Therese

That would be great, CarolA. This is the first time I've traveled with inhalers (bad, bad pollen here in Atlanta this year), so haven't had to deal with this question before.

But other meds like antibiotic ointment (not prescription) and eye drops would still have to go in the first bag, along with toiletries, right?

And then what if I run across a TSA agent who is interpreting things differently...

Therese

Okay, I've checked out the info on the TSA web site, and this is the specific language that applies to my question about the prescription aerosol as well as other (apparently non-prescription) stuff:

"Additionally, we are continuing to permit prescription liquid medications and other liquids needed by persons with disabilities and medical conditions. This includes:

All prescription and over-the-counter medications (liquids, gels, and aerosols) including KY jelly, eye drops, and saline solution for medical purposes;"

So, in that category I've got both of my inhalers, prescription eye drops, OTC eye drops, prescription ointment for eczema (this is really more than any of you wanted to know about me, isn't it?), antibiotic ointment, and antimycotic ointment. And I guess I could put benzoyl peroxide for zits in there as well.

Wow. I've got lots of space left in my initial quart size baggy. This isn't even a challenge any more.

Dukey

You've got lots of space left, Therese???

What are you taking, one dose and that's all?

And as to your need to clean up zits, well.....

Therese

Lots of space left now that I've moved all that stuff out of the bag that I'm using for shampoo and toothpaste and perfume, Dukey. Not that it was taking up a huge amount of space, but some, and some counts.

The benzoyl peroxide's just a once in a while need, but change in sleeping habits, diet, etc. can make it an issue while traveling. Not the sort of item I'd go out of my way to purchase in another country, for sure.

Therese

So now that it turns out that I'd have to be pretty ridiculously high maintenance to require more toiletry space than a 1 quart zip-loc bag permits, here's the other stuff I'm taking:

camera

camera charger (with built-in converter) and plug adapter

umbrella

noise cancelling headphones (a gift from work that I used on last month---I like them so much I may buy myself a nice set of the Bose ones)

flat iron (for my hair---a European one that I bought last month in Lisbon)

Therese

I'm rooming with a friend for a few nights, so am bringing:

a nightgown

I'm also packing, as usual,

a pillow

a sheet

And yes, it's all in a carry-on.

Therese

All packed and ready to go. I couldn't find the collapsible bag that I sometimes use to bring back extra stuff, so I'll probably just go the shopping bag route. And I decided to skip the second black cardigan, because, frankly, it just seemed ridiculous.

I did put my liquid meds in with my other meds, but didn't end up taking any more toiletries because I didn't need any more.

What I've got in the toiletries bag:

body scrub
facial scrub
moisturizer/sunscreen
toner (in a spritz bottle)
undereye concealer
undereye moisturizer
mascara
shampoo (enough for two shampoos, in a plastic bag)
toothpaste
hair balm
two small bottles of perfume (the size that you get when you buy an assortment of, say, Dior scents)
several Stridex wipes (for the plane)

Stuff for comfort on the plane includes the abovementioned noise cancelling head phones, an extra pair of socks to wear over top of the ones I've got on, and a large woven silk paisley scarf. I can use the scarf on the plane as an extra blanket, and will likely wear it on arrival in Paris, as it will still be chilly in the morning.

CarolA

Have a good trip!

Therese

Back from Paris, and I did modify my choices a small bit at the last minute:

1. instead of blue jeans I wore lightweight gray dress trousers on the plane. So I only had the one pair of black jeans for the trip.

2. instead of my vaguely cowboy-esque black books from Lisbon I took a pair of lighter weight black boots, low heel, knee high (but stretch leather on top, so I could roll them down if necessary).

I wore about two thirds of the items that I took, and didn't do any laundry whatsoever. And yes, it all went in carry-on luggage, and I took it all on the plane with me.

Details about those tense moments in security to follow...

Therese

Security at ATL, Friday afternoon:

My husband had very sweetly dropped me off at the airport, and I strolled to the international check-in, bypassing the check-in line and going directly to the kiosks, where you scan your passport and your boarding pass is printed out right then and there. No waiting to check bags, of course. Security took less than 10 minutes total, and nobody bothered to ask me anything at all about my toiletries or medicines or anything at all. So maybe it was apparent from the x-ray that I'd conformed to the rules, or maybe they'd have let me walk through with 3 liters of vodka. The world will never know.

I'll called my husband from the gate. He was still in the car, as the drive home takes about 20 minutes, and my entire trip from curbside to gate at ATL had taken less.

Security at CDG, the following Friday at about 11:00 AM (for a 1:50 PM flight):

The 10:30 AirFrance bus that serves Porte Maillot (where my hotel was located) was full, so I turned to the very nice couple from Florida with whom I'd been chatting while we waited and suggested that we share a cab to the airport instead of waiting for the next bus (particularly as the first one had been late). So we scampered across the street and hopped into a waiting mini-van type cab, driven by a very nice woman (my first female cab driver in Paris).

