I got up just before 6 figuring I would leave the hotel at 7. I was ready by 6:30 so I watched a bit of BBC Global News then headed out. I got the train station in about 15 minutes and got to the train pretty much right as it was showing up. The train towards Charles De Gaulle was very packed in the early going as a lot of people may travel to the suburbs in the early morning. I got off the train and started to navigate the maze that is CDG Airport. I didn’t really like the setup as I didn’t realize all the shops were before security and I wasn’t going to try to go back through security to try to find anything. So basically I missed the chance to buy candy which I usually get at the airport and to see if there were any other things to be had there.
The plane turned out to be delayed more than an hour and so I ended up sitting at the gate for a very long time. The delay was due to fog over Paris and over Dublin apparently. When we landed in Dublin I had less than an hour till boarding rather than the 2+ that I should have had. This meant I again rushed to the gate even realizing that the places to buy stuff were before security again. I however didn’t believe I had any time. So, guess what? This plane turned out to be delayed for over an hour for “technical issues” so we didn’t board and I had no place to sit due to the late arrival for a very long time. I could have had a pint if they had posted the delay before I got in there but they didn’t.
After the long wait to board the plane we ended up not getting too far before we had another “technical issue” and had to pull back into another stand to get the worked out. I am not sure exactly how late we took off but I figure it was over an hour and possibly an hour and a half. The updated landing time was an hour and 15 minutes late if that means anything. The flight meal was ok, I asked for chicken and got the pasta with meat sauce (called Beef Bolognese with Pasta) but according the guy next to me the chicken wasn’t very good anyway. I had two cups of coffee with that expecting a longer day still ahead of me. The remainder of the flight was fairly uneventful. Since it was one of the older planes without the screen in the back of the seat and they were showing some newer Dustin Hoffman film I opted to watch Yojimbo on the laptop. I could tell the girl that was sitting across and behind me was watching my movie instead of the in flight movie. Good thing I do subtitles I guess. She was obviously very nervous about the landing because her boyfriend had to keep her leg from bouncing around the closer we got to the actual final approach. Though there was a bit of cloud cover it was nothing like in Dublin and the landing was very easy even for Boston. Oh yeah, they served a snack of Irish soda bread and jam with more coffee about 45 minutes before landing.
I was very near the front so getting off the plane was easy and for whatever unusual reason my bag was 6th off the gondola. I passed through customs without an issue and was home with relative ease after that. The late arrival (by about 1 and a half hours) made traffic that little bit lighter than it would have been if I got in on time so I guess that worked out.
If I didn’t mention this on the blog already, I have already decided I cannot visit France again unless I learn more of the language and/or go with other people. This doesn’t preclude a package tour but I am not sure what I’ll think of the package tour experience again. It would be better to rent a car if you are going anywhere outside of Paris to get to the locations near whatever city you are staying in. I would not advise a car in Paris. I got to witness Paris traffic first hand and it wasn’t pretty during the rush hours. They were brutal and blocked off whole intersections in both directions without a care. I personally should have skipped on Amiens or rented a car when I was there. It would have made that area more useful to me. I liked the Jules Verne museum but it wasn’t the Somme Battlefields. Live and learn for the future I guess. Additionally I will have to pay closer attention to holidays as they can really cause the country to shut down for tourists. I was surprised at the number of gift shops and cafes and restaurants that were closed on Victory Day in both Compiegne and in Pierrefonds. I am not sure how much of this is unique to France but it was less prevalent in the Scandinavian countries.
Anyway, France is a wrap and I’m still working on what’s next. There is a chance of a revisit to Denmark in the late summer to use up some vacation time I will have to burn before October 1st.
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