Sean Lennon Day 18, Going home...
There is nothing worse than going to a small airport with lots of gear, and when the girl at the counter looked like she was going to cry, we knew we were in for a long one... She didn't know what to do with everything, the supervisor was little help, and it took over 2 hours to check us in for our flights. With everything tagged, we went to bring the gear to the oversize baggage bay, and there was no one there. 10 minutes before the flight. Finally someone showed up and we had to help carry all the gear to the plane. Then, at the last possible second, some moron in the security department decided they had to open and inspect all our cases. Somehow the plane left on time, but I can't figure out how... It was a brutal way to start the day. Don't worry, it gets better.
So we get to Paris' De Gaulle airport, we have 45 minutes to make our various connections, so we start running through terminals to get to our gates, etc... In Europe, there's some Passport Control gates before security, which isn't a big deal, you just show your passport and go, but when there's about 600 people in line and you have 20 minutes left til your flight, you have problems. But alas, they were just beginning.
We're pretty sure none of us are making our flights, Sean got on the phone with his travel agent to start re-booking some later ones, then it happens. Whistles start blowing, cops come running out from all corners, security guards start freaking out. There's an unattended package at the security gates and they think it's a bomb. Amazing. So they try and herd everyone out of the terminal, but humans being fundamentally stupid, most people just stay! Unreal. If it were actually a bomb, none of us would've had a chance. After a few minutes (!) people start scattering a little bit and we're put in another part of the terminal to wait it out. That airport better hope they never have a real problem because their evacuation plan blows. Anyways, after about 1 hour, they clear everything up, reopen the gates, we go through Passport Control, clear security and race to the planes. In a way, the whole thing was a blessing in disguise because they had to ground all the planes while they sorted things out. This way the planes had to wait for all the passengers before taking off, so we all made it, but the flights left about an hour and a half late.
Somehow, despite all that, I still get to Montreal with enough time to make my connection, except it takes forever for my bags to show up (you have to claim and recheck them when crossing borders). So I'm waiting, waiting, waiting, waiting some more, and with less than 10 minutes to go, the bags finally come through, I grab them and run to the next gate to recheck and go to the plane. But it's too late, they say I'll never make it and they'll try and rebook me on the midnight flight, which is 5 hours away! I've already been flying for about 12 hours today so I'm really not into that idea, but what can you do? I had given up all hope when all of a sudden a message pops on to the computer screen: my flight has been delayed! I can make it! So I drop my bags at the counter and head to the gate, plane takes off and lands and all is good.
Except my bags don't show up. Because I had checked in so late for the flight, my bags never made it to the plane. Fantastic. So I go to the baggage guy, fill out a form and they say if my bags show up they'll deliver them to me. But then it turns out there's another flight from Montreal coming in and sometimes they put late bags on the next flight, so I stick around for a little while and sure enough they come down the belt. I grab my bags and finally head home after 14 hours of travel.
I've been back about 36 hours now, readjusted to the time zone and I'm ready to go. Looks like I'm home for about 10 days, but I'm trying to find something sooner. I'll let you know, stay tuned...
So we get to Paris' De Gaulle airport, we have 45 minutes to make our various connections, so we start running through terminals to get to our gates, etc... In Europe, there's some Passport Control gates before security, which isn't a big deal, you just show your passport and go, but when there's about 600 people in line and you have 20 minutes left til your flight, you have problems. But alas, they were just beginning.
We're pretty sure none of us are making our flights, Sean got on the phone with his travel agent to start re-booking some later ones, then it happens. Whistles start blowing, cops come running out from all corners, security guards start freaking out. There's an unattended package at the security gates and they think it's a bomb. Amazing. So they try and herd everyone out of the terminal, but humans being fundamentally stupid, most people just stay! Unreal. If it were actually a bomb, none of us would've had a chance. After a few minutes (!) people start scattering a little bit and we're put in another part of the terminal to wait it out. That airport better hope they never have a real problem because their evacuation plan blows. Anyways, after about 1 hour, they clear everything up, reopen the gates, we go through Passport Control, clear security and race to the planes. In a way, the whole thing was a blessing in disguise because they had to ground all the planes while they sorted things out. This way the planes had to wait for all the passengers before taking off, so we all made it, but the flights left about an hour and a half late.
Somehow, despite all that, I still get to Montreal with enough time to make my connection, except it takes forever for my bags to show up (you have to claim and recheck them when crossing borders). So I'm waiting, waiting, waiting, waiting some more, and with less than 10 minutes to go, the bags finally come through, I grab them and run to the next gate to recheck and go to the plane. But it's too late, they say I'll never make it and they'll try and rebook me on the midnight flight, which is 5 hours away! I've already been flying for about 12 hours today so I'm really not into that idea, but what can you do? I had given up all hope when all of a sudden a message pops on to the computer screen: my flight has been delayed! I can make it! So I drop my bags at the counter and head to the gate, plane takes off and lands and all is good.
Except my bags don't show up. Because I had checked in so late for the flight, my bags never made it to the plane. Fantastic. So I go to the baggage guy, fill out a form and they say if my bags show up they'll deliver them to me. But then it turns out there's another flight from Montreal coming in and sometimes they put late bags on the next flight, so I stick around for a little while and sure enough they come down the belt. I grab my bags and finally head home after 14 hours of travel.
I've been back about 36 hours now, readjusted to the time zone and I'm ready to go. Looks like I'm home for about 10 days, but I'm trying to find something sooner. I'll let you know, stay tuned...
posted by t. at 7:08 PM
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