Today starts the trip for reals. Hopefully. Since I’ve effectively lost a day of transition, I’ve decided to start aclimating to the right timezone while still at home. This means that I’m grumpily awake at 4am, hoping that the blue light from various screens is sufficient to triggers the ‘awake’ hormones. I’m painfully aware of the fact that today will be a long travel day, and that I may come to regret this early start.
Kris wakes up fairly early, I’m guessing in part due to taxes and in part because I’m leaving. We both putter around the kitchen trying to avoid our second set of goodbyes. My friend arrives and Kris departs. We load my bags into the mini-van and make small talk to the airport. I’m deeply grateful to have a friendly face to see me off today!
Back in the lounge, I pass on the booze (9am is a little early, even for me on vacation) and instead load up on water. Apparently Saturday is Disney day, as EVERYONE seems to be headed to Orlando. Not everyone is happy about this though. Today I connect thru Detroit. The flight itself is uneventful, but I’m now faced with a six hour layover.
Having already invoked the bad travel juju yesterday, I opt to stay at the airport instead of trying to see part of the city (That and I didn’t want to wrestle 2 bags while sightseeing.) I make two circuits of the airport, pop into a lounge for some lunch, and scored a slot at the Minute Suites. I swore I wouldn’t nap in the Suite, but I’m pretty sure I dozed for 15-20 minutes while watching the first episode of the Netflix show on Jimmy Saville.
As I was leaving the Suites, a gentleman came up in some distress. He was apparently traveling with a group who had stopped to use the printer at the Minute Suites. Somehow, he had lost his suite case. The cashier was indicating that she thought someone from his group had taken it with them, but he either didn’t understand or was unconvinced. I watched him pace frantically back and forth and suggested, unhelpfully I’m afraid, that he reach out to the airport security. The last I saw him, he was running down the terminal to a gate, sans bag. I’m not sure if he was at the start or end of his journey, but I have sympathetic anxiety for him, considering I’m totally dependent on my bag for the next month and change.
The rest of my DTW stay was uneventful. Safely ensconced in my seat, I contemplate dinner, a movie, and how much or little I’ll sleep. Dinner was pretty standard plane food, although the amuse was surprisingly good.
CDG was a train wreck. Easter clearly had an impact on staffing. The line for security between the international and domestic terminals was almost 2 hours long largely because there were only 2 screening lines open. I made a rookie mistake and didn’t go to the bathroom as soon as I got off of the plane, so it was a long two hours indeed. I’m always fascinated though, by how people react in these circumstances (the line.) So many people yelling at the airport staff that their flight is in 45, 30, 60, 10 minutes.
Needless to say, I missed flight. Fortunately, Airfrance had me rebooked before I had even gotten to the support desk. I toddled off to yet another lounge for yet another 3 hour wait. I almost missed yet another flight due to failing to understand that my new flight took off from a COMPLETELY different terminal. I figured it out in the nick of time though, and made it just before my group started boarding. And, the seat next to me was empty, so I slipped into the window to catch a shot of the Eiffle Tower.
By the time we reached Biarritz, I was ready to lay down on the floor and have a 3-year-old child style tantrum. Instead, I grabbed a taxi to the hotel. I managed to arrive an hour before check-in, much to the displeasure of the desk staff. They agreed, however, to hold my bags while I walked around town (staving off yet another tantrum opportunity.)
Biarritz is gorgeous! The phenomenal weather and ocean views were breath taking.
And, there was apparently a fairly large surfing tournament going on, so there was plenty to watch.
I’m hoping to grab some dinner tonight and get a decent night’s sleep. I’ll be lucky to make it to 8pm tonight though. Excited to head to St Jean Pied du Port tomorrow though! It feels like that will be the real start of the trip.
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