Our sojourn in Paris was almost over – just a trip to the airport left. As we had so many problems on Saturday, getting from Charles de Gaulle to the hotel, we decided to leave early (6.30am) to make sure we were at the airport in plenty of time. Well, that was the plan! The kind concierge told us exactly which trains to get (three) in order to get to Charles de Gaulle easily and (fairly) quickly. No problem with the first two but, when we were happily on the one that would take us directly to the airport – woompha, it all fell apart. First of all, we were sitting quietly in our carriage when a French man came up hurrying up to us, saying “Off, off”! We realized that the woman on the PA had actually told everybody to get off the train ! Off we hopped, then joined everyone else milling around. As far as we know, and judging by the number of police, security and soldiers, there had been some sort of security alert. We didn’t have a clue what to do but followed everyone else and kept hearing people say “Gare du Nord”, which we knew was a big station, with many levels. We got on that train – it was jam-packed with people from our previous train and people from other trains that had also been emptied.
When we reached Gare du Nord it was an absolute nightmare, with people everywhere and we didn’t have a clue what to do. Then our Knight in shining armour appeared, a lovely Frenchman called Olivier, who told us that most French people were rude and unhelpful, so he had decided to be as helpful as possible! He told us to follow him – which was just as well because, just as on our first day, none of the Information desks were manned. He led us hither and thither, up stairs, down escalators, around corners, up and down again, until he pointed to a train, told us that was the right one and, as he was late for work, he would have to say goodbye, and hurried away. We will never forget his kindness – we could not possibly have found our way to the right train without him.
Thankfully we boarded the train – again, very crowded, and settled down for the trip and happily we eventually reached the airport in one piece and stopped for breakfast at one of the cafes.
We had checked in on-line so didn’t have to bother with that and, when the security clearance section opened we passed through and sat in the holding area, waiting to board. There was no plane to be seen (at least, not one of ours!) and we sat, and sat – the plane eventually arrived and after about another three-quarters of an hour, we finally boarded. The Captain told us that there had been delays due to engineering problems and that we were on a different plane to what had been intended – we ended up leaving over an hour late! I hadn’t been able to contact Allan, who was meeting us at Liverpool, because whenever I tried, I got a message in French, which I couldn’t understand!
After an uneventful flight, we reached Liverpool an hour and ten minutes late and Allan was there to meet us – he knew there had been a delay so hadn’t been there too long. It was so good to see him!
Just after we got to St Helens, Jeff and Lyn arrived to say hello, which was lovely. Dot was going out to visit her sister, Joan, who is in hospital after having a hip operation and who has developed one of those Superbugs, much to everyone’s concern.
After Jeff and Lyn left we settled down to relax and watch the Olympic Show Jumping (interspersed with the women’s weightlifting). We certainly won’t forget this holiday in a hurry!
