The infamous misconnect. You've probably experienced it... the delayed departure, the nervous fidgeting as the plane finally lands at your connecting airport, the harried run through the terminal only to discover that the gate area is empty and the flight has long since gone. When the adrenaline wears off, you find yourself second in line to see an agent at the customer service desk. Such was my day yesterday.

I'm en route to see my parents in France for a week or so before I start work in New York City this summer. With the misconnect, United followed policy, putting me up in a hotel for the night and rescheduling me for a flight the next day. As one of their most loyal customers, they had the opportunity to flex some muscle and put me on an alternative airline or class of service. But last night was not one of those customer service experiences that you end up telling to everyone. It was routine in every way.

It was quite a contrast when I got to the Hyatt a few hours later. The smiling receptionist, Bonnie, took one look at my tired face and checked me into a suite! (She didn't tell me until I arrived in my room.) What a treat, even if I was only there for less than 12 hours. There were two rooms, a sitting room and a bedroom, all fashioned in contemporary furniture and the delightful Hyatt Grand bed.

Since all the Europe flights leave after 5PM, I would have a day to kill, so I jumped online and booked a rental car for the day. Weekend rates are great: $18/day for a midsize! The "upgrade" theme carried through and I ended up in a full-size thanks to National's Emerald Aisle service.

Navigating the roads around Dulles were a little frustrating and I ended up going the wrong direction on the toll road and paying double. Ouch. I got to McLean Bible Church for their Sunday service about 30 minutes late thanks to that faux pas, after which I headed downtown to check out the National Art Gallery.

The National Gallery of Art is one of my favourite museums. Housed in a graceful building, the National Gallery has some of the most famous pieces in the world, including the only Da Vinci painting in the Western Hemisphere! As luck would have it, there was a special "Cézanne in Provence" exhibit. Cézanne, along with Edouard Manet and Camille Pissarro, is one of my favourite artists. His paintings express the emotion of nature that most landscape artists fail to connect with. His later art, almost cubist in nature, reduced the Provencal landscape into jutting brush strokes. And yet still, he captures a kind of underlying spirituality. Amazing. Exhibits like the one I saw today are fascinating experiences as they walk you through an artist's life. You are able to observe how their styles and artistic focus shifts over time. In Cézanne's case, the shift is noticeable from dark, heavy, almost violent strokes in his early years to the expressive colors that begin to appear 20 years later.

I didn't dawdle since the traffic out to Dulles was uncertain. But what a great way to spend a day!