Day 1...A Perfect Itinerary crushed in just 3 hours

Our flight from DFW to Paris was scheduled as nonstop.  It was on-time and pulled away from the gate at 5:35 p.m., exactly as scheduled.  We had pretty good seats...there's never enough room when you're supposed to be sleeping on an overnight flight in coach, but we didn't have much to complain about.  However, I noticed that there was a paramedic boarding the plane with us.  He worked for American Airlines and chatted with the flight attendants on the way into the plane.  He took his seat in first class (along with what looked like a 3 year old boy - LUCKY).  Well, about 2 hours into the flight, just after our meal of lasagna and/or beef stroganoff, I saw the paramedic as well as another woman with a stethoscope make their way to the back of the plane...oh no!  I knew something was up at that point, but we couldn't see to the back of the plane where everyone was headed.  I even nudged Brett's elbow to point it out.  No one seemed too concerned though.  However, no more than 30 minutes later we hear, "This is your captain speaking" (oh, GREAT).  "Unfortunately, there is a passenger on the plane with a medical emergency.  We will be making an emergency stop in Chicago to drop him off."

I am a pretty compassionate person, but I couldn't help but be a little frustrated by this.  My PERFECT itinerary crushed in under 3 hours.  We were pressed for time as it was in Paris!  So, we stopped at Chicago O'Hare to drop him off.  I said a little prayer for him as he was carted off the plane.  Here are the first two official pics of our trip:

We were just hoping that this wasn't a sign of how our whole trip was going to go!  Anyway, we were in Chicago for about 2.5 hours.  Apparently, getting the man off the plane is the only emergency; unscheduled take offs are apparently frowned upon.  The only good thing was that we actually got to stand up and stretch a little.  After our plane inspection and "brake cooling" period was finished, we headed to Paris 2.5 hours behind schedule.  Brett and I both slept off and on for minutes at a time; no "real" sleep, but it wasn't as bad as I had imagined it.  We received a very Parisian breakfast of croissant and jam, yogurt and juice.  It was good enough for me!  I didn't expect a whole post just for the plane ride, but it was eventful, I guess :)