French by Choice – Our Travels

We had arranged for a private van service to pick us up at the apartment Saturday morning and take us to Charles de Gaulle airport (www.bluvan.fr) to catch our flight home.  They said they would pick us up at 8 AM right at our front door.  So, to get all of us through the shower and primping process, it was rise and shine at 6:00 AM.

We made the deadline and moved our bags (and us) to the vestibule downstairs – just as the blu van pulled up at our front door.  We loaded up and he took off for the airport.  Our driver got us all the way out to CDG in about 35 minutes.  Best of all, his route took us eastward to the Peripherique (Paris’ beltway) along the Seine for a beautiful scenic drive on a Saturday morning.  So we had a last look at Tuillieries, filled to the brim with tents for Fashion Week, the Louvre, the Musee d’Orsay, the bridges – everything we had walked and strolled during our visit.

We walked directly up to the USAirways desk with our pre-printed boarding passes and within minutes were on our way to the boarding area.  We did make one detour, Carol checked more than one bag and had to go to another desk to pay.  Recommendation: take one checkable bag, larger than you need/or expandable, and leave room in it for your purchases.  Another recommendation: take fewer clothes than you think you need, inevitably you will bring home something you never wore.  Another recommendation: black is a great travel choice!

So, off we went to the boarding area, bypassing the huge detaxe line, since none of our purchases were expensive enough to wade through that hassle.  Now, we were in the duty-free shopping area.  Carol was able to find a bottle of Chartreuse that she had been searching for and we settled in to enjoy some cappuccino, water, and croissant.  Then, off to Security Check and our gate.  Fo some reason, both Mike and I were singled out for being wanded – Mike since he forgot and left euros in his pocket – euros which have that metal thread woven in their paper.  Me – who knows?

Carol and Emy boarded their flight headed for Charlotte; then, Mike and I boarded our flight bound for Philadelphia.  Mike got selected for another security screening, much to his annoyance.  Naturally, it was my fault, since I was holding my own boarding pass and passport and had ended up several people in front of Mike.  He said they were selecting single passengers for the second security check and, since I took off, he looked like a single traveler.  He vowed to never let me hold my own boarding pass again….

On an interesting note.  As we sat in our plane seats, we simultaneously noticed that we felt like our seat space was spacious; yet, on the way over, on the same plane, we thought the seats cramped.  Evidently, five weeks in France, with tighter spaces in apartments, gites, restaurants, and on transportation, our need for personal space had temporarily declined.

Our Philadelphia connection was great!  We arrived so early that we were all the way through immigration and customs before our scheduled landing time.  We prayed we would not have to submit to the every, single passenger on flight 755 has to go through a Department of Agriculture scan.  That had happened once before and the Department of Agriculture only had two scanners running.  So every passenger from flight 755 had to collect their bags and stand in line while every bag (both carry-on and checked) was scanned for unauthorized food items.  Think of over 300 passengers going through two security points – the wait was horrific!  Good news – not this time.

Then, we came to a screeching halt.  After re-checking our bags on to Richmond, we had to submit to a US/TSA Security Check — and new procedures had been instituted on October 1.  We were routed into three lines, weaving and bobbing back and forth.  When we finally got to the end, a TSA agent was checking IDs and boarding passes.  However, two TSA agents were more interested in chatting with each other, and, would wait 5 minutes or more in between motioning passengers forward.

After the boarding pass and ID check, we moved over to ready our bags for the scan, take off shoes and belts, and pass through the scanner.  Again long lines. We saw a shorter line and decided to take it.  To our dismay, we ended up behind an elderly gentleman who seemed very disoriented by the process and kept setting off the scanner alarm. The TSA agent would send him back and ask him to remove his belt, then he tried again.  Alarm. The TSA agent sent him back again and asked him to empty his pockets and remove any jewelry.  Each time he went through, and came back, getting ready to go through again was a long, drawn out process.  When we finally got through, he and all his belongings were sitting in the TSA office with three TSA agents.  This whole process took longer than US immigration and customs!

We arrived at Terminal A, and our Richmond flight leaves from Terminal F.  So we thought we’d catch the shuttle.  We waited another 20 minutes and then 3 shuttles came right behind each other.  Such great organization! Naturally, the project manager in me had an issue with that!

We got to Terminal F and decided we were hungry.  We had a beer and a Philly cheesesteak.  Our server wanted to know if everything was ok and why we left our fries, I told her we were on our way back from Paris where the frites had been great!  After I said it, I realized how it must have sounded…

Our flight was on time, we boarded and, actually arrived in Richmond a little early.  Fred and Esra picked us up and delivered us home.  When we unloaded in the driveway, several folks were playing blue grass in the park across the street – music in a public place like in France!  We stayed up as late as possible and finally went to bed – in our own bed – after 21 hours awake.

Unfortunately at 3:30 Sunday morning, I was up sorting mail – all five weeks worth.  Mike got up at 7 AM, went to 7-11 for milk for our coffee. I started the laundry.  Before our showers we got on the scale to see what damage we had done – lo and behold! I lost 2 pounds, Mike 1 and 1/2.

Til the next trip!!!