Paris: The French Connection

5/4/16:  Happy Star Wars Day!  In case you missed it last month, check out the link to my "Just read" mini reviews of the latest Star Wars books (and other books), and also my earlier post about why I'm reading the latest Star Wars "canon" novels.

From the Loft Boutique Hostel Paris, last Thursday:

Merely an hour before my connection flight to Seoul, Korea left Seattle yesterday, I had a change of heart.  I had just flown standby in Business Elite class to from Portland-Seattle, and another Business class seat was all but guaranteed for the Seattle-Seoul leg as well.  The problem was that the return flights from South Korea to the U.S. were 95% full for days.  As a Delta standby traveler, I tend to play it safe.

I had mapped out some enticing hiking/scrambling trails near Seoul.  But this wasn't the first time that I had abandoned plans to hike in South Korea.  See the link to my previous post, South Korea: The Bumpy Road to Seoul... And also the sequel, The Netherlands: Bicycling to Haarlem.

I landed in Paris today... And yesterday’s attempt to climb in South Korea brought back memories of hiking the Dragon’s Back in Hong Kong.

A photo posted by Garth Hamilton (@garth_hamilton) on Apr 28, 2016 at 3:31pm PDT

Fortunately, there was a Seattle flight to Paris only one gate away.  55 minutes prior to departure, I changed my listing.


En route to Paris, the Business Elite flight attendants were flawless.  The food was exquisite.  But for whatever reason, I landed in Paris with a splitting headache and a barely manageable fever.

Flying over France

Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport

Nursing my headache for a spell in the CDG airport arrival lounge helped get me back on my feet.  I set off for the Loft Boutique Hostel Paris using the RER train to connect with the blue Metro line.  From the Belleville stop on the Metro, the Loft Boutique Hostel was a five minute walk down the street.

On the way to drop off my backpack at the hostel, I stopped by the Englise Notre Dame de la Croix... Not to be confused with its more famous cousin, Paris' iconic Notre Dame cathedral.

Paris last weekend- Not the Notre Dame you're looking for

A photo posted by Garth Hamilton (@garth_hamilton) on May 3, 2016 at 5:22pm PDT

As soon as I upload this quickie blog post from Loft Boutique Hostel, I'll dash over to the Louvre museum and (of course) the Eiffel Tower.

I've visited Paris countless times... How have I not yet toured the Louvre?

Hong Kong hiking awaits

Pic tweeted from Hong Kong yesterday:  Hiking over the Dragon's Back here in Hong Kong, with hang gliders circling below

This post was written from the U.S. Wednesday morning, although I ultimately didn't leave Portland for Hong Kong until Thursday.  Long story... resulting in some disputed hostel charges.

Since I flew home to the U.S. this morning, I can start gathering some pics from yesterday's hiking near Hong Kong.  I'll share the stories and pics here, sometime after our upcoming Hamilton4 family update.  And our next family overseas trip is just around the corner!

From Wednesday:

All checked in for my Portland-Seattle flight, the connecting flight from Seattle to Hong Kong looks wide open, and the Hong Kong Hostel just sent a confirmation of my booking!

This 1 1/2 day standby trip planned for yesterday (Tuesday) was delayed by one day for good reason:  Kathy wasn't feeling well on Monday night. I wasn't even about to leave yesterday morning if there was a chance that she'd still be under the weather. This speedy weekend visit will have a different aim than my goal of checking out the Hong Kong protests (links are this color) last October. This one is all about the hiking.

Hopefully I'll find some Lena and Levi-friendly trails for our next visit!

Hiking the Maclehose Trail in Hong Kong; Photo by David Woo on Flickr

Due to a last minute change to fly to Asia instead of hiking with my friend in South America yesterday, my research is sketchy. In typical Garth style, the past hour has been spent hastily downloading maps and copying blurbs of travel info to my Note phone... everything is paperless. And blogs like Hike Hong Kong have also helped to generate some hiking ideas.

On the way home, yet another of my return visits to Argentina may still be on the table!   My friend Sandra who is backpacking through South America and I have been trying to coordinate a quick dayhike that is a bit "closer" to home:  Iguazu Falls, on the border of Argentina and Brazil!

My visa for Brazil has expired, though, and the Argentina departure fee for U.S. citizens is a little tough to swallow. We'll see what happens.

Check back soon for posts about this Hong Kong trip, other travels, and recent hikes and climbs.

But coming next, the most important stuff...

A Hamilton4 family update!