Sunday morning surprise- from inflight

I was assuming I would get up around when I usually have been this trip and then go for a bike ride in the park. That's all. And then leave for the airport around 10:30. But imagine my dismay when I woke up to find that our flight was delayed by 4(!) hours. I went downstairs and had a cup of coffee, offered to me by a man who I'd seen around the hotel but had not had any contact with up to that point. His English was about as good as my French, which means both of us try hard, so we were able to kind of understand each other. It was a struggle but kind of fun. My limited French ability has been a real source of frustration for me on this trip. I kind of understand and can usually figure something out when I read it, but I don't process it quickly enough to converse. I won't let that happen again.

I went for my ride, but was not really able to enjoy it not knowing how the day would proceed. But the park was very pretty and busy. There were a lot of cyclists doing serious cycling, but I was on a Velib bike, which is entirely unserious. I cruised around for a bit.

Came back to the room and finished packing. We discussed a few possibilities of things to do, but ultimately decided it would be best to just go to the airport, so we got in a cab and headed out.

You know that thing about getting to the airport 2 hours before an international flight? Well on our way out, we could have gotten there a half hour before and gotten to the plane on time. This time, we arrived at Charles de Gaulle airport, which is not what the French call it (they use the original name Roissy- kind of like the Robert F. Kennedy Bridge in NY which everyone still calls the Triboro), to find it absolutely crawling with people. We we directed by a pleasant guy to get our tax refund, and then to the check-in line and then to another check-in line when the first one was taking too long. That whole process took about 40 minutes.

Then came passport control. While we were checking in, we heard a few repetitions of an announcement that security clearances may take longer than usual. Ha-ha we thought- they always say that. Then we stepped out of that area and into the main concourse, only to find a line stretching 50 yards or so through the terminal. And that was just for the quick check before we got to the passport control line. An entire huge room, called the Schengen Area for some reason, was filled with one of those chicane things with the back and forth lines with cloth ropes. It all funneled into 4(!!!!!) passport control booths. Easily over 1000 people in line, plus the 50 yards of line in the terminal itself. All told, it took us over an hour after check-in, just to get to security. So had the flight been on time we would have missed it after getting to the airport that early.

At this point, we had a choice of going to the gate area or to a lounge that we had access to. That lounge was pretty lame, unless you wanted to shower or sleep, which cost extra to do. But the airport has a free lounge right outside it, where there were couches and chairs and it was quiet, so we settled in there. This worked great for a while. Then an extended family with a few small children came. The grandparents sat near us, which was okay. Then one of the kids came over, then another, then the parents with the last kid. The all started encroaching on where we were sitting. And one of the kids was coughing, and the grandfather was trying to give her medicine and the kid was fussing and it just got closer and closer until we had to leave the whole area.

We decided just to go to the gate at that point. This airport has very strangely designed concourses, which are big and tubular and bright and kind of hot. And there are almost no bathrooms anywhere and the ones there were were hard to find and get to (like you had to take the stairs or an elevator). At least it's pretty quiet for an airport terminal. But the flight was really really late and we sat there a long time and then went through their very strange and complicated boarding procedure which involved multiple passport checks and boarding pass checks by numerous staff and then at the end you had to scan your own boarding pass to check in. The whole thing seemed wildly inefficient. But eventually we got on the plane.

Finally (and it's not final because we are still on the plane and have another 3 hours until we land) we had to wait while the removed baggage checked by people who did not make it to the flight on time. How you do that when the flight is over 4 hours late is a bit mystifying, but what do I know? So here we sit, for a while yet. But hopefully home within 6 hours or so.