexico City.  The "fortunate" part of the sentence popped to mind when I looked around at my fellow passengers -- all laid out on their flat beds with blankets and pillows dreaming of a smooth flight. 

They almost remind me of long-range space travelers.  Or bodies in a morgue.

I have snapped a photograph of the main courses for lunch.  That's it at the top.  What airline but Air France could I be flying with the following choices for lunch: pan-seared tenderloin of beef, pan-seared filet of guinea hen, lentil ragout with shrimp and squid, and pasta with a cream sauce.

I chose the ragout.  And even though it had been prepared long before it was served, it was in a completely different class than any of the meals I had on the cruise.  And it competitively vied with the cuttlefish risotto I had for lunch in Venice.

Tonight I will spend the night at the airport Hilton in Mexico City.  I had considered spending another week here to put off returning to Melaque's sauna heat, but I have several projects there that require tending.  Even though I will find no cuttlefish risotto there.

If time allows, I will put together some photograph essays -- now that I have access to an internet system that will not cost me as much as a cruise.

It will be good to put my feet up for a few days.  But I suspect I will soon be back on the road.  There is a chamber music festival in San Miguel de Allende, after all.