Tuesday, 12 October. Somehow Jane and I wound up being the last of the entire 115 passengers to leave Nice. Some had to have there luggage out as early as 4:30 a.m, but we did not have to leave the hotel until 11:00. We slept until 8:00, and had a leisurely breakfast. After putting our luggage out at 10:30, we read the newspaper until the van was ready to take us to the airport. It was another beautiful day, sunny and close to 80 degrees when we left the hotel.

Our 1:15 Air France flight to Paris was right on time. They served lunch on the plane. We got to Paris at 2:40, and had plenty of time to catch our 4:40 flight to Dulles Airport. Dinner was served about 6:00, and then we watched a movie on the little individual screens. A snack was served at 11:00 p.m., and we landed at Dulles at 1:00 a.m. (7:00 EDT).

Our son, Joseph, was working and could not meet us, but he had arranged for a friend to meet us. He drove us to Culpeper where we had left out car. After a brief hello to our daughter-in-law, Julia, we took off for Massanutten. It was 10:00 when we got home.

General Observations. Because we spent as much time in France on this trip as on our three previous visits combined, I think it gave us a far better perspective of the country. France is a beautiful place and, for the most part, we found the people friendly and helpful despite the current strains between our governments. We were amused by this definition, apparently popular in France: "A Frenchman is an unhappy Italian." From several political comments we heard, it appears that the French people are not too pleased with their government and especially the vast and stifling social regulations under which they live. In fact, we were told that GCT is discontinuing cruises in France on the M.S. Ravel because of the inflexibility of French labor laws.

The GCT tour we took, as well as the pre-tour to the Loire Valley, exceeded our expectations. While neither were cheap, we were taken care of in an excellent manner and always felt we were going first-class. For the first time, we found that GCT took special care of members of their "Inner Circle," those who have taken several GCT tours. Laurent, and all the other GCT tour directors we dealt with, were outstanding. The local guides were generally excellent, too.

And of course, the food! Absolutely great! People say the reason the French do not get fat in spite of their rich and delicious food is because of the more sensible size of their servings. But as we learned from having two three-course meals a day (in addition to a big buffet breakfast), you can get fat even on smaller portions if you eat enough of them.