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Wednesday 8 December 2010

Not Happy!!

As we set off from my daughter's home yesterday for Charles de Gaulle Airport, Paris, the snow was falling very heavily indeed.  We set off much earlier than we needed to, as I was worried about my daughter having to drive back from the airport on her own in, by now,  really atrocious weather. 

Well, thank goodness we did start early, because on the approach to the Departure Terminal, the traffic was at a complete standstill and we were stuck there for forty five minutes, with the final check-in time rapidly approaching.   Fortunately, we started to inch forward just in time.

It was a brand new Terminal - one which we hadn't been to before - so it took us time to locate our check-in desk.  Anyway, we arrived with about two minutes to spare.  Phew!

Ignoring the wonderful array of Duty Free Shops, we headed for the departure gate, and couldn't believe it when, at 2 p.m. we started boarding.  (The departure time was 2.30 p.m.).  So far, so good.  We were then directed to a bus, where we patiently sat for thirty minutes until the driver appeared. 

Still, at least we were on our way, with the snow still falling heavily.  Now we were on the plane, and I started to make myself comfortable, feeling really lucky that we were going to get off  without too much delay.

BUT, an announcement then came over the tannoy from the pilot saying that we were going to have to wait for the engines to be de-iced and that they couldn't get any time information from Air Traffic Control.

To cut a long story short, we sat on the plane for THREE HOURS, whilst waiting our turn to go through the de-icing machine.  (It was almost like driving through a car wash!).  I have to admit that I did find it incredible that an international airport of that size, with planes taking off every couple of minutes, just had one de-icing machine to cope with the situation.

Perhaps England is not the only country struggling to cope in these sub-zero temperatures!

Oh! I forgot to mention that, on top of all that, I've left my iPhone over in France. Grrrrrr!

Hopefully I will have a better day tomorrow!







14 comments:

Unknown said...

That would be like my wife's daughter, Beth, leaving her right arm in Paris. There is always UPS. When you are waiting those minutes seem so very long, luckily the flight left anyway and wasn't cancelled.

Southhamsdarling said...

Hi Odie. That was funny about your wife's daughter! I'm always glued to my phone, so how I came to leave it behind, I just don't know. You're quite right of course, it could have been so much worse, and we might have had to sleep in the airport overnight.

Becky said...

I am just thankful that you arrived home SAFELY!! I don't fly often and when I do... I always want it to be a nice, clear day. No snow and no storms! Too scary! :)

colenic said...

Welcome home!! I am glad that you made it safely despite the weather.

Jumble Mash said...

Wow! Sounds like a crazy day! In April, Dad and I flew over to the Virgin Islands which would have been about a 3 hour flight, but we sat on the plane for 2 hours not moving because some kid was sick. It took 2 hours to get him off the plane. Crazy.

BB said...

We have a new ruling here that airlines cannot make you sit on a plane for more than 2 hrs. after people started going crazy on the plane and wanted off. I too agree that there needs to be a time limit. So glad you are home safe!!

Rebecca said...

wow what a day and i love the new look

Olive said...

Well you do not want to fly with ice!

ANichols.Too said...

glad you made it safely! will your daughter be able to mail you the phone and get it delivered in one piece?

Southhamsdarling said...

I'm hoping so Too! She posted it yesterday (had to brave the heavy snow to do it), but she is not convinced that it will get here. The French postal authorities are not too brilliant! LOL! My whole life was on that phone!!

caterpillar said...

I hope you are having a better day...and I hope your phone its on its way back to you..

LindyLouMac said...

Quite a journey, hope the phone reaches you quickly so that normal service can be resumed.

Southhamsdarling said...

I am rather lost without the phone I must admit, LindyLou!

Southhamsdarling said...

Glad you like the new look Becca! I'm pretty pleased with it.