Gettin' there is Half the Battle - Wednesday, 18 January

My least favorite things about traveling are the actual transportation-related aspects, especially when it comes to flying.  (A nice road trip can be a delightful experience on the other hand.)  You know, packing your bags, getting the cat to the boarder, dealing with bulky suitcases, standing in massive lines, being patted down by the security staff at the airport, cramming your wide butt (OK, mine is wider than yours) into a cramped airplane seat, eating whatever-that-stuff-is that they serve on airplanes, dealing with ground transportation.  If you have figured out a way to psych yourself into enjoying this part of the traveling experience, tell me - I'm all ears!

This time it wasn't TOO bad, though.  Very few people at the airport - nobody in line ahead of me at the security gate, and I didn't inconvenience too many people behind me when I slowed the line at the scanner because I had to be patted down (I can't walk without my shoes, so I don't take them off and therefore I always get the extra treatment!).

This being an international flight, I had plenty of time to enjoy a tasty pre-departure salami, cheese, arugula & chutney sandwich with pickles and beets and a "Magic Hat #9 Not Quite Pale Ale" (a new one for me - yum yum!) at Surdyk's, meaning that I could just eat the salad and a bit of the "chicken" on the plane.

The next bit of good news was that the plane was only about 1/3 full, allowing me to stretch across the 3 middle seats.  Not that I could sleep soundly, but it still was fortuitous.

And we had good tail winds so we arrived in Paris about an hour early.  And we could actually pull up to a jetway (didn't have to climb down stairs from the plane to the tarmac and get into a bus, which frequently happens).  And there was a short line at passport check.

I almost thought I would have nothing to complain about (horrors!), but then it took about 50 minutes of standing outside waiting for my shuttle to arrive (they quote you 15 minutes).  And there were already seven other people on it.  And my phone wasn't switching to the local service provider so I couldn't call the apartment manager to tell him I'd be arriving later than I had estimated.  Happily, though, I was able to get an email to him (more about that in a later post!) and just as the shuttle pulled up outside my building he was walking out the door to run an errand.  Whew!  He was able to take me up to my 6th floor atelier style studio right away (and haul one of my suitcases for me) and get me situated.  And just in the nick of time.  I needed a nap!