We dropped the nice couple at Terminal 1 and drove around to Terminal 2 (which might seem silly unless you know what a thrash it is to get around at CDG). Easy check-in at AirFrance, again with kiosks (although these were significantly more complicated, asking for detailed confirmatory info, and I didn't see an option for English). Because I'd purchased lots of toiletries, etc. I checked my bag, taking with me on the plane some other, non-liquid purchases as well as my medications and in-flight necessities like inhaler and eye drops.

After check-in I was urged to go directly to the gate, as there'd be a 20 minute bus ride from there out to the actual boarding area.

Passport control took about 15 minutes and then security immediately afterwards was fairly quick. I'd unfortunately left a small pair of nail scissors in my bag, and they were caught on the x-ray and flagged me for a search of my bag. I was able to find them immediately, and handed them over, pointing out that they'd fine in the U.S. (as per the TSA web site). The very nice young woman apologized, saying that there were discrepancies between U.S. and E.U. rules on this point, and that it all struck her as pretty darn silly, and then we talked about how useful it is to have a small pair of scissors when you need to cut an itchy tag out of a new shirt, etc. and then we said good-bye.

After the bus ride I had lunch at a bar in the gate area. I'd made my own sandwiches to bring, so just ordered a beer and enjoyed my ham sandwich, accompanied by radishes, finished off with a yogurt (which I'd fit in my 1 quart ziploc, as required). Reportedly a good decision, as travellers around me were complaining about the very slim pickings available from the bar.

An easy flight home (bulkhead seat upstairs on a Boeing 747, apparently seats that had once been business or first class, but had seen better days, but I wasn't going to complain, particularly as the seat next to me was empty). Great movies, including "La mome," about Edith Piaf.

Passport control in ATL very speedy, but baggage claim took forever (ah, yes, that's why I don't check bags). Customs was more crowded than usual, but moved very quickly, and then security to re-enter the airport (because you're officially "land-side", with access to the contents of your checked bags while passing through customs) was also very speedy.

Despite repeated warnings overhead to move large volume duty free liquid items to checked bags after clearing customs, almost every person in line with me had somehow managed to screw it up, and either had to surrender something (usually just a bottle of water that they'd kept from the plane) or go back and check a carry-on.

MARTA train directly from airport to downtown Decatur, where my husband met me for dinner.

CarolA

Thanks for the updates!

So how was the trip itself!

mauitammy

Thanks for the updates! I hope you had a great time. I would love to hear more about your trip.

Also, thank you for the information about the Assets undies at Target. These are on my list to get to wear under my skirts.

Therese

The trip itself was great. I'd arranged to go very last minute (about two weeks before I left), but still managed to contact friends who live either in or near Paris, and so got to do some visiting.

I'll describe what I did (on possibly what I wore, as that's how this thread begins) day by day.

Day 1:

Arrived Saturday AM on time via Delta (took an Ambien and slept, as usual), and took the Air France bus to Porte Maillot, where I found my hotel directly across the street from the bus stop. I usually book apartments for leisure travel, but this was so last minute that apartment availability was a bit tight, and so instead I bid on 4 star hotels on Priceline, and got Le Meridien Etoile for $140 per night. My room was very nice, and faced a residential area rather than the Palais des Congres and the fairly busy street. Nicely decorated, very much suited to the international business traveler (TV in every language you can think of), great water pressure, great lighting the bathroom, etc. Lobby positively swarming with flight attendants from all over the world.

An old friend from Normandy (where I was an exchange student in high school) arrived soon after me, and we struck out for Montmartre, where we mostly just strolled around.

In the evening we watched a very funny play (in French, so unless your French is pretty close to fluent don't even bother) called "Arrete de pleurer Penelope 2" Very funny, very well acted.

Dinner at undistinguished bistros for both lunch and dinner.

Wore a black skirt, white long-sleeved cotton knit shirt (because I'm very sensitive to the sun), and the flat black sling-back shoes.

Home to my hotel, along with my friend. I'd emailed the hotel a couple of days earlier to say that I needed two beds, as she'd be staying with me a couple of nights, and also to ask for early check-in, and both requests were acknowledged by email the next day, and both requests were honored.

toedtoes

Therese - you mention that you only wore about 2/3 of what you brought. What were the items that you didn't wear? That would be helpful for someone using your posts as a packing guideline.

As for chafing, it's a very common problem. I use the petti pants from JCPenneys. They come in several lengths and allow you to trim 1-3 inches of the length you choose (great for women of non-standard height). In winter I use the long length under my pants as additional insulation, but in summer they are very comfortable.

Therese

Thanks for the tip re the petti pants, toedtoes. I'll check them out.

As for what I brought home unworn, let's see...

