When we booked our flight, we thought it would be the most logical to fly through the night for a couple reasons. First, we thought if it was through the night, we wouldn't need to take up valuable luggage space with "on-flight entertainment" for the kids because they would be sleeping. Secondly, we figured if we slept on the plane, it would feel more like morning in Reykjavik, Iceland and then more like noontime in Paris, and therefore we would adjust to the time difference with relative ease.
What we did not take into consideration was the potential for other passengers on the first flight to have other ideas as to how they might spend their 4.5 hours in the air. Sadly, one little two year old boy thought it far more logical to scream, cry, wail, shout, and carry on like a raving lunatic for that duration instead. Soooo..... needless to say we arrived in Cravant with a broken-up grand total of 2.5 hours of sleep (thank GOD for the TGV - it lulls you to sleep better than any cradle does a baby).
Gratefully, the rest of our travel went by without incident. In Boston, we had NO line to check our luggage and nothing was overweight or refused. Then virtually no line at security and we weren't stopped for anything. In fact, in Iceland, they rushed us through security so fast we couldn't keep up and they got annoyed with us! (Haven't figured out yet why we had to go through security to switch planes. Has Sky Mall started selling weapons or something?)
In Paris I guess they are far more secure and confident they can handle any problems that come their way because we didn't even have to pass through customs. We were taken by shuttle from the plane to the baggage claim. Then we excited the baggage claim, assuming the next room would be customs, but instead we found ourselves outside and walking to the next terminal. So currently we have no stamp in our passport to prove we have actually arrived! So much for that expensive visa we're carrying.
We were a funny image in the Charles De Gaule with all our luggage. Bo was a real trooper helping to carry stuff without complaint. We managed quite nicely. When we got to the train station, we stopped for a bite to eat.
Bo and David discovered you had to pay 0.50 euro ($0.75) to use the bathroom, so I held on until we boarded the train. (P&S thinks maybe it was a person scamming people because they've never heard of this policy before!) The TGV was AWESOME. We paid the equivalent of $15 to upgrade our seats to first class and that was so worth it. But it was so quiet I felt badly for the other passengers because we had brought children with us!
It wasn't long after getting on our way that Bo, Vivi and I became catatonic with sleep. David forced himself to stay awake because he was worried we would miss our stop. I think we just might have based on how difficult it was to rouse the children when the time came.
Overall, it was really a very successful travel day. But now I am afraid we are all still adjusting to the time difference and not sleeping when we should and feeling generally tired all the time.
Tomorrow, P&S depart very early. And then, our year en francais will truly begin!
No comments:
Post a Comment