Ooh la la! Or: An Account of Our Five-Minute Shopping Spree in Paris, Complete with Expository Illustration

On our first trip back home from Russia, our plane transfer was in Paris, onto an Air France flight for a 7 hour trip over the Atlantic and home again.  We had a two hour layover at the Charles  deGaulle Airport, and I had visions of a small rest from our already long day of travels with a wonderful latte and a croissant, plus time to shop for something with a picture of the Eiffel tower on it. 

Even if it is just the airport in Paris, it IS still Paris! 

The airport is gigantic so it took most of the two hours to get to the terminal we would leave from.  We waited for a tram, traveled very slowly in a meadering route from terminal to terminal, then walked forever, took a train, then walked some more before getting to our gate.  That left us with only 10 minutes to get a drink of water, use the bathroom and stop in a store nearby.  Inside I could only find one child's shirt, and it happened to have a picture of the Eiffel tower, and a change purse I liked, so we quickly got those for Elena, then ran over to stand in line to get on the plane..... Which was then delayed for an hour after we boarded....

On the plus side, Air France has an very helpful and polite group of stewards and stewardesses,  and much better food than average airplane food. And you can have a lovely little bottle of the proper wine to go with your meal.