1. Of the two dresses, I didn't wear the black and white cotton print with a mandarin collar. I did end up wearing that dress yesterday (with the black cardigan that I didn't take), as I had to go to an all-day retreat for work (followed by dinner, for which I wore yet another dress---can you spell j-e-t-l-a-g?), pulling it out of suitcase and throwing it on.

3. Of the two skirts, I wore neither the white and black gingham check (I'd described this upthread as houndstooth, when in fact it was a tiny gingham) or the black and white floral print.

Of the numerous shirts I'd packed I ended up not wearing four different square neck/wide strap camisoles (from Zara, great all-purpose tops to layer): white, black, green, and red.

I didn't use my umbrella.

Therese

Reading over this thread I realize that I neglected to mention somthing in my original list:

1. bathing suit

Bathing suit? Who on earth brings a bathing suit to Paris?

toedtoes

That sounds like me. I always end up wearing the solids. I don't even bother bringing the prints along anymore.

As I don't do well in black, I usually go with browns and/or olives for my color scheme.

Therese

Just looked at my photos from the trip and realized that on Saturday I actually wore the V-necked white camisole that I'd worn on the plan with the white cotton cardigan on top.

Day 2:

Sunday was my day to plan, and we started off the day with a 2 1/2 hour cruise on the Canal St. Martin. It starts on the Seine at Quay Anatole France, and you'll do well to get there earlier rather than later to get a nice seat (a few are actually chairs rather than benches). As we were catching a train that evening to Lisieux we took our suitcases with us, which meant that I had to make decisions about what I'd need to wear while still pretty groggy that morning. My friend is distinctly low maintenance, so no need to pack lots of different stuff, as chances of my needing anything more than jeans was extremely unlikely.

The cruise ends at Parc Villette, and we'd booked the afternoon at a hammam (Hammam Medina Center on Rue Petit) that's just a few blocks away. We changed into our bathing suits and robes (ah, so that's why there's a bathing suit on that packing list) and pool shoes (this hammam supplies everything, and is very nicely equipped and maintained) and had a light lunch in the restaurant there, followed by an afternoon of treatments.

We finished in time to sprint via metro to take the 5:20 train from Gare St. Lazare to Lisieux, where we had dinner (oysters and bulots) at her boyfriend's lovely country house. I slept with the windows open, and woke to deafening birdsong over the Normandy countryside.

I wore black jeans and a long-sleeve white cotton knit top for the entire day (except the part involving a bathing suit and a robe), and packed a white cotton short-sleeved peasant style top and the white cardigan for Monday (to be worn with the same black jeans).

Therese

Day 3:

After breakfast we (me, my friend, and her boyfriend) headed out to visit a local chateau (Chateau de St-Germain-de-Livret, very lovely) and the small churchyard across the street. Lunch at home, followed by a visit to the boyfriend's garden to harvest herbs for dinner that night at her apartment in Deauville.

Dinner in Deauville included several people that I'd known way back when in high school. My friend has never really learned how to cook, so I ended up doing a sort of impromptu cooking lesson (including instructions on how to shop) for her. I changed into a gray T-shirt while preparing dinner, as the white cotton blouse just seemed entirely too risky, and changed back before guests arrived. Everybody was as casual as I was, so good decision not to wear a dress or skirt.

Therese

Day 4:

Tuesday, and also a big holiday in France, May 1. I have a lunch date back in Paris at 1:00, so catch the 9:00 AM train from Deauville back to St. Lazare (wearing a long red scoop-neck T-shirt with the black jeans and the white cardigan---I am pretty tired of these jeans by now, though it was fortunately cooler in Normandy than in Paris). The train arrives at 11:45, and I sprint for the metro back to my hotel at Porte Maillot, as I need to change into something considerably nicer for lunch at Cafe de la Paix. Imagine my irritation when I realize that housekeeping has made off with some toiletries and random other things (like my camera charger and a couple of books and a few other things). It's clear that somebody thinks I've checked out, having spent two nights away and left my bed undisturbed, although curiously (and fortunately) they do not remove anything from the closets or drawers. I spend the next 30 minutes ranting politely to housekeeping and then to the head of housekeeping and then to a low level manager (who comes to my room to make sure I haven't just hallucinated the fact that these objects are missing) and some poor guy who wants to give me even more of the hotel toiletries, all the while changing into the fitted black cotton dress, a silk black floral print scarf, the black cardigan with the ribbon flower trim, and the black dress mules.

I am eventually so late that I take a cab to the restaurant, which is at Opera, and so not actually reachable by cab due to the holiday and the accompanying political demonstrations and so forth. I am only about 15 minutes late, so not too terribly impolite.

Okay, time for bed. I'll finish up Day 4 in the next installment.

If you want more details about any of the things that I've done so far (the play, the hammam, whatever), just let me know and I'll provide them.