“I have good news, and I have bad news, and it’s the same news” is one of my favorite forms of humor. So today must have been hilarious. Or….
To enter the U.S., one must provide a negative result from a Covid test that was taken within the prior 24 hours. So on Saturday I went to the pharmacy at the end of my block for a test. I had overheard a conversation a couple of days earlier wherein a tour director was telling her companion that in Paris, about 25% of the tests come back positive. So I was bracing myself for that possibility and starting to think what I would do if I had to self-isolate for a few days. (Actually, I was fantasizing about taking up Kevin and Todd on their offer to use Ma Maison Miron for a few days - see that story here: http://mariellen-musing.blogspot.com/2022/04/ive-gone-medieval-wednesday-20-april.htmlWell, good or bad, my test came back negative. So, since I needed to pay the private shuttle service in cash, I headed to the cash machine to stock up.
Then I emailed the shuttle service with the details of my flight, requested pickup time, etc. Crickets from them, making me a bit nervous!
Late Saturday night, the apartment manager Joseph called on the apartment phone to tell me that I had contacted them too late and they had no drivers available 7 hours later at my requested 6:30 pickup time. Grrrr. Kinda late for getting back to me, and on the apartment phone (without a voicemail service that I had practiced) at I time that I should have been asleep (luckily, I was awake). I explained that I really couldn't contact them until I had my Covid test result, but in any case I'm not using this shuttle service again!
But then really, not a big problem because I could reserve a ride with G7 taxi service online. Done. The only hiccup was that I really wouldn’t need the cash I had withdrawn since my account with G7 requires credit card payment. But then on the other hand, the exchange rate is favorable right now, so it wouldn’t be all that horrible to come home with a chunk of cash.
So, G7 shows up right on time Sunday morning and I’m ready to go and it should be smooth sailing to the airport. Traffic was very light (it being a Sunday), so we were making good time when …
… when about 3/4 of the way to the airport, I realized that I had left my wallet, car keys, house keys and various papers in the apartment. EEK - HOW STUPID!
So I told my driver that I would probably need to head back to the apartment. I quickly grabbed my phone to call Joseph. I explained my situation and he replied, “but I’m in bed” and asked if he couldn’t send me my stuff later. Nope, I really needed my keys, driver’s license, etc. “But I’m in bed” (and he lives in a suburb, not in the center of Paris). I said we could be back at the apartment in 25 minutes, and could he please meet us there then and again, I'm terribly sorry. He said that he would head out, but I’d have to pay him 50 euros for this extra service. No problem ‘cause, ya know, I had cash!
So my driver turned around, and we made it back to the apartment in 25 minutes (only because there is little traffic on a Sunday morning), turning the corner just as Joseph was walking up rue Marie Stuart. Whew! Got my stuff and paid Joseph 60 euros, and back in the taxi to zip back to Charles de Gaulle.
My driver was very friendly and helpful. He asked me how long my flight would be and where I was heading, and after a couple amusing back-and-forths I learned that his daughter taught French in Edina for three years and lived a couple miles from my house. So he knew all about Minneapolis! I said he should tell his daughter about the crazy Minneapolitan who stupidly left important stuff in a rental apartment. He told me that whenever he travels, he takes a special pouch for all of the “home” papers, keys, etc. and as soon as he unpacks, he puts that pouch into the suitcase, leaving it there until it’s time to return home. DUH! Why haven’t I thought of that?
So, a smooth trip, just under the speed limit, back to the airport in plenty of time (a bit less than the three hours recommended by Delta, but I registered for wheelchair service from my phone in the taxi, which whipped me through passport control and baggage security in record time). Sure, I had to pay almost three times the regular fare, but it was a small price to pay, and I did even have some extra cash for a tip to my nice driver!
I thought that I was golden now, but wouldn’t ya know, I was randomly selected for extra screening at the gate, including taking off my shoes for inspection/scanning, which I can only do sitting down and they didn’t have a chair at the extra screening station. (They did eventually go and find a wheelchair for me to sit on for this process.)
The flight was absolutely packed, and we had a bit of turbulence, and the woman sitting next to me was terrified, but the final good news is that I’m back home safe and sound!
Lessons learned for my next trip to be sure! À la prochaine, Paris!
No comments:
Post a Comment