One day in the life of a frequent traveler

Interesting travel day.

Zurich all day client meeting Thursday sent me home to Paris at 10:30 PM.  Finished up some work, packed and in bed by midnight. 5 AM came early Friday, and brought with it severe thunder, lightening and heavy rain – never a good omen for traveling. In lieu of transporting my rather large suitcase through the storm, I optimistically called for a taxi. Good news is I got one right away (6 AM) and headed for Charles de Gaulle.

En route a truck was jack-knifed completely blocking traffic, a car was consumed in flames… but I made it in time nevertheless. When I checked in at Air France, I was asked if the second leg of my journey from NY to Halifax was by air or by bus. WTF?? I pointed to the boarding passes which clearly indicated both flights were Delta and my seat assignment was indicated. The agent got a bit huffy and said that many passengers do that leg by bus. Okay.Maybe. But not me.

In the duty free shops I looked at wallets. I asked if they had any with more places for cards. “No because men have more cards and women carry more change, so we design them this way.” Really!

Uneventful flight to JFK, and received a Quick Connect sign to transport me easily through immigration and customs. Leaving customs, I was told “You can walk to the Delta terminal; it’s right next door”. I started out, walked past Terminal 2, carried on to terminal 3, without aid of sidewalks, entered the building, and could not see a way to get to Departures. I exited, found an elevator that said “To Departures” and got in. Nothing moved. I exited, found an escalator that said “To Departures” entered through a door that said “Do No Enter” and was told by a security guard to return to where I started.  And I tried, but I could see the security line for my flight from where I was standing, so I took a little short cut and got in line. The agent there said he didn’t like my boarding card issued to me in Paris and sent me back to the Delta counter. Then back to the security line. Well you get the picture.

The Bloody Mary I had in the second bar, as the first bar was out of Bloody Mary Mix may have been the reason for the next little mix-up. Arrived in Halifax at 4 PM, took my luggage to the rental car, talked with the friendly people at the tourist bureau, had a Tim Horton’s coffee – all the while killing the two hours until Angie and Mom arrived. Whoops –they were waiting for me already. Guess time zones needed to be adjusted on my iPhone between NY and NS! Oh well we are all here now in ready for the week ahead. Wish me luck!