Up early for a 7am pickup to go to the airport. Late flight so lots of hanging around. Landed in Delhi around noon, India time. Flight to Paris was scheduled for midnight. A twelve hour layover, but I had a plan!

I had gotten an India visa so I could leave the airport. And because none of my co-travelers did, I could leave all my bags behind, jump in a cab, and head downtown. I went to the Connaught Place, the center of old Delhi, intending just to wander around a bit, have a nice meal, and head back. But I stumbled upon the tourism office and went in to get a map. I explained my situation and asked for suggestions on a few close sites to see. They suggested that I rent a car and driver and see lots of sites. I dismissed the idea at first, but quickly came to see that it made sense and was affordable. For the equivalent of 24 Euros, I had an air conditioned car (Delhi is stinking hot!) and a driver, who would take me to the sites and then to the airport by 9pm. Wow! So I did some speed-tourism, and it was great! We would pull up to a site, the (great) driver would park and tell me where to go and what I was seeing, I'd hop out and check out the place, get back to the car, and roar off to the next site. I got to see all sorts of stuff! We started with the Jama Masjid (largest mosque in India, built by the Taj Mahal guy), then the Red Fort (built in the 1600s of red sandstone), over to the Raj Gat (Ghandi's burial place), the India Gate (WWI memorial, which I had to see, of course), then to the Rashtrapati (president's residence), Humayun's Tomb (fabulous!), Safdarjung's tomb (also very cool) and the Lotus temple. I also got some shopping in, and had a quick meal, before rejoining my comrades at the airport. We took off for Paris on time, and this time it was an Air France airplane, a considerable step up from Air India.

No pictures today. After weeks of faithful service, my camera is out of batteries! Just in time...