Good ol’ Jan took us down to the train
station and we purchased 2 tickets get us to Charles de Gaulle airport. Actually getting on the train we a little
hairy, to say the least. The trip from
the ticket office to the Airport platform would have been a walk of about 5
minutes, through the previously mentioned stinky, stinky underground. This would have been okay except we had to
lug our bags UP no less than 6 sets of stairs and then, intriguingly enough,
DOWN 2 other sets of stairs. I can only
imagine that the train staff sit in their camera office and crack up at the
poor sods, trying to heave those heavy bags up and down!
Finally on the train, you would think we
could relax but no! Every blighter looks
as shifty as hell and I am sure they are watching our bags for that moment when
they can snatch and jump off. I guard
them closer than an Asian shop owner in Manukau carpark!
As we moved further away from town, the
train thinned out and Alex and I could sit and guard our stuff. THEN a teenage boy and girl come in and set
up a microphone and speaker and began to busk on the train! It was a brilliant ploy, I thought because
going to the airport, most people would think- entrepreneurial! I will give them my spare coins that I can do
nothing with (we gave them about 23 cents all in single coins, so it sounded
like HEAPS) then they moved on to the next carriage. To be fair the singing was woeful, but they
were out there doing it!
The Paris airport was simple and we were
through and waiting without a hitch. I
had planned to be a bit early just in case our passport numbers being different
to our booking documents was a hassle, but it was all sweet. We were over in our baggage weight allowance,
but one Miss Sparkly Eyes was served by one sweet French boy and like magic on
a moonlit night, he coyly smiled and said “this vwill be fiine, this iees ok”
and just like that, about 8 kilos were forgiven (if only my clothes worked like
that!!!)
The flight was reasonably good for a long
haul, with three notable exceptions! The
woman directly across the isle had a cold and at intervals of about 30 minutes
would do the LOUDEST nose blow, known to man!
Even the pilot was woken up. Poor
thing did have a cold, but surely she had heard of pseudoephedrine??
……then, deep in the night, with the whole
plane asleep, there came this insistent alarm- “barp, barp, barp, barp…” at
such regular intervals, I was wide awake and searching for a hostess, to gauge
the mood! Next think, large, large
German man 2 seats back with his small, small Asian wife and two adorable kids,
leaps up from his seat with pillows and blankets flying! He lurches up and dongs the head of the man
one seat in front, who was also fit to freak!
I fully anticipated to hear over the speaker system “…stall, stall,
stall, slats engage, slats engage…” in some freaky automated voice, but nooooooo….. Helmet Von Dumb-arse had
left his alarm clock on in his hand luggage!!!!
Sometime later, I had been looking at my watch in the dark
with out my glasses and trying to see what the time was and unlike loudest blow
woman or Helmet, I was not willing to wake the entire section for my own
selfish needs, so through squinted eyes with my watch held as far away as my
arm could make it, it was around 4.
Later again, same dance…. it looked like 4 ish, later again……. much
cursing of optometrists, bags, planes, eyes and sleeping people on planes…..
the watch still looked around 4. I
figured, I must not be getting much sleep and this was the longest flight in
the universe. At 7, they decide to bring
around breakfast and woke the entire plane up, including me….. I then discover
that my watch still SAYS 4 O’CLOCK!!!!
It had died on the plane! I
wonder if insurance will cover that mishap??
The rest of the trip, however was rather uneventful, with much less turbulence off
the Himalayan Mountains than the last route on the way over (which was dreadful
for insecure flyers… not me
though…????)
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