Man is not meant to be confined in an awkward position for 9 hours. I do not care how many episodes of Friends they show you, it just plane (pun intended) stinks. Luckily we all slept a bit so the 9 hours went by just like 9 hours.
Our plane took off late so when we got to the ATL we were running around like headless chickens trying to get through customs and get to our gate. The beauty of the whole thing is there are no screens in the customs area to tell you about your connecting flight. So after running around like idiots we get out of customs to find our flight delayed an hour. Apparently a cloud came near Atlanta and Delta grounded all flights. So we waited at the airport with the 8 billion other people whose flights were delayed or canceled. We finally got on our overbooked flight and headed for home.
Our plane pulled up to the closest gate to baggage claim at JIA. This is a bad sign. Your wait at baggage is inversely proportional to the proximity of your plane to baggage claim. This does not include the 35 minute prerequisite waiting period. So after about 50 minutes our bags finally came. I am pretty sure this was a new speed record for them. Unions sure are great!
Humidity. Paper-mill. Perpetual construction. Jacksonville.
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Showing posts with label JIA. Show all posts
Showing posts with label JIA. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Jacksonville to Paris
We left M and K's house at 1:00 on Friday March 28. Late as usual. We rushed toward the airport only to be caught in good 'ol Jacksonville traffic. The kind where everyone slows down to look at the abandoned car on the side of the road. We arrive at JIA about an hour and a half before our flight. Which is good for International flights, because they suggest that the latest you should arrive is 2 hours before your flight. Luckily we found a superb parking space and the ticket lines were not too long. However as Delta is want to do, they had overbooked the flight.
The flight to Atlanta was fine until the decent for the landing. To say it was a bumpy ride would be an understatement. K almost lost her lunch. We make our way out the International terminal, where by the way they have a lady playing a grand piano in the food court, I thought possibly the flight to Atlanta had caused me severe jet lag and I was hallucinating. We decided to grab some crappy airport food which would be a thousand times less crappy than the crap they pass off for food on the flight. B y the time we got our food our flight was leaving as we were running for the gate, which of course was as fara away form the food court as it could be. Now I know what Pheidippides felt like. We did make the plane, but we were the last to board.
What a great plane it was. It was similar to sitting in a sardine can. If J or I wanted to move we had to coordinate it like a Grande Ballet. Then Delta was nice enough to give us screens in the seat-backs to watch movies, t.v., etc. The only problem was J's didn't work and mine kept rebooting itself. Eight hours is a long flight with out some sort of distraction. At about the 4 hour mark I decided I had had enough and wanted to jumpo out of the plane. Luckily J talked me out of it.
Our arrival into CDG was smooth and our bags were waiting for us at baggage claim. Why can't the people at JIA figure out how to get your bags to baggage claim like their comrades at CDG. We had ordered a car service and a nice American from New Mexico picked us up, he gave us a quick tour of the city and some great tips on how to enjoy our stay.
We walked up the stairs into the apartment, marveled at its beauty, and all collapsed for a nap.
Au revoir
CE
For pictures of the apartment in Paris click here
The flight to Atlanta was fine until the decent for the landing. To say it was a bumpy ride would be an understatement. K almost lost her lunch. We make our way out the International terminal, where by the way they have a lady playing a grand piano in the food court, I thought possibly the flight to Atlanta had caused me severe jet lag and I was hallucinating. We decided to grab some crappy airport food which would be a thousand times less crappy than the crap they pass off for food on the flight. B y the time we got our food our flight was leaving as we were running for the gate, which of course was as fara away form the food court as it could be. Now I know what Pheidippides felt like. We did make the plane, but we were the last to board.
What a great plane it was. It was similar to sitting in a sardine can. If J or I wanted to move we had to coordinate it like a Grande Ballet. Then Delta was nice enough to give us screens in the seat-backs to watch movies, t.v., etc. The only problem was J's didn't work and mine kept rebooting itself. Eight hours is a long flight with out some sort of distraction. At about the 4 hour mark I decided I had had enough and wanted to jumpo out of the plane. Luckily J talked me out of it.
Our arrival into CDG was smooth and our bags were waiting for us at baggage claim. Why can't the people at JIA figure out how to get your bags to baggage claim like their comrades at CDG. We had ordered a car service and a nice American from New Mexico picked us up, he gave us a quick tour of the city and some great tips on how to enjoy our stay.
We walked up the stairs into the apartment, marveled at its beauty, and all collapsed for a nap.
Au revoir
CE
For pictures of the apartment in Paris click here
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