Up, breakfasted and out the door by 9:15 and on the road to Charles DeGaulle Airport
Located the slowest McDonald’s in the world, and in only 15
minutes, the two clients ahead were dispensed with and we procured cups of
terrible coffee. Logged in to free WiFi,
performed pre-check-in on line with Iceland Air, then tracked down an employee
who thought that Arrival/Departure boards were available in Terminal 2D.
Sure enough, the boards indicated we needed to check in at
Hall 3, Terminal 1. Slogged to train
station, where an Italian-piloted train lurched us over to T1. Tracked down Hall 3, found Iceland Air
counter, got in line (no agents present yet), and waited 20 minutes. Agents arrived, waited 20 minutes more while
they got organized, checked bags and sought Security.
Fifteen minutes to clear ludicrous Security (we were the only
ones in line) then off to farthest gate
(76) to find that the First Class Lounge to which our tickets entitled us, was
BEFORE Security and therefore inaccessible. Found gate, sat, broke
out Kindles. Total elapsed time so far:
3 hours from Hotel to Gate.
The flight arrived late due to an equipment change, so we
left France
40 minutes late, 6 hours after leaving the hotel. De Gaulle is so big, we actually taxied past two villages to get to our runway! On board the Icelandair flight to Reykjavik in Business
Class, we were served a really excellent meal (rare these days) and plied with
booze (Paul found a nice Icelandic beer; Boli).
With the aid of complementary noise-cancelling headsets, we watched an
old favourite movie: The Good, The Bad and the Ugly. A classic. On the way, we tried to access the free WiFi for the heck
of it, but couldn't remember our 6-digit booking number.
Finally, eighteen hours after leaving our hotel in Paris, we arrived at Stefan's place. Long but ultimately successful day.
Cheers!
Taxiing past villages
French countryside
Windpower
Iceland
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