As we were approaching Aéroport Charles-de-Gaulle, my taxi driver told me that five of the seven terminals are closed due to significantly reduced tourist and business travel. I know that 2B had been closed for significant remodeling, but yikes. Apparently most of the traffic goes through 2E now, but even so it wasn’t as hectic as I’ve seen in the past.
I was excited to learn that my flight was departing from one of the K gates, which meant that I could avoid the long walk and tram ride to one of the more distant gates. But when I went to board, the agent asked me if I would be OK with a long ramp and then some stairs and a bus ride out to a remote location where the plane was actually parked and then some stairs up onto the plane. Um, well, I guess I’d have to be! Maybe this K Hall wasn’t so great after all! Happily, there was an elevator at the end of the ramp that took me down to the tarmac. Then an agent who put my carry-on on the bus and helped me up. At the other end another agent helped me with my bag, and lo and behold, there was an elevator that took me up to the jetway! Whew!
Delta has eliminated its CDG-MSP direct flight for now, due to low traffic I’m sure. So my CDG-DTW flight was about half full and the DTW-MSP was packed.
At the end of September the U.S. Government announced that everyone flying into the U.S. had to show proof of a negative COVID test, whether they were vaccinated or not. So I dutifully got another antigen test on Saturday and had the printout ready to present. Sadly, all they collected was a pre-printed attestation form that I had to sign and date - it would be easy to cheat the system, making a less safe environment for everyone. After two weeks of having my vaccination card and/or test result inspected or scanned at every establishment that I wanted to enter (or even on whose terrace I wanted to sit), the U.S. procedure seemed woefully inadequate.
I am happy to report that there were no mask protesters on any of my flights!
À la prochaine, Paris!
No comments:
Post a Comment