1 June

And so my last day in Europe dawned.
I gathered everything together, cleaned my shoes, had a shower and dressed, packed most of my suitcase and backpack and then went down for breakfast. Breakfast is a smorgasbord, with toast (white and brown), cereal, bread rolls, a type of croissant, teas (but no plain ones, all fruit or herbal), coffee and orange juice. I sat watching the French Sunrise program and could understand what they were talking about, but no the detail.
After, I went back up to my room, checked that all was packed, finished by cleaning my teeth and remembering to put that into the suitcase (toothpaste tube over volume limits for cabin luggage) and then sent my last bulk email.
I’ll briefly describe the place I am staying, as I forgot to add some pictures for today.
Reception leads into a corridor with a breakfast room off to one side and residential room for the rest. With fifteen on the ground floor and twenty-six on the next three floors, each room has either two singles on the floor and a raised bunk, a double on the floor and a raised bunk or four (and I’m not sure of their disposition). The room rates are €44-€65 a night for a room, €4,80 for breakfast and €4 for outside parking (€6 for undercover parking). They each have a shower, toilet and handbasin in a prefabricated section about the size of a telephone booth. Towels are of normal size, so all in all it’s a reasonable place to stay. Being less than five minutes from the airport makes it handy and I can see two different types staying here – those who arrive, book in, get a night’s sleep and then go on their way and those who arrive the day before they leave, get a night’s sleep and can then be at the airport within a few minutes (actually about thirty when you go by bus, as you have to wait at this end, then wait for it to do the circuit if you happen to be the last off).
I left after checking everything three or four times and cleaned out the car. As every other flight I have been on said “one piece of cabin luggage AND a computer bag”, I packed the computer separately (more later). I connected the phone and the iPod to charge and went for a little drive, to kill time, to calm me down and to use up some of the diesel I had paid for and someone else is now going to use.
After a while, everything was charged (including me, all hyped up) so I set course for Charles de Gaulle Airport and, on arriving, was glad to see the TT notices to return the car. I put it in, together with the accident report from the French Police, and then was taken by shuttle to Terminal 2. The first sign I saw on entering the airport: “ONE piece of cabin luggage” and no mention of computers. But Japan Airlines aren’t up yet (it’s Air France’s notices) so I will have to wait and see. The best laid plans of mice and men…
I felt strangely nostalgic about leaving France, as though part of me belonged here (which I don’t feel in England, yet dad was born there, and I haven’t felt in any other country. Once I’m on the plane and heading home, I may feel different.
I tried ringing reverse charges from the airport to WestPac and there was again no provision and all the operators will only give information on their service (naturally I suppose, as they are out to make money), so I bit the bullet and rang on my AMEX card – I hate to see what the charges will be! The matter was cleared up quickly and I was asked to notify them when I go overseas – WHICH I HAD DONE! SO I’m not too happy a chappy at the moment.
I have a bottle of diluted orange juice to last me until the flight, but each drink I take reminds me that what goes in must go out – and that means I have to take everything with me, unless I happen to find someone who can keep an eye on things for me (and that trust has to work both ways). It’s one of the perils of travelling on one’s own nowadays.
At the airport, of course, there is WiFi at considerable expense, so I thought I would use up my last entitlement under Orange France – only to find it expired a day ago, so no WiFi for me at Charles de Gaulle Airport.
The weather today is overcast, slightly humid and about 18°C.
After seeing people go up for an earlier flight, I had a more careful look at the screens over the terminal personnel and found they were catering to two flights at once – an earlier flight and mine, to Tokyo. By the time I went up, there were no window seats left so I am stuck in the middle somewhere. Hopefully it means I can sleep a little, as the flight leaves here at 1905 local time and arrives in Tokyo 1355 local time.
I decided once I had got my boarding pass to go through immigration and security straight away, just in case I got delayed. I thought I had done it all right, but the x-ray operator thought there was something peculiar, so my backpack got gone through – very thoroughly, by a charming young French girl – and we just managed to close it up. I got through with my computer in the backpack from the Grand Canyon (the FREE gift with the movie show ticket), otherwise the things I had in my had were a little bulky, and difficult to keep together. I am going to have to get things better for the numerous flights I’ll be doing in the second half – but I don’t want too large a suitcase, as I have to tote it around with me, and I certainly don’t want a small suitcase to use as cabin luggage. Then again, I won’t have anything for a car – SatNav, power leads and cords – but I will have other things for charging the mobile and iPod with me. I will have to practice in the intervening time.
I’m now waiting in the boarding lounge (F52) as my flight is the next one, but I can’t see a power socket so I won’t be writing too much.
I heard, then chatted to, an Australian couple from Cairns, on their way back from a holiday in Italy and Malta. We compared notes on travelling and different experiences, then parted when we boarded (they were even further up the back of the plane than I was). I was sitting in the middle of the middle row, between a young Japanese man on my left (who spoke good English) and an older Japanese woman on my right (who spoke reasonable English). Before we took off, I was “tagged” and my meal arrived not long after takeoff. Guess what? Diabetic meal with loads of sugar (some dieticians!) and fish, so I avoided that and ate around it, then kept my fingers crossed nothing happened.
As we taxied, on the screens we got a pilot view of our path. We started taxiing at 7:05 p.m. and at 7:22 we approached the runway. I thought we were gong to Japan on the ground! Once in the air, we had a wonderful panoramic view of the French countryside until cloud covered it. We also went over Ribe in Denmark – suddenly I had this feeling of “been there, seen that”!
On this flight, the usual warnings about not using things came up - including not to use laptops AT ALL on the flight. So mine stayed under, despite me wanting to write.
Somethings did happen – the first was the itchy sensation under the skin from too high a sugar level (not much I could do by then, but I resolved to eat the meal more carefully and with discrimination, though leaving food uneaten is hard for me to do) and the second was the racing pulse, high temperature and bilious feeling in the stomach – usually preludes to a day or so of reaction to the fish (or other seafood). I tried to get to sleep, convincing myself I hadn’t eaten any fish and it was only psychological. Did it work? You and I will find out tomorrow.