Paris - What to do the first day (May 1) w/ jet lag?
May 1st, 2008, 12:22 PM
#82
Join Date: Jun 2007
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Preliminaries: We arrived yesterday (30 April, about 10:00 Paris time) at CDG after a 3-hour flight to DFW, 1.5 hours between flights, and almost a 9.5 hour flight to Paris.
We went through passport control with barely a glance, waited less that 5 minutes for our checked suitcase, walked (!) from Terminal A to the RER station, bought two RER tickets and two Decouverte Navigos loaded with the "coupon" mensuel for May, and got on the RER. We took the RER B to Notre Dame-St.Michel, RER C to Gare d'Austerlitz, and a 7-minute walk (in moderate rain) to our apartment, arriving at about 12:15.
The main event: Some unpacking and off we went: Three 1 to 1.5 mile round trips to scout areas around our apartment, with short rests in between. One trip involved some grocery shopping at a Champion and a Picard. Another was back to a cafe we had just seen for an “early” dinner at about 6:00.—all of this took place in alternating wind/rain and scattered sunshine.
To bed at about 8:30, sleeping until about 9 the next morning—I have to admit, although Claudia Bear slept soundly, but I was up reading from about 1:30 to 3:30. Today we felt fine and walked about 7 miles, including Place Bastille, the Marais, and across Ile de la Cite, to Metro Maubert-Mutualite. We wanted to try out the new Navigo cards, but after we got to the track there was an announcement that train service through there had been stopped so we exited and walked about one mile to home. I think we are over any jet lag, and after a simple dinner at Jardin des Pates we are “home” and ready for bed at about 10:30.
Moral of the story: Stay active, try to get a normal (or longer) night’s sleep, and start the next day acting as if you had been here all along.
We went through passport control with barely a glance, waited less that 5 minutes for our checked suitcase, walked (!) from Terminal A to the RER station, bought two RER tickets and two Decouverte Navigos loaded with the "coupon" mensuel for May, and got on the RER. We took the RER B to Notre Dame-St.Michel, RER C to Gare d'Austerlitz, and a 7-minute walk (in moderate rain) to our apartment, arriving at about 12:15.
The main event: Some unpacking and off we went: Three 1 to 1.5 mile round trips to scout areas around our apartment, with short rests in between. One trip involved some grocery shopping at a Champion and a Picard. Another was back to a cafe we had just seen for an “early” dinner at about 6:00.—all of this took place in alternating wind/rain and scattered sunshine.
To bed at about 8:30, sleeping until about 9 the next morning—I have to admit, although Claudia Bear slept soundly, but I was up reading from about 1:30 to 3:30. Today we felt fine and walked about 7 miles, including Place Bastille, the Marais, and across Ile de la Cite, to Metro Maubert-Mutualite. We wanted to try out the new Navigo cards, but after we got to the track there was an announcement that train service through there had been stopped so we exited and walked about one mile to home. I think we are over any jet lag, and after a simple dinner at Jardin des Pates we are “home” and ready for bed at about 10:30.
Moral of the story: Stay active, try to get a normal (or longer) night’s sleep, and start the next day acting as if you had been here all along.
Sep 10th, 2014, 04:35 PM
#85
Join Date: Sep 2005
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Don't take Ambien on the plane. If you want to take a sleeping pill, ask your doc for a prescription for Sonata. It is the sleeping pill with the shortest duration. Settle in as best you can on the plane, and the Sonata is active for about four hours. By the time you get to France from the east coast of the US, it will have worn off and you will not feel aftereffects to multiply your jet-lag.
I walk, do low-key adventures on the arrival day and stay up until 10pm. When I go to bed the first night in Paris at 10pm, I take one Tylenol pm. It has benadryl, a mild sedative, in it.
The second night, I take half a Tylenol pm.
This system works like a charm for me. Of course, get your doctor's advice before taking any of these meds.
I walk, do low-key adventures on the arrival day and stay up until 10pm. When I go to bed the first night in Paris at 10pm, I take one Tylenol pm. It has benadryl, a mild sedative, in it.
The second night, I take half a Tylenol pm.
This system works like a charm for me. Of course, get your doctor's advice before taking any of these meds.
