Got the car packed early and by 8:30 we had the dogs in the car and were off on our trip. First stop was Doggy Daycare. The hounds went right in since they really enjoy playing with the other dogs there. As we got back into the car, Rex and Sally were watching us through the window. Near Southern Door we saw about 100 Tundra Swans in the usual place, a low area in a field that gets flooded.

The trip down from there until Illinois was smooth as always. Once we got on the Tri-State there was construction. We couldn't decide whether to go into an express lane or not. We should have. There was a truck broken down in the regular lanes and with the service trucks coming to help, the traffic came to a stand still. We were beginning to worry, but then the traffic cleared and the rest of the way went well.

We checked in at the Four-Points and got to the airport in plenty of time. When I tried to board the airplane, a security dog took a liking to me. The handler said "Find It". I didn't stay around to find out what "it" was. The trip to Paris was smooth and the food and wine was great as always. In Paris we had a short layover and got our flight to Nice. We flew over lots of snow covered mountains and lots of interesting geological features on our way to the south of France. In Nice another security dog sniffed at our bag. Wonder what scent Sally put on the bag or if they smelled our breakfast bars!

Things have changed in Nice. The terminal is about twice the size that it was the last time we were there in 2000. We noticed when we got into the Place Masséna that there was grass along the road and the roads in the square had been replaced by a large pedestrian area.

We checked into the Hotel Verdun which was next door to the Galeries Lafayette. That can be trouble! The people at the hotel were very cordial and helpfull. We foundout about the new tram that ran on tracks in the grass we had seen and got caught up on the new things happening in Nice.