French Open Trip 2018 Day 1: Say Cheese
After what feels like a lifetime, we've finally arrived at our first big trip of 2018. I remember when Jenn first put up the "Countdown to the French Open Trip" on our chalkboard in our apartment. It had just reached the 100-day prior mark. This morning we left our apartment in Newport Beach and grabbed a Lyft to take us to LAX. More then any other trip, we were probably the least prepared for this one. Although we've been meticulously counting down to it, the last month or so really snuck up on us. We were packing and printing out boarding passes right up to the point where Ulises picked us up in his Kia Optima.
We arrived at LAX a little before 1 PM and dropped off our bags and breezed through security. Earlier this year Jenn and I got our global entry passes which gives us access to TSA Pre Check. A nice perk, which now is available at LAX for international flights. We grabbed lunch at Panda Express and then made our way to the KAL lounge where we awaited our flight. We both had a glass of red wine and I snacked on some celery while Jenn called her Dad.
Our flight departed a little after 3 PM and we were fortunate enough to book Premium Economy seats on the flight so we jumped right on the plane and sat in really nice seats. Although the seats don't lay flat, they give ample leg room and plenty of lean back in the chair to get comfy. The ten-hour flight was rather uneventful. Jenn watched Jumanji and Michelle Wolf's stand up, I watched Molly's Game and tried my best to get as much sleep as would come. The one positive was they did a great job on British Airways of trying to make sure we were as liquored up as possible in Premium Economy, and we obliged.
We arrived in London Heathrow at 10 AM there time, grabbed our bags (they didn't move them forward for us) and re-checked them in. We had lunch at Gordan Ramsay's Plane Food restaurant in the airport. We just missed breakfast so Jenn had ramen and I went with a burger with "chips." Both were not the best. We actually ate here in 2011 when we went to London with Jenn's dad and I don't remember loving it then either. What it was though was a nice respite from a packed Heathrow.
Right as we left the restaurant our plane was boarding for Geneva. We boarded the plane and looked to be leaving right on-time. Fast forward an hour of sitting on the runway and the air traffic control cleared us for takeoff after some bad thunderstorms were rolling over Switzerland. We arrived in Geneva at 5:30 PM made our way through customs, grabbed our bags, and hopped into a taxi to take us to the Grand Hotel Kempinski Geneva.
Because we were late getting into the airport we ended up hitting a ton of traffic on the very short car ride from the airport to our hotel. Luckily we made it safely and checked into our beautiful room overlooking the courtyard. We loved our stay so much at the Kempinski des Bains in St Moritz that it was a no-brainer to stay here in Geneva. After recording a room tour Jenn found us a nearby restaurant for dinner and we were off.
We ended up having dinner at Auberge de Saviese an amazing small fondue restaurant right around the corner in Geneva. We really only had two goals when coming to Switzerland, enjoy some fondue, and breathe as much of the fresh air as possible. Mission accomplished on both fronts. We both started with a glass of their house white wine and split their house cheese fondue. Unlike in America where you'd get a ton of dipping options we only had bread and cheese. And in full transparency that's really all I need in my life. Cheese and bread! It was amazing. We left after enjoying an espresso and some vanilla ice cream.
Our evening finished with a beautiful stroll along Lake Geneva taking in a picture-perfect sunset. We walked along the lake, took plenty of pictures and started planning out our next two days in Geneva. When we arrived back in our hotel we unpacked, took showers, and watched a terrible show on Netflix before falling asleep with me only thinking one thing, how do I get more cheese fondue?
